
A career break or sabbatical occurs where an employer and employee agree that the employee can take an extended period of unpaid leave.
What’s the difference?
A sabbatical is a more formal agreement between the employer and employee to take time off while remaining employed, whereas a career break is usually unpaid and involves discontinuing the employment contract. However, the employer may agree that the employee can return within a specified time period.
Why might an employee request a career break/sabbatical?
According to research by the Academy of Management, there are three main reasons why employees might request a sabbatical:
- A sabbatical can make a positive contribution to employee well-being, self-care and give them an opportunity to recover from conditions such as burnout. They can use the sabbatical to concentrate on non-work-related priorities.
- A sabbatical could give an employee an opportunity to spend time travelling, whether for their own purposes or perhaps to visit family.
- Skills and projects – an extended period away from work can give an employee the chance to develop skills or work on projects that are not directly related to their normal role. This could well increase the employee’s value to their employer.
As every employee is an individual, there may be other reasons which will become apparent when a request is made.
Entitlement to a career break/sabbatical
There is no legal entitlement to sabbaticals, although the right to request flexible working is indeed enshrined in law and an employee might try to use this to back up their request. As is often the case, the contract of employment will play a key role in establishing the processes.
The employment contract should set out whether there is any entitlement to a career break/sabbatical and the conditions that affect this entitlement. Conditions could include a minimum length of service before a request will be considered.
If the contract doesn’t set out entitlement and conditions, the employer may still consider any request made, but they don’t have to do so. They may, however, choose to consider the request as they may think sabbaticals are a good thing to offer (for reasons outlined above), or they may not have encountered them before and be unfamiliar with what they involve. In this case, it will be a learning experience for both employer and employee.
Regardless of the employer’s decision, they must make sure their approach is consistent; they can’t say yes to some requests and no to others without a clear and thought-out reason. This could lead to a discrimination claim at an employment tribunal, particularly if the employee has a protected characteristic.
The surest way to avoid such claims is to have a well-drafted, legally compliant sabbatical policy agreed in advance.
What should be in a policy on career breaks/sabbaticals?
The policy should, as a minimum, cover:
- whether requests for career breaks/sabbaticals will be accepted
- the eligibility criteria that an employee must meet before the employer considers any request
- how an employee can make their request
- the appeals process if the decision doesn’t go their way
What should the employer consider?
When an employee makes a request for a career break/sabbatical, the employer should think about several things before making a decision on whether to agree or not. Those points include:
- How would the employee’s absence affect the company? Would projects in which they are involved need to be put on hold? Who else would take on their work? Would someone be able to be employed on a fixed term contract or could there be a development opportunity for another employee to cover the role?
- Would the period of absence have an effect on the employee’s continuous service?
- Would the employee have access to company benefits during their period of absence?
- Does the occupational pension scheme permit a break in both employer and employee contributions?
- Would the employee still accrue annual leave while absent or would their total be adjusted pro-rata? Also, would the employee need to take any outstanding accrual before the period of absence?
- What if the employee was unable to return to work on the agreed date – or chose not to?
- An employer who grants a sabbatical request usually requires the employee to stay in touch during the period of leave. How would this work and be agreed?
- Would the employee return to the same job that they left, or would they be offered a similar job at the same level?
- What would happen if a redundancy situation arose while the employee was on their sabbatical?
- Will employees on a sabbatical or career break be able to undertake alternative employment?
Requesting career breaks/sabbaticals
It’s a good idea to have a formal process in place so all requests for career breaks and sabbaticals can be administered and treated in a consistent manner. The exact process is up to the employer, but it should generally cover the following steps:
- The employee submits their request for a career break/sabbatical in writing. To ensure that all the required information is captured at the outset, and to guarantee equality of treatment, the employer may wish to use a specific form for every request.
- A meeting is arranged so that the employer and employee can discuss the request and any questions can be answered.
- After the meeting, the employer will assess what’s been covered and either grant or reject the employee’s request. Whatever the outcome, this decision should be communicated to the employee in writing within a reasonable timeframe, ensuring the employee can make any necessary arrangements.
- If the employer grants the request, then they can implement a written agreement that sets out what’s been covered in the meeting so both sides have a record of what’s been agreed. A standard format for the written agreement may be needed to ensure consistency and fairness.
- if the outcome of the meeting is not what the employee was hoping for, they should be offered the right of appeal.
How can rradar help?
As can be seen, legally compliant policies and contracts of employment are key to ensuring that employers can offer the opportunity for career breaks and sabbaticals without laying themselves open to the risk of tribunal claims or employee discontent. rradar’s expert legal advisors and solicitors have experience in drafting both policies and contracts and would be happy to guide you through the process and ensure your business is safe and compliant.