Employee Sabbatical Leave: Everything You Need to Know

Sabbatical leave is paid leave for professionals. It lasts from several weeks to several months. Then, it allows burned-out employees to rest, regenerate or expand their knowledge and competencies. What should you know about it?

Sabbatical — basic information

Sabbatical leave mainly affects corporate employees who complain of burnout. It serves the purpose of rest or making an advancing journey. Occasionally, employees receive training or volunteer work while on sabbatical leave. Usually, the employer decides about the length of the break, but it is the employee who determines how he will use the time.

Everyone has the right to exhaustion, especially when working a lot for many years in one industry. Even when we like and appreciate what we do, we may feel the need to rest. Theoretically, it is given by holidays during which we recharge the batteries, but often they last a maximum of two weeks, and often it is too short a time to rest. What is sabbatical leave, and who can afford it?

Everyone needs to rest.

Everyone has to recharge their batteries because, without it, even the work we love can cause burnout. In addition, fatigue reduces our immunity, gets sick more often, and chronic fatigue can even lead to depression. Therefore, we should pay close attention to what our body tells us and take the holidays. We should also remember to break away from work, turn off e-mail notifications, focus on spending time with loved ones, or regenerating alone. But what if the two-week vacation did not give us much? Do we feel better but still not fully recovered? In such a case, a sabbatical holiday, known as a sabbatical holiday, may be helpful.

Sabbatical leave

Sabbatical leave is a long, even annual, often paid leave during which the employee recovers. It is also often needed when an employee wants to increase their competencies, and this requires time or, for example, is in the process of learning and must focus on it if they’re going to be a better employee.

Who does not dream of not working for a few months, and during this time the boss will pay us the salary anyway? It seems downright utopian. However, it does, and it makes a lot of sense.

Sabbatical is considered one of the most motivating benefits, but it is very rarely seen in companies. First of all, it is used by enterprises that employ more than 250 people.

One may ask how such leave would be profitable for the employer. Eventually, the team will weaken for many months. First of all, sabbatical vacation is possible in companies that prefer flexibility, where there is no problem with someone else taking over the vacationer’s tasks. Besides, companies value trained experts. Most often, people at a higher level go on sabbatical leave. Indeed, the company’s price so far incurred to train a specialist is much higher than a few months’ paid leave. In addition, employers are undoubtedly aware of how well such rest can affect an employee.

It is also widespread practice to study during sabbatical leave, as mentioned above. Therefore, the employer knows that the employee during the break will increase his competencies, come back with a head full of ideas, enthusiasm, and lots of energy. Thanks to this, you can increase the work efficiency of the entire team.

It is worth noting that this leave is rarely granted to specialists; as we mentioned above, it rather applies to people in managerial positions. However, it is not the case that other employees do not have a chance to take advantage of such a benefit. It all depends on the company’s policy.

Sabbatical vacation — advantages and disadvantages

Sabbatical leave sounds like a dream come true for many employees. Without quitting your job and constantly receiving your salary, you can afford laziness, travel to distant corners of the world, or an additional course. This type of leave is also an excellent solution for people experiencing difficulties in their personal lives. Illness, depression, or the loss of a loved one — it is easier to get over them with a sense of professional stability and stable income. Moreover, a sabbatical vacation can be highly creative at times. Many people then look for new inspiration or a way of life. Rest, learning new skills, and exploring the world show new perspectives, thanks to which employees can return to the company full of energy and new ideas, giving a chance for the company’s development.

Sabbatical leave is an efficient solution, although not very popular in Poland yet. It remains to count that employers will understand the importance of this novelty and decide to make it a tool for strengthening their staff.

Sabbatical vacation has its advantages and disadvantages. Before deciding on it, it is worth considering.

• Indeed, the great advantage of this vacation is the possibility of complete rest. Since we are paid, we can rest easy without worrying about what we will pay the bills for when the savings run out. We can completely break away from the office rush, rethink the direction in which our career is heading. First of all, we can rebuild our health and regain well-being.
• We can gain many new qualifications and skills during this time, for which we did not have time before. We can fully use our free time for study or hobby.
• Sabbatical leave can help us recover from a difficult life situation. Thanks to this, we can think about some issues, rest, be with loved ones. In addition, we can start therapy during this time and start dealing with adversities.
• However, holidays may not always end exactly as we would like them to. If the management or policy of the company changes during our holiday, it may turn out that we will not have anywhere to come back.
• During this time, someone can prove themselves by performing our duties. Thus our presence in the company may simply be unnecessary, and we may notice termination notice.

A sabbatical vacation is a dream for many of us, but it will probably take a long time to settle in companies worldwide. It is undoubtedly helpful in the fight against burnout.