Employees Sabbatical: 5 Great Ideas
Sabbatical leave is a form of motivating employees by allowing them to spend several months’ leave at work.
Sabbatical is also a guarantee that after the leave ends, you will be able to return to the organization at least under the same conditions as before the Sabbath leave. Do not confuse sabbatical with the so-called “Gap Year” which is a gap year during or after your studies. During the year-long break, young people go to discover the world and other cultures. Often undertaking relatively simple jobs in hotels or restaurants.
If in your mind it was possible to take a year’s sabbatical from work to reassess your life, what would you do and where would you go?
David Whyte
Sabbatical — long vacation for professionals
National labor law regulations guarantee each employee 20 or 26 days of annual leave, respectively. However, the current conditions of professional activity, especially of people in high positions, require a much longer break from official duties. More and more often it becomes necessary to avoid professional burnout and a significant decrease in team involvement, which has a direct impact on the results and condition of the entire organization.
A solution that is more and more common in corporations around the world is a regenerative leave, commonly known as sabbatical or sabbatical leave.
Tips for sabbatical leave
There are many reasons for taking a sabbatical. Some employees want to use the time to travel or to support social projects. For others, the focus is on professional training or even reorientation. A sabbatical year can also be used to spend more time with the family or to prevent burnout. As you can see, there are plenty of good reasons to take a sabbatical! And who knows, maybe our ideas will inspire you to take some time off from work yourself.
1. Take a trip around the world during your sabbatical
Travel is the undisputed number one reason for a sabbatical. When else do you have the opportunity to see the world for several weeks at a time and to travel to different countries? Intercultural competence is also a welcome skill from the employer’s point of view, and traveling will also improve soft skills such as independence, flexibility and your organizational skills. In addition, the change in perspective will give you a lot of new impulses for your job and will later start your return to professional life highly motivated and full of ideas.
2. Use the sabbatical year and learn a new language
A further training measure that can be wonderfully combined with traveling is learning a new language. Have you always wanted to learn Spanish but never had the time? Then a sabbatical is just the thing for you. How about, for example, completing a language course lasting several weeks in Buenos Aires and then traveling through South America? With daily use you will get used to the new language much faster. Incidentally, this example can also be wonderfully transferred to other areas: If you’ve always wanted to learn to program or start a new sport, now is the time.
3. Take a sabbatical to spend time with family
The children grow up faster than we would like, and in addition to work, the family is often neglected. That is why the sabbatical is often used to consciously spend time with loved ones. Others also take a break from work so they can care for their loved ones. No matter which reasons are in the foreground for you: It is always worthwhile for the family to take a break.
4. Get socially involved in the sabbatical year
There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer, but most of us don’t have the time. During your sabbatical year, this excuse no longer applies! For example, you can do the following types of volunteer work:
- volunteer
- work as a coach in a sports club
- do volunteer work for the homeless
- get involved in politics, e.g. stand up for human rights
- support people with disabilities
Animal and environmental organizations are also constantly on the lookout for temporary workers, for example for walkers in the animal shelter.
5. Start your own project during the sabbatical
Taking a break from your job gives you the opportunity to reflect on yourself and your abilities and to become aware of your strengths. It may turn out that your current job is not fulfilling for you and that you would rather set up your own business. Then you can use your sabbatical to work out a business plan and fulfill your dream of self-employment. Or have you had the idea of writing a book for a long time, but you never got around to putting it into practice? A sabbatical year is ideal for such projects.
Financing models for the sabbatical
Is Sabbatical a paid leave? Unfortunately, there is no rule for this, it depends on the individual employers.
If it is related to raising your key competences for the organization, the employer will offer you a paid vacation. If, on the other hand, you are going on a trip of a lifetime, most organizations will likely offer you unpaid leave and ask you to complete an application.
Depending on the employer, there are different ways of financing a sabbatical year. Some companies offer a work account on which overtime is recorded, which is then paid out to you during your sabbatical. With the part-time model, the employee waives half of his wages for a certain period and has the other half paid out during the sabbatical year. It is also possible to take unpaid leave, but this special leave can affect your health insurance. In any case, you should inform yourself in advance about the loss of salary and make sure that your insurance cover is still guaranteed.
