Beyond Vacations: The Case for the Sabbatical

We hear a lot about how it’s important for employees to take vacations. But what about sabbaticals?

There’s a difference, of course—a sabbatical is much longer than a traditional vacation, sometimes a year in length and possibly paid, and is designed to benefit long-term employees by giving them an opportunity to try a different experience on for size. Sabbaticals are often used for volunteer work, long-term travel, or additional education.

These programs are more associated with academia than the corporate world. But the companies that do offer sabbaticals are no slouches—among them  (opens in a new tab) American Express, Nike, McDonald’s, and eBay.

According to the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2017 Employee Benefits report  (opens in a new tab) [PDF], only 12 percent of employers offer an unpaid sabbatical program. Even fewer (5 percent) offer a paid option. Over the past few years, these numbers have stayed relatively steady, although paid sabbaticals have seen some growth.

(Another study finds a starker picture: A June 2016 WorldatWork survey  (opens in a new tab) [PDF] found that just 10 percent of organizations offered sabbatical programs in 2016, down from 15 percent in 2010.)

In most cases, sabbaticals—effectively “gap years” for adults—aren’t covered under the current employment structure. As The New York Times put it last month  (opens in a new tab): “As a result, most adult gap experiences require quitting a job.”

A recent article in Harvard Business Review makes the case that more employers should consider offering sabbaticals, citing various  (opens in a new tab) studies  (opens in a new tab) that highlight the benefits to both employees (who get a chance to recharge their batteries and reduce stress) and to employers (who gain versatility by temporarily replacing the worker).

“At the very least, having people rotate out for an extended period of time allows organizations to stress-test their organizational chart,” HBR contributor David Burkus wrote  (opens in a new tab). “Ideally, no team should be so dependent on any one person that productivity grinds to a halt during an extended vacation. And while it may look good on paper, the only way to know for sure is to test it.”

(iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)