Management clinic - sabbaticals: Big break

It is the sign of a good employer to consider allowing periods of unpaid leave for the purposes of allowing good employees to go travelling or take a career break. This form of unpaid leave is usually called a sabbatical and can be an effective staff retention strategy.

Sabbaticals allow employers to keep valuable, committed employees within their workforce who might otherwise leave to travel and then find alternative employment upon their return. An employer does not need to have a specific written retention or sabbatical leave policy in order to allow this practice to take place, although in larger organisations it is preferable.

All that is required is to assess an individual employee's request for sabbatical leave in a consistent way. Recommended criteria for accepting a sabbatical request would be an application from a good performer - not currently subject to disciplinary or capability procedures and with an acceptable appraisal score if applicable - with long service of three to five years or more. These criteria can then be balanced with business needs and the operational requirements that have to be met for the time in which the employee would be released from their position.

Ordinarily, leave of this kind is granted as a retention tool and as such the employee wouldn't lose their continuity of service as a consequence of taking unpaid time off, however, some employers choose to allow this only with a break in continuity of service. Under these circumstances, the employee leaves the company and loses their continuity of service-based benefits as currently enjoyed, with a guarantee of a fresh period of employment upon return from their travels.

This practice is less popular with employees because they lose out in terms of job security, pay scales and enhanced terms and conditions. It is imperative that, if this approach is taken, this is discussed in full and the employee chooses to resign in writing prior to commencement of the period of travel. An offer letter must be issued by the employer, setting the date on which the new period of employment will commence upon their return.

In the current economic climate, allowing sabbatical leave can be a useful cost-cutting measure to avoid a possible redundancy situation and, at the same time, save thousands of pounds from the wage sheet.

Both the government's Bureau for Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development recommend that, in a potential redundancy situation, an employer should consider offering unpaid sabbatical leave as a way to avoid compulsory redundancy consultations. This also allows employers to make a cost saving, retain the employee's skills and then reassess the situation after a further business quarter in the hope that the economic situation and trading conditions will have improved.

Equally, an employee might return to work with enhanced motivation and life skills, demonstrating increased commitment to the organisation following their career break and performing better as a consequence.

Peter Done, managing director, Peninsula

Source: Professional Broking – July/August 2010