How to prepare for a sabbatical

A year-long vacation, and paid too? Yes, it’s not fiction. It really exists and is called a sabbatical. We’ll tell you what it is, why it’s needed, and who gets it.

What is a sabbatical?

A sabbatical is a long break from work while maintaining a job. It is also called a creative vacation, since during this time a person travels, does research, volunteers, or creates. A sabbatical can last from 1-3 months to 3 years.

The term “sabbatical” itself goes back to the Jewish “Shabbat”. In Judaism, Shabbat is a holy day on which one must rest.

A sabbatical can be either paid or unpaid. This issue is resolved differently in each company. Some pay for it in full, some partially, and some simply let the employee rest at their own expense.

Sabbaticals were first practiced in the US in the 19th century in the academic environment. American colleges used them to attract teachers. Once every seven years, they were given a sabbatical. By the beginning of the 20th century, US government agencies began offering sabbaticals to employees who wanted to do research. In 1977, McDonald’s became the first company to offer employees paid academic leave.

How Sabbatical Became a Trend

Although the sabbatical dates back almost 200 years, it has become a trend relatively recently. After the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the “great layoff” began to gain momentum in the United States . Isolation during lockdown and remote work forced many people to rethink their lives, so they began to leave their jobs en masse. Companies had to adapt to the new reality and treat employees more carefully in order to retain them.

In Russia, sabbatical is an exotic phenomenon. It is known that in the academic environment, only the National Research University Higher School of Economics officially practices it. Sber and the IT company KROK have an unpaid option for sabbatical . Previously, the Russian branch of SAP also provided sabbatical .

Why do you need a sabbatical and how is it different from a simple vacation?

Sabbaticals differ from standard leave in that they involve a longer break from work, allowing for a genuine break from work life. A sabbatical is not the same as a career break, as the employee intends to return to work, and the manager ensures that the position will remain open and waiting for him. In this sense, a sabbatical is more like maternity leave .

Sabbaticals are primarily used to prevent employee burnout. Providing long breaks from work can inspire employees and reduce turnover. It can also be a good way to retain talented employees and show that they are valued by their superiors.

For an employee, a sabbatical can be an opportunity to improve skills or retrain. You can also temporarily work in another field without “burning bridges.”

A sabbatical allows an employee to fully rest and recover. Breaking away from the daily routine and forgetting about work responsibilities can be beneficial for the psyche and body. Research shows that sabbaticals cause profound positive changes in a person. In addition to restoring health, some vacationers were able to rethink their lives, and grew personally and professionally.

How to prepare for a sabbatical and how to arrange it

The vast majority of companies do not have an internal policy on sabbaticals – everything is decided individually. The company has the right to independently set the duration of the sabbatical and its conditions. However, some organizations do have regulations for providing creative leaves. For example, the National Research University Higher School of Economics officially issues paid sabbaticals for up to 6 months.

McDonald’s employees are also officially entitled to take an eight-week sabbatical for every 10 years of continuous service with the corporation.

Regardless of the conditions for granting a long vacation, it is necessary to thoroughly prepare for it. Here are some tips on how to plan a sabbatical:

Start saving money. No matter how you plan to spend your vacation, start saving money in advance. This is especially important if you don’t plan to take a temporary job during your sabbatical. In any case, a financial cushion never hurt anyone.
Decide what kind of vacation you need. What are your goals? Do you want to study or improve your health? Understanding this will help you focus on the goal and set priorities.
Decide how long you’ll be away. It’s important to have at least a rough idea of how long you’ll be away. This will affect how much money you need to put aside. You may also be limited by family or work commitments.
Let your employer know about your plans in advance . You need to talk openly with your boss and explain the reasons why you want to take a time out.

How to conduct a sabbatical

What to do during the sabbatical is up to you. We have collected several ideas of what you can do during a long vacation.

Take care of your health. Work can be stressful, and it’s very damaging to your health. On vacation, you can check up and develop some healthy habits, such as doing morning exercises or getting into healthy eating habits. Finally, you can turn off your alarm and get a good night’s sleep.
Take an internship at another company. This is an opportunity to try yourself in a new profession and understand whether you need it.
Get an education or new skills . This can include everything from getting a first or second higher education, certification, advanced training, to workshops on neural networks. In recent years, many technological solutions have appeared, so even experienced specialists need to study and regularly improve their skills.
Finish tasks and projects. Perhaps, while you were working, you did not have enough time to renovate your apartment, collect information for your portfolio and a bunch of other important, but not urgent, tasks. Sabbatical is the perfect time to sort them out.
Chat with loved ones. Sabbatical is a great opportunity to spend quality time with family, visit relatives, and help parents. If your relatives are scattered around the country, you can visit them.
Meet new people. Expanding your social circle will enrich your life. You can make new acquaintances while traveling, at various events of interest, or online.
Sign up to volunteer . This practice is good for mental health and is a great way to develop teamwork and communication skills. You can work at an animal shelter, a nursing home, or participate in environmental campaigns such as planting trees and cleaning up trash.
Tidy up your home. Harmonious organization of living space is important for productive living. You can sort out closets, sell or give away unnecessary books and other things.
Take up teaching. Many professionals use their long leave to share their experience with younger professionals. You can teach at a university, community center, or other educational institution.
Go on a trip . A regular vacation is limited in time, and not everyone has enough time for a full-fledged trip. During a sabbatical, you can fully enjoy the trip or even live for a while in another region or country.
Move. Moving to another apartment, city or country is always a hassle. It requires nerves of steel and time. It is certainly calmer to do this during the sabbatical.
Bring creative ideas to life. Sabbatical is a great time to write a book or screenplay, create paintings, and compose songs.

What could be wrong with sabbatical

It would seem that a sabbatical is a pure pleasure for an employee. However, there are several pitfalls that it is better to think about in advance:

emotional detachment from the company (during a long pause);
the temptation not to return to work after experiencing a different way of life;
bureaucratic problems with health insurance and other benefits;
lack of money for the sabbatical if it is not paid.

For employers, the sabbatical also has many potential downsides :

the need to find another employee to replace the one who has gone on sabbatical; as a result, labor productivity may be reduced;
dissatisfaction among employees who were delegated the vacationer’s duties;
the likelihood that the employee will not return at all ;
Fully paid leave can cost an employer a pretty penny