Factsheet: Breaks from work

April 2006

What do you want?

You need to decide how long you would like to take off and for what purpose you would take leave.

What do you want to achieve? Many employers may be more willing to agree to a request if they see a development opportunity for you.

Ensure that your employment rights are not adversely affected as a result of taking a break.

Career breaks

Introduction

A career break is a period of unpaid leave from work, usually lasting between one and five years. You have an agreement with your employer that you will return to your old or similar job in the future. Pay and benefits normally cease during this period and you will no longer be an employee.

Who does it?

Career breaks were pioneered by the high street banks and other financial institutions in the 1980s. The NHS has also operated a career break scheme since 1990. Many other larger employers developed their own schemes following this, primarily as a way of retaining skilled people.

What's on offer?

Although mainly taken by women, men also take breaks for caring reasons.

Rick Lavender was a Grade 5 Customer Services Officer with a high street bank when he took a career break to look after his two children. His wife had been a Personal Account Manager with The same bank for 21 years. The decision for Rick to take the break seemed sensible as the majority of his wages were taken up with childminding fees and his wife had the better job prospects.

Although career breaks have traditionally been associated with parenting young children, increasingly they can be taken for a range of reasons.

Martin Hughes is an educational psychologist for a City Council. In October 1999 he left to work in a similar role in Singapore until December 2001. He negotiated a long-term leave arrangement and returned to work in March 2002 after a short period of time travelling. "There was no formal scheme I could use as a basis for my negotiation. I explained that I wanted leave for about 30 months returning to my existing or a similar post. They were particularly concerned about my replacement as the person would have tenure having more than two years experience."

Martin returned to find someone else in his post but she has found another job and he is now back in his original role. "Coming back felt strange and I am still going through a period of readjustment. My employer probably didn't gain anything tangible from my break but they did get me back when there is a shortage of educational psychologists." He is very pleased about the experience and sees that it has had personal rather than professional benefits. He now feels more confident. "It was gratifying to find the skills I had developed were applicable in a different context. It was a big adventure with a safety net."

Advantages

• Demonstrates a long term commitment to you by your employer.
• Guaranteed return to work alleviates the worry of finding another job after the break.
• A break can provide an extension to maternity leave which many people find too short.
• Childcare and other caring responsibilities can be resolved for a specific period, without resigning from work.
• You can keep in touch with work on a regular basis, making it easier to return to work.
• You could develop new skills.

A well known high street bank has a “responsibility break”, where employees with one year's service are entitled to take a six month break to care for a sick child, elderly or disabled person .

Disadvantages

• Career breaks are unpaid and mean the loss of salary and benefits.
• You may find that the world of work has changed significantly during your break. For example, people who take a five year break (the maximum allowed in many schemes) will find technology has changed: email was unusual five years ago, but is now commonplace.
• You may find that your team, department or organisation has changed. Reorganisation is becoming commonplace as markets change rapidly.
• The employer's guarantee of your job on return may mean little in practice.
• Many schemes stipulate that breaks can only be taken for caring purposes.

Working out the details

• Continuous employment - It is important that you maintain a continuing employment relationship with your employer during the break to ensure that your service is counted as continuous when you return.
• Keeping in touch - This is a very important feature of a career break. Many formal schemes require you to work in the organisation for two or three weeks a year to keep your skill levels up. Employers have developed different ways of maintaining contact: mailing company magazines, distance learning, updating workshops and an annual work period.
• You should be re-employed on terms and conditions no less favourable than at the start of the break.
• You should return at the same grade to a suitable job.
• You should remain a member of the pension scheme, although no contributions will be made. There may be an option to buy extra pension on return.
• Three months notice of return to work is reasonable.
• There should be a period of retraining and confidence building on return.

There remains some confusion about the exact legal status of someone who is on a career break. A recent case which went to the Court of Appeal involved a woman who had been on a career break for 4 years and then was later made redundant. Before she left on the break she was given a P45 and her benefits ceased. During the break she was required to work 2 weeks a year for Marks & Spencer and could not work for anyone else without informing Marks & Spencer beforehand. On making her redundant, her employer only paid her redundancy pay based on the years after her career break. At first the court decided that her contract of employment continued while she was on the career break and she was "absent by arrangement" under the Employment Rights Act 1996. On appeal, however, it was decided that the career break had broken her continuity of employment and Marks & Spencer were right to calculate her redundancy payment on only the time after her career break. (Curr v Marks & Spencer plc. 2003)

Sabbaticals

Introduction

Sabbatical leave is a period of time off in addition to annual leave, generally awarded on the basis of length of service. Sometimes people are allowed to use the leave as they wish, for example as a long holiday, voluntary work or more time to pursue a particular interest. In other cases sabbaticals are used for training or career development. Although some sabbaticals are paid others are partially paid or unpaid.

In the past sabbatical leave has almost entirely been a benefit for academics who could take leave every seventh year. One university suggested that the aim was "to release academics from normal university work enabling them to pursue scholarly interests and maintain their professional standing so that they may return to their posts with renewed vigour, perspective and insight."

Who does it?

In the USA about 10% of companies have formal sabbatical leave schemes. In the UK the figure is much lower, but the government does not publish statistics. Recently companies have offered sabbaticals for a range of different reasons:

• As a retention device - a reward for long service.
• As a guard against burnout where work is intense and involves long hours.
• As a means of keeping staff creative and productive.
• As a means to manage a downturn in activity.

What's on offer?

Judy Morgan works for an American company. She used her sabbatical to travel inEurope and decided to change her job on return.

"I was on a train going through Austria with my Walkman on looking out at the mountains and singing at the top of my lungs. It was such a feeling of freedom, and that I was in control of my life. I realised I could do something different. In this day and age we move so quickly, we don't have time to sit down and reflect about our lives. Sabbaticals aren't a solution for how society moves, but they're a really great opportunity to take time to reflect."
Ilana Debare, Tech Firms are High on Sabbaticals in San Francisco Chronicle 9/6/97.

Paid sabbatical leave

Some organisations do provide paid sabbaticals. This is often as a reward for long service. The Guardian newspaper allows journalists to take four weeks paid leave in addition to annual leave after completion of four years’ service. The Guardian's agreement stipulates that "the sabbatical is intended for intellectual refreshment and members shall not take regular journalistic work while on this holiday." In contrast the John Lewis Partnership allows staff to take 26 weeks paid leave after 26 years of service.

The London Borough of Greenwich offers a paid sabbatical of eight weeks after 20 years’ continuous local government service, with the last five years with Greenwich. There are no conditions and up to four weeks can be added from annual leave.

Partly paid sabbatical leave

Even more recently some large companies have offered sabbaticals as an alternative to redundancies during a downturn in activity. For example Accenture, has offered staff who have worked for the company for a least one year, the opportunity to take six to 12 months off work on 20% of their salary plus standard company benefits. According to Accenture: "We cannot afford to lose our top people. This way we get to keep them and they get to do something they have always wanted to do. People can do whatever they like - except work for a direct competitor."

Unpaid sabbatical leave

In many organisations requests for such leave would be considered under an agreement on 'unpaid special leave'. Alternatively, for a longer break, they could come under a career break scheme. Alfred McAlpine Construction (IDS Study 724, Time off, February 2002) offers an unpaid sabbatical of between one week and three months after five years service. There are no ineligible activities, but they must be 'appropriate and agreed with the line manager'. American Express offer an unpaid sabbatical of between three and six months for travel, personal development and community involvement. This is awarded after five years service with above satisfactory performance ratings for the previous three years.

Advantages

• Time away from work is a positive way to rest and replenish yourself.
• It can provide an opportunity to learn and study.

Disadvantages

• In most cases the sabbatical will be at your expense.
• You may find the return to work difficult particularly if no one is covering for you in your absence.

Other leave schemes

Holiday Purchase or accumulated annual leave:

Some employers allow employees to trade in their holiday entitlement. This usually takes two forms:

• 'Buying' extra days of annual leave in exchange for a lower salary. This is an arrangement available at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Nationwide.
• Carrying forward or accumulating their leave by rolling this over for future years. This particularly suits employees who have family and friends overseas.

For three years running Olga did not take two of her six weeks annual holiday entitlement and saved it in her accumulated annual leave bank. In the fourth year she took the six accumulated weeks, together with four weeks of that year's annual leave and visited her family abroad for ten weeks. She applied to take the leave a year in advance, following the rules of her employer’s scheme.

Phil Malpas is an IT consultant who works for a building society. He has a passion for photography and has both 'bought' and 'accumulated' extra leave to undertake extended photographic tours of Europe and the USA. "[My employers] always supported me because they like to see my work. They know that it is my choice and it is something that I love to do. I think if they had laid down the law I would simply have said 'I am out of here' anyway. But I am lucky in that my job has quarterly peaks and troughs so I try to work around that."
Guardian, 4/5/02

Special leave

A supermarket chain offers 'Benidorm' and carers leave, both of which enable employees aged 50 and over, in any job, to take up to three months unpaid leave, without losing their employment status. The company also offers study leave which enables students to stop work altogether or reduce their hours during term-time or during exams.

Study leave

Study leave is time off given to carry out education that is not necessarily related to the job, although it may be to gain a professional qualification. A trade union led campaign is currently lobbying for a right for paid educational leave of 35 hours a year.

How to negotiate a career break, sabbatical or other leave

Where your employer has a policy:

• You need to check the eligibility criteria. Does it apply to you?
• Look at the terms of the break such as company benefits, the arrangements for keeping in touch and returning to work. Do these fit in with your needs?

Where your employer has no policy:

• Ask your trade union or professional body to help you in your negotiations.
• You need to collect together information to sell the idea to your manager.
• Find out what other similar organisations are offering.
• You may need to borrow a scheme from another organisation.

In either case you need to stress the benefits to the organisation. Put the suggested arrangement in writing and ask for a formal agreement with your employer.

Management issues for all breaks:

• Will the option be available to all staff?
• What will the qualifying period be?
• Will there be any restriction on what the leave can be used for?
• Does the leave have to be taken in one block?
• On what grounds can a request be refused?
• What happens if the employee is sick during the break? Will the leave be extended?
• Will there be a limit to the number of staff in any one section who will be on leave at the same time?
• How will the work be covered while the person is away?
• How will remaining staff be affected?

Useful contacts

Working Families

1-3 Berry St, London, EC1V 0AA

Telephone: 0800 013 0313

Waving not drowning project for parents of disabled children: Janet on 020 7253 7243

www.workingfamilies.org.uk

info@workingfamilies.org.uk

Registered Charity No 1099808

Company No 4727690

Equal Opportunities Commission
offers advice and publications on sex discrimination and how to bring your case to an employment tribunal.
Advice line: 0845 601 5901
Email: info@eoc.org.uk or
visit the website at www.eoc.org.uk

Citizens Advice Bureau
You can find out where your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau is through the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux www.nacab.org.uk. Advice from the CAB is available at www.adviceguide.org.uk

ACAS

Free advice line giving employment law advice

Telephone: 0845 747 47 47

www.acas.org.uk

Community Legal Service (Directory)

For finding a solicitor with the CLS quality mark in your area

Telephone: 0845 608 11 22

www.justask.org.uk

Employment Tribunal Enquiry Line

Telephone orderline: 0845 795 9775

www.ets.gov.uk

Law Centres Federation

To find out if there is a free legal advice centre in your area

0207 387 8570

www.lawcentres.org.uk

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