Analysis: Research suggests that a break from the workplace would benefit employes and employer in ways that are not immediately evident
There have been a number of reports of late about public service employees who have taken very long career breaks from their jobs. This includes reports of employees who have taken five, 10 and 12-year breaks from their work, while their positions have been held open for them on their return (and, more importantly, preventing them from being replaced while on break).
Current civil service policies allow employees with sufficient accumulated service to take unpaid career breaks, allowing them to go back to an equivalent position when this break ends. These breaks are often taken by female employees with young children, especially in situations where dependable childcare is not available, and there is evidence that taking an extended break from work can hurt a person's later career prospects. Others take career breaks to care for with elderly parents or to get education and training that will sharpen their job skills.
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From RTÉ News in 2022, Department of Education says there is no plan to eliminate career breaks
While multi-year breaks may sometimes seem excessive, there is another form of a break from work that has long existed in academic jobs and that is becoming increasingly popular in the corporate world – the sabbatical.
A sabbatical is a defined leave from work that gives an employee a chance to refresh and revive. In academic jobs, sabbaticals have traditionally been offered every seven years, much like the Sabbath comes once every week. Some academic sabbaticals offer a semester leave and others offer a full year off at half pay, with the requirement that a specific plan be developed and approved for the activities that will be undertaken during the sabbatical.
In my career, I have taken visiting appointments at other universities or at research facilities and have used sabbaticals to develop new lines of research and undertake projects that would not be possible if I had my normal teaching and administrative responsibilities. My sabbaticals have resulted in several books and in major research grants and contracts.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's The Business, Louise Campbell from Robert Walters Recruitment discusses the rise of The Great Sabbatical
A sabbatical is a wonderful opportunity to gain new skills and explore new directions in your field, and they are highly valued in academia. However, they are not offered merely as a benefit, but rather than as an investment that often pays substantial dividends. Sabbaticals help employees cope with the stresses and strains of the workplace and it often pays off in terms of the increasing effectiveness of employees when they return from their sabbaticals.
Even if you do not accomplish a great deal while on sabbatical, a regular break from meetings, the workplace, and your colleagues increases the likelihood that you will contribute more to your organisation after a sabbatical than you were able to contribute before taking one. Organisations that provide sabbaticals usually view them as a win-win proposition, allowing them to recruit, retain, and improve their employees and to avoid the burnout that a nonstop grind can produce.
Should civil servants be given opportunities for sabbaticals? The available evidence suggests that it would benefit both employees and the State, sometimes in ways that are not immediately evident. As the availability of sabbaticals in the corporate world increases, a sabbatical will become an increasingly important tool for recruiting the best candidate to join the civil service rather than the corporate world.
From TEDx Talks, entrepreneur Dennis DiDonna on how one of the best things you can do for your career and personal well being is to take extended time off your job
I know that whenever I was considering a career move (I worked at five different universities over the course of my career), I always considered the sabbatical policies the universities I applied to and interviewed with, and I would have been very reluctant to consider an academic job that did not support sabbaticals. The Civil Service could up their recruiting game substantially if they offered opportunities for sabbaticals!
Finally, a sabbatical is often a genuine relief for your co-workers. Many of us have fervently wished that particular co-workers would just go away, even if only for a few months. Knowing that your most annoying colleague will be taking a sabbatical in a few years makes it considerably easier to put up with his or her behavior in the meantime. We usually think of a sabbatical as a benefit for the person who is taking a leave, but this leave is sometimes welcome by your co-workers and it can contribute to reducing stress and conflict within organisations
A sabbatical is not a cure-all. If you have to leave work to care for young children or aging parents (this type of leave falls more heavily on female than on male employees), a short sabbatical will not solve your problem. Nevertheless, instead of reacting to recent stories of employees on long-term leave by reducing the availability of work leaves, employers like the State should consider strategies for making limited leaves from work more readily available. Supporting a work climate where employees take advantage of sabbatical leaves means they will come back with more skills, a broader outlook and more energy to tackle the world of work.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
