Just wondered if I could pick your brains.
I have received a sabbatical leave request from the head of a department - he would like 4 weeks unpaid leave from the end June 2016.
We do not have a career break policy.
He has explained that he has a plan in place to ensure the department runs efficently in his absence.
The MD has asked me to consider the implication of saying yes/no!
I am incline to say yes, if he can produce a clear documented plan of what he has put in place to make sure all runs well in his absence!
Does anyone have any experience that they could share?
Thanks
Replies
Hi Sarah
This is an interesting one and often depends on the context of the organisation, interesting approach by the MD.
It depends on many factors, I recall asking for a career break to travel at one point in my career, and the business took so long to come back to me, it never transpired as a project came up. It left a bad taste and agreeing to the sabbitcal can be a strong non financial reward. That said June is pretty close and not that far away, do you know what has triggered the request?
One thing to consider if you do agree what you plan to do with ts and cs in terms of suspending these for the unpaid break e.g. pension contributions during the period and to get this agreed in writing up front.
I hope this helps
Sarah