Anonymous wrote:There are no guarantees right? I mean if he leaves his job for three or four months is there some sort of promissory note that his job will be there when he gets back?
If someone was missing from my organization for a day or two they are missed but after two weeks the extra work just gets absorbed and
we’d realize the person wasn’t really needed anyway, I would be worried that that would happen to my job if I left it for so long.

Sabbatical doesn’t sound like any for-profit business behavior, is this like some sort of government organization or higher ed?

It’s not uncommon in high tech.

There are no guarantees right? I mean if he leaves his job for three or four months is there some sort of promissory note that his job will be there when he gets back?
If someone was missing from my organization for a day or two they are missed but after two weeks the extra work just gets absorbed and
we’d realize the person wasn’t really needed anyway, I would be worried that that would happen to my job if I left it for so long.

Sabbatical doesn’t sound like any for-profit business behavior, is this like some sort of government organization or higher ed?

NP. I’ve worked at high-intensity jobs my entire career and had three different sabbaticals at four different employers. I used each to travel extensively. The lengths varied but they ranged from four weeks to twelve weeks.

1. Corporate sabbaticals are usually not the same as academic sabbaticals so all the people talking about academic sabbaticals are giving incorrect advice. There is typically no expectation of job-related improvements.

2. You need to understand the dynamics of the company. In some companies it is expected, you can truly not check in at work, and there is a culture of supporting them because everyone knows they can get one if they work hard and long enough. In other companies it is seen as some test of whether you are actually valued or not, and whether you value the job or not. I left one company about 18 months after my sabbatical (8 weeks) for a better job and someone told me “I knew you were going to leave when you took the full sabbatical. Everyone who takes the full sabbatical leaves within two years.” It wasn’t an incorrect observation.

3. In every company I know of, approval is discretionary. I’ve never seen it be automatic.

4. Paid versus unpaid and health insurance can vary. Usually there is some sort of grace period for health insurance with longer leaves. In all my cases, I kept paying for my part of health insurance even when I went into the unpaid part of my sabbatical. Two of my sabbaticals were paid, the other was partially paid.

5. Practically speaking, there can be a career risk. I have seen senior people re-orged because they were out and people realized that they functioned better with the person gone. You need to have clarity on your skill set and role, and company culture around the sabbatical.

6. He’s going to sit and play video games or be online the whole time if he is not planning anything. These take planning to do anything else. Yes, that would bother me too, but what you describe as far as him not doing anything to help with the kids is already terrible.

Finally he will look like a fool to his employer if he doesn’t have a couple things he accomplished other than, “I relaxed at home.”

Sabbaticals are just a job perk and retention tool for consultants. They dangle a big promotion, you take on in your 30s and then hope for the best.

Look, a person who’s a waste of space will waste the 2-3 months.

A person who’s engaged in life will do a mix of travel, home or family enhancements, exercise and self care, work reading/ enrichment.

Anonymous wrote:OMG, the OP needs to mind her own business.

I'm confused, though. In my world, a sabbatical is for improving your job skills, not for sitting around. My dad did his at the Niels Bohr Institute.

He was probably in research, which is the opposite of stressful, but which does benefit from doing other professional pursuits.

Ops dh is in corporate. Sabbaticals in corporate are because the Job is extremely intense and people are offered sabbaticals (rarely) as an opportunity to reset, to avoid burnout. Theres no benefit to doing a bs professional certificate or teaching a course. The benefit is to have time to do more exercise and watch tv. That’s the whole point.

Op is the most unsympathetic wife ever if she doesn’t give him this time to chill and contribute approximately the same as he was before.

I know op said she works, but I’m guessing her job is well less intense and lower earning.

job stability

Op is worried about his hob stability -- and yet -- wants to spend a lot of money. House renovation? How much money do you make Op?

OMG, the OP needs to mind her own business.

I'm confused, though. In my world, a sabbatical is for improving your job skills, not for sitting around. My dad did his at the Niels Bohr Institute.