Work + Life Balance

How to Ask Your Boss for a Sabbatical

Asking for vacation is hard enough, but have you ever thought of asking for a sabbatical? Here's how to navigate the murky waters of extended time off.

By Milleigh Vo
March 14, 2022

The thought of asking for extended time off for personal pursuits can feel like a ludicrous endeavor.

In a world where, just a few years ago, most folks were feeling vacation-shamed for taking their earned vacation days, it's not surprising that a sabbatical or a leave of absence might seem like an outlandish idea.

This is a sad state of affairs considering the large body of research reaffirming the positive impact time off can yield for both the employees and their employers. Extended breaks from work are great ways to help employees to recharge, pursue their passions, and actually experience adventure. Remember adventure?

In the long run, companies that offer sabbatical programs are likely to find loyalty, increased ambition, and increased skill sets from their employees who take advantage of a longer amount of time off work.

When approached thoughtfully and strategically, the benefits of a sabbatical ripple across the individual’s life, their company, and their community at large.

What Is a Sabbatical?

Let's get one thing clear. "Sabbatical" isn’t just another word for "vacation." In fact, you should not save up vacation time to take a sabbatical. A sabbatical is an extended leave from work to do something meaningful such as travel, work on a new project, learn a skill, on just engage in some much-need self-care and rest.

Sabbaticals are typically granted to employees after a specific number of years with a company to “take a break”—paid or unpaid. Let's break (pun intended!) down these specific questions a bit more.

How Long Should Your Sabbatical Leave Be?

If your employer has a sabbatical policy, then defer to what they have. If not, most sabbaticals range between one month to a year, which is a wide range with the average (obviously) length at six months. The reason why this varies so much is because so do our jobs and industries.

A corporate career might offer two months. A higher education administrator might be able to take six months because it works with the academic year. A scientist might take a one-year sabbatical to research with a team in another country. Maybe you work in a job where August is always a slow month so you plan around that. Do some research on your specific industry and company to come up with a range.

When all else fails, a Chief People Officer told me a starting place is one week for each year you've worked. So if you've worked at a job for five years, that would mean five weeks of sabbatical as a starting place.

How Long Do You Need to Work First Before Asking for a Sabbatical?

Again, there is no hard and fast rule here because jobs vary and the intensity of jobs do as well. However, employers often do require a certain number of years of employment before they will consider this ask. This period could be a range of two to six years before you ask for your first sabbatical.

And if you're thinking about asking for another sabbatical, you're looking at working for another set number of years. Unlike vacation time that usually increases with your number of years working, your years between sabbaticals remain the same.

For example, my friend's company offers a six-week sabbatical every seven years. That seven-year time period does not change whether you're an entry-level or a senior-level employee.

Can I Get Paid During a Sabbatical?

Earlier we mentioned that a sabbatical can be paid or unpaid. That's still true ,and it really depends on how long you're on sabbatical and what your employer is willing to offer. Like in most negotiations, start with your top option and be willing to meet your employer in the middle.

For example, if you've worked someone for five years and you want a fully-paid six-week sabbatical, start with that. Maybe you and your employer settle on a four-week sabbatical at 50% pay. This will depend a lot on what you're doing on your sabbatical and how you pitch it, which we cover in detail below.

However, be prepared to not get paid, especially if your employer doesn't have a policy in place...and you work in a corporate career. Even with more information around burnout and companies worried about retaining employees, sabbaticals are not common practice.

How to Pitch Sabbatical Leave to Your Boss

The modern sabbatical has evolved to become an individual’s active pursuit of purpose and a company’s tool to attract top talent, develop high potential employees, and much more.

This article will break down how to successfully negotiate a sabbatical without the baggage of “vacation shame.”

Step 1: Understand the Risks and Be Honest With Yourself

Before diving into the tactics of negotiating a sabbatical, take a moment to be honest with yourself. Create a safe space for yourself to explore and reflect on the core reason(s) you’re pursuing a sabbatical. No judgment is warranted.

Are you unhappy with your job and want to quit? Are you bored with your work and want to explore new roles? Do you want to enhance your skills with new challenges? Do you just want a vacation? We’ve found the “5 Whys” exercise a useful tool to get glean insights.

Next, consider potential risks that may arise as a result of your request.

How will your manager, your team, and your company perceive this request? What risks, real or perceived, would your absence create for your manager, your team, and your company? Don’t dwell too much on it at this point, but consider it in your honest conversation with yourself.

Step 2: Write Down How Your Sabbatical Will Help You and Your Company

Brainstorm all the ways a sabbatical can benefit you and your company. Prove to your employer that time off isn’t just an escape, but a strategic move to invest in your growth as a contributor to the company’s success.

Here are some reasons your company may agree with:

Gain international experience in an area of strategic interest to your team and/or company
Build relationships with communities, organizations, and individuals who are of strategic interest to the company
Develop and enhance innovation, problem-solving, and cross-cultural experience to bring back to your work at the company
Learn and practice specific technical skills that are in demand within your team and/or company
Engage in meaningful self-care and rest that allows you to bring your best self back to work

According to Forbes, “...sabbaticals...provide a strong return on investment, not only for those leaving but for the company sending them away. Sabbatical leave promotes well-being, decreases stress, and provides opportunities to acquire new knowledge and skills. This is exactly what the business leaders who offer corporate sabbaticals have found.”

Step 3: Commit to a Goal Date and Tell Your Friends

Change can be scary, but you don’t have to go at it alone. Write down your goal and expected timeline and tell your friends, mentors, and peers. Communicate the goals of your career break and consider documenting the lessons you learn as you navigate it.

Studies show that people who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them. Additionally, your friends, mentors, and peers can become your informal accountability and support group.

Want additional help? Find a career coach or a group of like-minded professionals on a similar path to yourself.

Step 4: Determine What You Will Do on Your Sabbatical

Revisit the honest conversation you had with yourself in Step 1, and narrow down your options. What will you actually be doing during this sabbatical that will benefit both you and your company (see your responses to Step 2)? Here are some sabbatical ideas and their benefits.

Mutual Benefit: Gain international experience in an area of strategic interest to the team/company.
- Activity: Immerse yourself in a new country to perfect the language skills relevant to your work.
Mutual Benefit: Develop and enhance innovation, problem-solving, and cross-cultural experience to bring back to your work at the company.
- Activity: Try "experteering" and volunteer your skills with an NGO or social enterprise abroad. Co-design a meaningful pro bono project with them that draws on your experience to solve a real-world problem while stretching you to grow.

Need inspiration? Look for relevant stories of people who have embarked on this journey before you—and the rewards they experienced while putting the workplace on hold.

There's the project manager from Philips and this product manager from eBay, and there's Stefan Sagmeister’s TED talk about The Power of Time Off.

Step 5: Prepare for the Worst and Build a Counter-Response

If sabbaticals and staff development are not built into the company culture, you may encounter some resistance when you make the ask.

Equip yourself with as much information as possible, and be prepared to counter any potential objections by brainstorming a list of all the possible reasons why your manager may reject or support your request. This is also a good opportunity to loop in the informal accountability/support group you’ve developed for yourself from Step 3 for new perspectives and feedback.

Here are some examples to get you started:

Why might your manager block your sabbatical request?

The company does not have a sabbatical policy and your manager does not know how to proceed.
There is a lack of legal/HR infrastructure for supporting sabbatical leave at this time.
Your manager thinks the team’s productivity will take a hit without you.
Your manager is concerned that this is a sign you’re dissatisfied and are planning to leave the company.
Your manager is worried other members of the team will also ask for a sabbatical and thus lose too many people.

Why might your manager endorse your sabbatical request?

It helps retain you as an employee, and the people around you, in the long term.
It demonstrates to current and future employees the company’s investment in their staff.
It provides your manager and company with meaningful stories and examples to share during recruitment.
It gives other team members the opportunity to absorb new responsibilities to grow their own skills.

Step 6: Find a Champion at Your Company to Support Your Request

Don’t go at this alone. Identify individuals within your company who believe in you and can vouch for your performance and commitment. Drawing out a relationship map can help you identify and prioritize who to reach out to champion your cause.

Whether it is your mentor, coach, associate, or HR team member, find someone with whom you can discuss your plan. Work with this person to refine your approach in asking for a sabbatical.

If nothing else, this person might end up as an accountability partner to help you make the ask and stick to your goals.

Need help making the initial ask? Try one of these email templates to your mentor. (Don’t have one? Find one.)

Step 7: Put Your Game Plan Together and Make the Ask

Now that you have the nuts and bolts of your ask, let’s put it all together. Here’s a process you can follow or tweak based on your unique situation:

Build on top of past discussions. Use this as an opportunity to build on past conversations about your professional growth within the company. If you haven’t had those conversations with your manager yet, this may be a good starting point.
Begin with the end in mind. Focus the discussion on the impact you will make after returning, not just what you will do while away.
Set up a meeting with your manager. Follow these email templates as a guide.
Prepare resources to share with your manager. Provide data about the benefits of a sabbatical on an easy-to-read one-pager, along with your personal and desired action.
Follow up on your meeting. Send a follow-up email after your meeting.
Sell, sell, sell. It’s unlikely that your first conversation will result in approval, even if there is already a sabbatical policy in place at your company. Don’t let this get you down and give up. Set up more meetings and find other champions in the company. Be persistent.

Step 8: Go on Your Sabbatical + Don’t Forget to Document Your Experience

If you made it to this step, congratulations! You successfully demonstrated the value of a sabbatical experience to your employer and you’re ready to take on the new experiences, challenges, and opportunities this sabbatical will bring.

Remember to document your journey—take lots of photos and keep a journal of notes, observations, and reflections whenever you do something that ties back to the goals you’ve set and shared with your employers.

This doesn’t have to be anything formal, so long as you can look back at it for reference when you’re ready to share your experiences in a meaningful way after the sabbatical ends.

A few examples of what others have done include a blog to keep friends and family updated while developing a name for themselves within a specific industry, a portfolio or case study to demonstrate existing and newly learned skills and experience, and even proposals to take back to their employers regarding how to improve a workflow, program, or product.

Step 9: Reflect and Report on the Benefits of Your Sabbatical

Again, before we dive into tactics, let’s take a moment to acknowledge that reverse culture shock is a thing.

You may have a difficult time readjusting to the culture and values of your company and home country now that the previously familiar has become unfamiliar. Don’t panic. Here’s how you can deal with it.

To further ease your return to your company and prove to the company the sabbatical was a worthwhile investment, make sure to reflect and report back. Share your story with the following parties:

Yourself - Reflecting and revisiting your experience with yourself will help you process your experience and better articulate how the journey impacted you.
Your team - Work with your manager to schedule a “lunch-and-learn” event. Use your experience to spark discussion and new ideas with your team.
Your company’s HR team - Send them an update letting them know the work you did, how the company helped you do it, and express gratitude for the time off. Encourage them to use your story and pictures in recruiting collateral. And if they do not already have a formal sabbatical policy, urge them to develop one.
Your company’s marketing team - Share your stories and photos from the field as assets they can use for future cause-marketing initiatives.
Your company’s CSR team - If your company has a corporate social responsibility team, connect with them and share the work you’ve accomplished during your sabbatical along with the number of hours you put in for their impact report.

Email Templates to Ask for a Sabbatical

Email Template: Set Up Your Meeting

Hi [Name],

Following up on our last development conversation, I’d like to discuss some potential growth opportunities for me. Can we have a chat over a coffee or tea? I’ll love your insights on my long-term career goals and how to get there.

I have a few ideas, as well as a potentially big request, and look forward to hearing your thoughts and insight. How about a meetup next [Date] at [Time]? Alternatively, let me know what date works for you and I can adjust my calendar accordingly.

Thanks,
Name

Email Template: Find a Champion

Hello [Name],

Do you have time for a coffee or tea this week or next? I’m hoping to chat with you about an idea I’m not sure I can find internal support for. I’m worried that discussing it might limit my career, but I actually think it would be beneficial to me and the company in the long run. I would appreciate a second opinion.

Let me know if you’re able to make some time.

All the best,
You name

Email Template: Talking With HR

Hello [Name],

I’d like to set up a meeting to discuss something personal. Nothing is wrong or alarming, but I’m hoping to get your advice about something that our company does not currently offer. Do you have time this week for me to drop in to discuss it? For now, I do ask this email and our conversation be kept confidential.

Thank you,
Your Name

Email Template: Follow-Up on Your Meeting

Hi [Name],

Thank you for taking the time to discuss my hopes for a sabbatical. I know it’s a monumental task and not necessarily an easy decision. I’ve included some benefits to our company, our team, and myself as a contributing member of the team and company for your reference:

For the Company: As I intend to use my sabbatical to volunteer with social impact organizations, we can share my experience with recruiting, marketing, and CSR teams about ways our company invests in its people as well as gives back to the community at large. (Ref: INC article and FastCompany article). Also, research shows that companies offering sabbaticals see an increase in employee satisfaction, performance, cross-cultural competency, and innovative ideas.

For the Team: While this will likely mean extra work for all of us, research indicates giving more members of the team the opportunity to stretch their own skills and collaborate on new projects generates new insights and opportunities to be more efficient and effective. (Ref: Society of Human Resource Management Professionals article, HBR, and SSIR).

For My Professional Growth: This will help me develop skills that you’ve identified I should work on, including [Skill] and [Skill] (research on that here).

Can we have a follow-up meeting in the next two weeks to discuss this? In the meantime, please let me know any additional questions or concerns you have.

I do want to re-emphasize that I care about this company, my team, and my career here, and I truly feel that a sabbatical will be a great rejuvenation and skill development opportunity for me that will have a positive long-term impact for us all.

Thank you for considering my request,
Your Name

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Milleigh Vo

I’m a product manager on a mission. I thrive at the intersection of technology and social impact building products that address real-world problems. I bring my extensive cross-sector experience in nonprofit, startup, and corporate ecosystems to transform the relationship between technology, organizations, and the people they serve to build mindful products.