Hi all,
I have heard about some SABBATICAL PLANS. Roughly, I understand it as a long leave for employees. But I would like more detailed information on what exactly sabbaticals mean and what is the purpose of these long leaves allowed by companies.
Are companies in the corporate world really allowing and planning for such long leaves for each and every employee in today's competitive, long working hours age?
Please help!
Thanks and regards,
YASHSWA
From India, Mumbai
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1I have heard about some SABBATICAL PLANS. Roughly, I understand it as a long leave for employees. But I would like more detailed information on what exactly sabbaticals mean and what is the purpose of these long leaves allowed by companies.
Are companies in the corporate world really allowing and planning for such long leaves for each and every employee in today's competitive, long working hours age?
Please help!
Thanks and regards,
YASHSWA
From India, Mumbai
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Hi,
A leave is usually taken every seventh year. For a clearer understanding, "Friday is a sabbatical day for Muslims." For example, the Central Government is still following such procedures. I am not sure whether private organizations are following these procedures or not.
Regards,
Sridhar.B
From India, Hyderabad
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A leave is usually taken every seventh year. For a clearer understanding, "Friday is a sabbatical day for Muslims." For example, the Central Government is still following such procedures. I am not sure whether private organizations are following these procedures or not.
Regards,
Sridhar.B
From India, Hyderabad
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Hi,
This is the recent HR trend/practice being implemented. It means employees are given a leave for a long period which depends on the tenure of service whereby they can go and explore their area of interest/hobby and conduct a study/research on whatever they see fit.
The return from sabbatical leaves them feeling refreshed and rejuvenated from the monotonous and routine job.
You can surely find a detailed report on sabbaticals in the Human Capital magazine - Oct'06/Nov'06 edition.
Sushil
From India, Mumbai
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This is the recent HR trend/practice being implemented. It means employees are given a leave for a long period which depends on the tenure of service whereby they can go and explore their area of interest/hobby and conduct a study/research on whatever they see fit.
The return from sabbatical leaves them feeling refreshed and rejuvenated from the monotonous and routine job.
You can surely find a detailed report on sabbaticals in the Human Capital magazine - Oct'06/Nov'06 edition.
Sushil
From India, Mumbai
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Dear All,
I have some questions regarding this new trend in HR. As per the explanation provided by other friends in the forum, it's a long leave given to an employee after a long tenure in the company.
1. Is there any specific number of days/month given to employees?
2. Is this a paid leave for the employee?
3. Does the company pay the employee for his study/research, etc.?
From India, Bangalore
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I have some questions regarding this new trend in HR. As per the explanation provided by other friends in the forum, it's a long leave given to an employee after a long tenure in the company.
1. Is there any specific number of days/month given to employees?
2. Is this a paid leave for the employee?
3. Does the company pay the employee for his study/research, etc.?
From India, Bangalore
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Hi, I also have the above doubts in my mind. Please clarify the one who know about it. Regards, Thresia Paul
From United States, Sylmar
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From United States, Sylmar
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hi i would like to know whether this paractice is specific to any particular industry. Is it some sort of parctice for maintaining Work life balance? thank you
From India, Kochi
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From India, Kochi
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Dear Yashwa & All,
As rightly mentioned by Sushil, do read the October issue of Human Capital.
Regarding the queries:
- A sabbatical can be anything between 1 week to 2 years.
- A certain period of service (say 2-5 years) is required with the company.
- It depends on company policy, but yes, it is very much a paid leave.
- Again, it depends on company policy; the course fees might be paid by the company (more often).
- The purpose is recognizing one's contribution, motivation, and energizing them, giving employees a break from monotony.
- For long sabbaticals, they have to be well-planned, like charge handover and stuff.
Hope this information is of some help.
Regards,
Shobha Pandey
From India, Mumbai
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As rightly mentioned by Sushil, do read the October issue of Human Capital.
Regarding the queries:
- A sabbatical can be anything between 1 week to 2 years.
- A certain period of service (say 2-5 years) is required with the company.
- It depends on company policy, but yes, it is very much a paid leave.
- Again, it depends on company policy; the course fees might be paid by the company (more often).
- The purpose is recognizing one's contribution, motivation, and energizing them, giving employees a break from monotony.
- For long sabbaticals, they have to be well-planned, like charge handover and stuff.
Hope this information is of some help.
Regards,
Shobha Pandey
From India, Mumbai
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Hi Yashswa & Others,
In furtherance towards a better work-life balance, Companies offer time off work in addition to their other types of leave. Sabbatical leave is a voluntary/planned arrangement between employers and their employees and can be paid, partly paid or, more commonly, unpaid, such that the employee maintains a lien on his job. Some other Companies have a structured way of offering qualifying employees this leave. The various conditions such as minimum years of services rendered, qualifying criteria, tenure of leave, payment of salary, etc. depending upon the respective HR policy of the Company.
Companies offer sabbatical leave for a variety of reasons: - because Companies want employees a recuperation time, most commonly for higher studies but also including take a long holiday, climb mountains, write a book or do some voluntary social work. It's a breathing space in which they can recharge their batteries and experience a different kind of life before they return refreshed.
The main purpose of sabbaticals is to offer employees an opportunity to take a break from the long hours and stress of office life. Sabbatical are perceived to carry many benefits for the employer some of which are:
- It provides opportunities for employee to acquire new
skills/education/knowledge. Some companies insist on formal reviews
to ensure you keep your knowledge and skill levels up to standard.
- It is a way of saving money when business is slack, temporary
downsizing. Few companies have resorted to mass sabbaticals,
strategically.
- It can be a reward for long, dedicated service rendered
- It can help prevent mid-career stress and burnouts
- It keeps an employee refreshed, creative and productive
- It is a means of controlling employee attrition and maintaining
employee motivation levels.
It's vital to remain an employee of the company during the break to ensure that one's service is counted as continuous upon re-joining. Any break in contract may not count in length-of-service pension and retiral contributions including PF, Superannuation and Gratuity.
Another reason for maintaining continuity is to protect an employee against redundancy while being away. Such employee will only have the same rights to redundancy payments as anyone else if he can prove two years' continuity of employment. Continuity of employment will not be protected if that continuity is broken.
There is no law in India that guarantees anyone an automatic right to be granted a sabbatical. This is a voluntary arrangement which is agreed between employers and employees based on established HR policy on this subject.
If an employee would like to ask for one under a policy, it pays to think through what he want in detail, so that he can approach his superior with a plan for a mutually beneficial arrangement, unless otherwise specified in the HR policy.
An employee would first need to decide how long he would like to take off and for what purpose with the prescribed ceiling defined under the policy. How will he make best use of the time to enhance his life?
Next, he would need to decide exactly what he want to achieve. What do he want to gain from the experience? The organization mostly looks for a complimentary benefit from such sabbatical leave.
Most organizations insist that the employee spell out the learning experiences that he will bring back to work, benefitting the organization. He accordingly needs to identify the benefits – including savings if the leave is unpaid - for the Company, if possible.
Some Companies insist that the employee will plan and organize how his leave can be organised with disruption of work, i.e., who will do his work while he is on leave.
If and when his sabbatical is agreed, he may, under the policy, need to:
Plan how he keeps in touch with his peers, superior, colleagues, subordinates and with what is happening in the industry
Agrees upon a programme of review meetings or emails, to ensure that the sabbatical is continuing as planned and to identify any problems while he stays in touch.
Decide how he shall organise his return to work, i.e. will he need a re-orientation/mentor or say, will he need re-training, etc.
Planned properly, sabbaticals are a valuable way of ensuring that an employee does not have to choose between going to work and having a life.
Progressive Companies, especially some IT Companies and even some brick-and-mortar Companies are known to have such a leave for its employees with their ambit of HR best practices.
Rahul Kumar
From India, New Delhi
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In furtherance towards a better work-life balance, Companies offer time off work in addition to their other types of leave. Sabbatical leave is a voluntary/planned arrangement between employers and their employees and can be paid, partly paid or, more commonly, unpaid, such that the employee maintains a lien on his job. Some other Companies have a structured way of offering qualifying employees this leave. The various conditions such as minimum years of services rendered, qualifying criteria, tenure of leave, payment of salary, etc. depending upon the respective HR policy of the Company.
Companies offer sabbatical leave for a variety of reasons: - because Companies want employees a recuperation time, most commonly for higher studies but also including take a long holiday, climb mountains, write a book or do some voluntary social work. It's a breathing space in which they can recharge their batteries and experience a different kind of life before they return refreshed.
The main purpose of sabbaticals is to offer employees an opportunity to take a break from the long hours and stress of office life. Sabbatical are perceived to carry many benefits for the employer some of which are:
- It provides opportunities for employee to acquire new
skills/education/knowledge. Some companies insist on formal reviews
to ensure you keep your knowledge and skill levels up to standard.
- It is a way of saving money when business is slack, temporary
downsizing. Few companies have resorted to mass sabbaticals,
strategically.
- It can be a reward for long, dedicated service rendered
- It can help prevent mid-career stress and burnouts
- It keeps an employee refreshed, creative and productive
- It is a means of controlling employee attrition and maintaining
employee motivation levels.
It's vital to remain an employee of the company during the break to ensure that one's service is counted as continuous upon re-joining. Any break in contract may not count in length-of-service pension and retiral contributions including PF, Superannuation and Gratuity.
Another reason for maintaining continuity is to protect an employee against redundancy while being away. Such employee will only have the same rights to redundancy payments as anyone else if he can prove two years' continuity of employment. Continuity of employment will not be protected if that continuity is broken.
There is no law in India that guarantees anyone an automatic right to be granted a sabbatical. This is a voluntary arrangement which is agreed between employers and employees based on established HR policy on this subject.
If an employee would like to ask for one under a policy, it pays to think through what he want in detail, so that he can approach his superior with a plan for a mutually beneficial arrangement, unless otherwise specified in the HR policy.
An employee would first need to decide how long he would like to take off and for what purpose with the prescribed ceiling defined under the policy. How will he make best use of the time to enhance his life?
Next, he would need to decide exactly what he want to achieve. What do he want to gain from the experience? The organization mostly looks for a complimentary benefit from such sabbatical leave.
Most organizations insist that the employee spell out the learning experiences that he will bring back to work, benefitting the organization. He accordingly needs to identify the benefits – including savings if the leave is unpaid - for the Company, if possible.
Some Companies insist that the employee will plan and organize how his leave can be organised with disruption of work, i.e., who will do his work while he is on leave.
If and when his sabbatical is agreed, he may, under the policy, need to:
Plan how he keeps in touch with his peers, superior, colleagues, subordinates and with what is happening in the industry
Agrees upon a programme of review meetings or emails, to ensure that the sabbatical is continuing as planned and to identify any problems while he stays in touch.
Decide how he shall organise his return to work, i.e. will he need a re-orientation/mentor or say, will he need re-training, etc.
Planned properly, sabbaticals are a valuable way of ensuring that an employee does not have to choose between going to work and having a life.
Progressive Companies, especially some IT Companies and even some brick-and-mortar Companies are known to have such a leave for its employees with their ambit of HR best practices.
Rahul Kumar
From India, New Delhi
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HR Leave Policy.doc
More Fixed-To-Variab le Pay HR Trend in Corporate World.pdf