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November 12, 2001 Issue

What are Some Best Practices in the Area of Sabbatical Leave?

This issue's article is brought to us by Peter Loomis of Loomis Associates, Buffalo, NY. Loomis Associates provides a variety of low cost, high quality human resource consulting services to organizations throughout upstate New York. To contact Peter regarding this article, call 716-885-8130 or e-mail at pclhr@earthlink.net.

By definition, sabbatical leaves are paid absences usually provided for express purposes such as study and research, travel, community service or personal renewal. Traditionally, sabbaticals have been used by teachers in post-secondary education or by pastors in many religious denominations.

Their application in business is a relatively recent, but inconsistently used, benefit. According to the Conference Board, interest in this form of paid leave has fluctuated, depending to a large degree on economic and labor market trends. Their use as a means of recruiting and retaining employees in high-stress industries grew for a while during the 1980s and no doubt had a resurgence for this purpose in the booming 90s.

It is estimated by the Conference Board that about 10 percent of large companies have formal sabbatical leave programs. They seem to be most popular among law firms, high-tech companies, and consulting firms where stress and burnout are significant problems; in other words, those with enough resources to offer such relief. Other sectors (healthcare, government, etc.) experiencing similar or greater degrees of these problems would have also seen the value in such leave - if they had the resources. It is not likely the number of companies offering such programs will grow in the immediate future, given the current round of downsizing. For the most part, using sabbaticals as a voluntary force-reduction option would not seem very attractive since they are paid absences.

The use of sabbaticals in business typically is for two stated purposes, each of which in some examples may have its own eligibility requirements and provisions. The first, social service or volunteer leave, is usually intended for absences dedicated to performing volunteer work with a community agency or for similar purposes. The "Loaned Executive" program with United Way, for example, could be seen as a form of sabbatical. Similarly, time off to work on projects for Habitat for Humanity, church missionary work, or similar activities would fall under this heading. In some examples, the intended purpose of the leave and planned activities of the participant are factors in deciding whether leave will be granted.

Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco makes a distinction between "volunteer leave" and "personal growth leave." They also distinguish between the two regarding eligibility and duration of paid leave; the former - three years service, six months pay; the latter ten years service and three months pay.

Personal renewal leave is far more open. One company CEO, in establishing his firm's leave program, stated that its purpose was simply "to renew the mind and spirit of our associates." In this sense, its purpose probably most closely parallels the type of sabbaticals given to ministers who are encouraged to use their leave time to get away from the pressures of their pastoral duties and get involved in activities, physical or mental, that will renew their energies and passions. Several examples reviewed placed very few, if any, restrictions or preconditions on how the time would be spent - as long as it was important to the employee.

One of the reasons cited by many companies for offering sabbaticals is to attract and retain talent. Retaining talent is the more immediate impact since, for the most part, only employees with a significant amount of company service are even eligible for the leave. According to some examples, this can range from a minimum of three to as many as ten or fifteen years of seniority. The value of such a deferred benefit in recruiting could only come about when the leave program is seen as part of the company's overall working climate and benefits package. Obviously, such a benefit would score few recruiting points with candidates in the absence of competitive healthcare, tuition assistance, and other such "essentials."

While we should all be able to accept on faith that providing a period of "decompression" for employees facing ever increasing stress in the workplace has a good deal of value, quantifying the impact on the bottom line is more problematic. First of all, what is the measurement to be used for a return on the company's investment? Can productivity improvements, if they can be measured at all, be attributed solely to the leave program? How do these improvements stack up against the known or perceived costs of sabbatical leaves - i.e. redistribution of workloads, increased stress on those covering for leave takers, loss of productivity and continuity, and of course the pay for "non-productive" time?

There are no easy answers to these questions. Such paid leaves seem to be extensions of traditional vacation programs. In fact, one sabbatical program at Apple Computer was very similar in construction and intent to an extended vacation allowance provided for years in the basic steel contract of the United Steelworkers of America. The more things change, the more they come back to haunt you.

Sabbatical leaves seem to be sliding back into forms similar to how we currently use vacations. While at first look, sabbaticals are different in that they are for extended periods to allow for "renewal," many existing plans are now allowing for time off to be taken off in shorter and shorter increments. We've been doing this with vacation schedules for years, not only allowing but also encouraging that eligibilities be eaten up by as little as two-hour intervals. This runs counter to the whole intent of vacations, and by extension, sabbatical leaves. What "renewal" is given by allowing time off for a day to plant tomatoes or two hours for a doctor's appointment? Before jumping into sabbatical leaves, review your existing vacation policy and see if changes in benefit levels and the manner of administration can't accomplish many of the same goals. At the very least, it could be a useful testing ground.

The concept of sabbatical leaves is nevertheless worth considering as a means of maintaining and enhancing the quality of our human resources, if done right. For additional perspective on this issue, consider Time Off From Work: Using Sabbaticals to Enhance Your Life While Keeping Your Career on Track, by Lisa Rogak. While the book is oriented to employees, it can provide useful ideas and guidance to HR professionals.

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ISSN Number 1549-0467