The Best Time to Ask for a Sabbatical Could Be Now

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In these scary economic times, most people are hunkering down in their jobs like soldiers in foxholes, trying to stay out of the line of fire. Concerns about work -- is it fulfilling, is it meaningful, do I like it? -- can seem almost frivolous.

And asking for anything -- raises, different hours, a better chair -- seems fraught with danger. Am I being too demanding? Can they find someone willing to work longer for less (and put up with the old chair)?

So the idea of asking to leave work for a month, let alone six or nine months, for a sabbatical or a fellowship, seems almost ludicrous -- an indulgence, like the three-martini lunch, that belongs to another lifetime.

Now I'm a big believer in time off to recharge those batteries and learn something new. I did a yearlong fellowship eons ago when I was transitioning from one job to another and I consider it one of the great experiences of my life. But who can do that nowadays?

But I discovered, once I started looking into it, that the sabbatical is not dead. This might even be considered a good time to ask for one, because companies may be willing to trade more in time than in money.

The Families and Work Institute, a nonprofit research group, surveyed 1,100 companies with 50 or more employees for its 2008 National Study of Employers. It found that 24 percent of small companies (under 100 workers) and 33 percent of companies with 1,000 or more workers allowed paid or unpaid sabbaticals of six months or more.

The organization is in the process of finding out what expenses, including sabbaticals, are being cut back by companies this year, but that information is not available yet, said Ellen Galinsky, president of the institute.

An unpaid sabbatical may not sound like much of a perk, not when some employers are requiring their workers to take furloughs of a week or two as a way to cut costs.

But there's a difference between being forced and being allowed to take time off. Keeping your benefits -- which most companies allow -- and being guaranteed a job after three or six months off can offer some much-needed flexibility for stressed-out workers in these times.

"Smart companies are looking to keep those high performers who are left," said Elizabeth Pagano, co-founder of YourSabbatical, a company that helps employers develop sabbaticals. "They may not be able to give more money, but time is the new currency."

General Mills, for example, began in 2007 to allow employees to take unpaid sabbaticals -- from one to three months -- after working for the company seven years. The company still pays most of the benefits, and workers can do whatever they want with their time.

Paid "innovation" sabbaticals of up to one year are available for those working in the research and development area, "to explore and bring back new ideas," said Maerenn Ball, a company spokeswoman. So far, three employees have taken the paid sabbaticals, "and all three brought back very successful insights. From our perspective, it has been very successful," she said.

Another 23 employees have been granted unpaid sabbaticals since 2007, 6 of them for this year, Ms. Ball said.

The consulting firm Accenture, which employs 30,000 people in the United States, started a "Future Leave" pilot program in 2005 and made it company policy last year. It allows workers to have a percentage of their paycheck automatically deposited into an individual savings account, which they can then use to take up to three months' leave, with benefits, every three years.

"You don't have to disclose why you're taking it," said Sharon Klun, director of work-life initiatives for the company. "For Gen-Y, you might say you want to travel the Himalayas, for Gen-X, you might have child care issues."

So far, 500 to 600 workers have signed up each year, and 200 so far this year.

"These are challenging times, and a lot of companies won't be able to give raises," Ms. Klun said.

Sabbaticals can benefit not just the person taking the time off but also those left behind. Although it may mean more work, a sabbatical also allows colleagues to prove themselves by taking on greater responsibility -- an opportunity they might not have otherwise had.

That's one of the reasons Plante & Moran, an accounting firm in Michigan, instituted its policy of allowing partners to take paid monthlong sabbaticals every seven years.

"We're strongly encouraged to take one," said John Bebes, a partner with the firm, who took his first sabbatical in 2007. "If I'm gone for a month, someone else has to care for and develop trust with the client."

At first, Mr. Bebes said, he was very hesitant to leave for a whole four weeks. "I usually take no more than one week of vacation a year, and I work 3,000-plus hours a year," he said.

But the sabbatical "taught me that I'm not indispensable," he said. "My clients were very well taken care of. I came back re-energized. I'm looking forward to my next one five years from now."

A lot of people fear even asking for extended time off nowadays, worried that they will appear less committed to their jobs than their colleagues. Or if they do go and layoffs occur while they are absent, it could be a case of "out of sight, out of mind," Ms. Galinsky said.

A friend of mine, who asked not to be named because she didn't want to draw attention to her situation, has been taking six weeks off during the summer for the last 10 years. Her company used to grant it as an unpaid sabbatical, but now she has enough paid vacation and compensatory time to cover it.

Nonetheless, "I have no idea whether they will grant me that block of time," she told me. "We are more short-staffed now, and it means I'm not visible for a few weeks, which can make me appear unproductive and dispensable when layoffs keep coming."

Ms. Pagano has some suggestions about asking -- and getting -- a sabbatical.

Make sure, first of all, that you are highly valued at your company.

"It's very risky to ask if you're not doing your job," she said. If you are a high performer, however, she said, "you better have a plan and a written proposal on how your sabbatical will benefit you and your company."

That does not necessarily mean you will be doing work or training related to your job, but even taking a break to do something personal can help you, and by extension, your company.

And even if your boss doesn't agree to your plan right away, you could be planting the seed for a sabbatical sometime down the road.

A number of years ago, Ms. Pagano said, she took about six months off for some long-distance sailing.

"I think everyone should have two or three sabbaticals during their working life," she said.

So do I. Now the question is, how do I get a sabbatical from my full-time job of parenting? I've requested one from my children, but have been denied. They've advised me to reapply in a few years.

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