are you some kind of academic in an ivory tower?

Nope just someone who's spent nearly ten years slogging away with rarely more than a week off at a time who fancies a bit of time to go and do something a little unusual.  I think I may sense another Atlantic crossing coming on or perhaps part of the Caribbean season.

good lad

I’m still angling after that full season skiing, get my instructor qual

Yes, fishing is probably a suitable sport for you - all things considered 

You've inspired me to look up our sabbatical policy and start dreaming.

I'm debating between racing a boat across the Atlantic which would get me up to a nice round  Atlantic crossings to date or walking up to Everest Base Camp.  A friend has just done the latter so going to have a beer with him and see how he found it and how much it cost.  The Atlantic though is probably cheaper as I suspect I'll just need to pay for flights and some accommodation before and after.

Of those options, I'd go for the Caribbean season.

I am curious as to how people like Clubman see this kind of thing...assuming he is who he says and is some kind of finance rich man.

I am very much on the Sails and Laz side of things regards like doing shit you want when you want and letting work get fooked if they have problems.

I see why it pisses off the clubmans of the world but I don't understand how they can stop it. Clubman is surely just a worthless manager if he genuinely cannot understand his employees' contributions without 'face time'.

It's not even that.  If you expect someone to work for twenty years without more than ever having two weeks off at a time you're either going to end up with a rather tired unenthused member of staff who ultimately is just going through the motions or someone who just leaves so that they can have some time off before starting a new job.  I think it's cheaper in the long run to let people have a month of unpaid leave every few years and come back refreshed than it is to keep hiring new people.

oh. if it's just a month of unpaid leave, presumably at an agreed time (?), then knock yourself out.

SummerSails19 Mar 24 15:53

Reply | Report

Vote up!

0

Vote down!

0

It's not even that.  If you expect someone to work for twenty years without more than ever having two weeks off at a time you're either going to end up with a rather tired unenthused member of staff who ultimately is just going through the motions or someone who just leaves so that they can have some time off before starting a new job.  I think it's cheaper in the long run to let people have a month of unpaid leave every few years and come back refreshed than it is to keep hiring new people.

This times one hundred hard hard agree.

I used to have switch jobs every three years to be able to go and do fun stuff. 

I would have been so much more motivated and they would have held on to me if I could have taken an unpaid time off. 

Often it's held out in front of you as a bit of a carrot. I had that in my last big company job (a FTSE50) and I finished a project and I was really keen to just not work with computers anymore for a while. Like really keen. Even the sound of computers booting up and the fans turning on pissed me off.

'oh no but you can only take a sabbatical if management allows it. We have new things for you to do'.

'yeah, I'm gone'.

Yes Clubbers depending on length of service it's between 5 and 8 weeks unpaid every five years with the timing agreed by management.  That's why I want to work  up a plan so I can put a request in now to do it in early 2025 so there's no excuse that someone else has already got time off.

Buckaroo this is part of a package of new measures aimed at rewarding long service so I think they're fairly serious about trying to retain people and so it will be allowed.  We've certainly allowed a few trainees a chunk of time off just after qualifying already.

I don't really see a downside if it's unpaid. It's much more hassle if a good person leaves than having to adjust for them having an extended break. A well run org should be able to cope in the same way they should be able to manage mat leave.

Sounds enlightened.

Millennials will  no doubt push for paid leave. 🤪

I'm a millennial. I don't push for paid leave. I don't give a toss. I get paid well when I work. 

'work' being the operative term here. The majority of you gormless middle aged whelps wouldn't be any use even if you were napping in dirt and became fertilizer.

Touché Buckers.

But us Boomers are the result of honest graft and endeavour over many years. 👍

Are you indeed the result of honest graft over many years? And what have you learned in all these years?

(For reference, I argue a lot with my military father who was a 2 star and now in industry)

Good luck ;)

Nearly 10 years slogging? Sails I always assumed you'd been shovelling this shit longer

The trick is to change jobs. New challenge and time off between gigs of whatever duration you fancy/can afford.

At the next performance review I'll tell my boss that I don't intend to stay past the end of the year, and that if it makes things easier I am ready to submit my resignation now with a standard notice period, but also happy to leave that a bit open-ended.

Well yeah exactly.

It's probably slightly different for lawyers but for software people/engineers (like me) sometimes it can be really problematic if someone just ups and leaves.

(I have done this multiple times( not because of pay etc but just because like :this is quite annoying work and complicated and I became a programmer not to fix stupid shit that your vendor and your IT department have not done properly'

I'm in the same industry BB and my place is pretty open to sabbaticals of 6 or 12 months. Someone did it recently at the same time as the wife's mat leave. You'd need to afford it, but there is no rule against picking up a bit of contract work in the meantime if you need to.

You should have come to Australia. You get long service leave here. Paid. 

Vigntaine I’ve been doing it much longer but just ten years at the current place.  Historically I’ve moved every few years and had a bit of a gap.

shy bairns get nowt

back in 2007 I had 10 months off and my old place maintained my continuity of employment - which I suspect they regretted when corporate work stopped in 2008 …

Hi snowfox

I mean I've done what I've done. I don't really feel the need to be overly weird about it but if you've something needs doing I can have a look.

What exactly is your industry? I lived in china for 5 years by the way there may be issues