A sabbatical from work,planned so nothing breaks while you're gone.
A sabbatical is a long break from work, usually one to six months, that people take to rest, travel, study or deal with life, and then come back to the same job. Some companies offer paid sabbaticals after a number of years, often four to seven. Others allow unpaid ones on request.
The break itself is the easy part. The hard part is the three months before and the three months during: who takes over the person's work, what happens on their on-call weeks, and how the team copes when someone else goes on vacation in the middle of it.
Step 1
Ask early, with a plan
Ask your manager at least three months ahead, six if you can. Come with dates, what you'll do (rest is a fine answer), and a first draft of who could take over what. A request with a coverage plan is much easier to say yes to.
Check the policy: paid or unpaid, whether benefits continue, whether PTO accrues while you're away, and what “same job” means when you come back.
Step 2
Map what the person covers
List every area the person is responsible for, from code they own to on-call shifts, recurring meetings and customers who email them directly. For each area, name who takes over. If the answer is “nobody else knows that”, you've found a bus factor of 1, and the sabbatical is the reason to fix it.
Step 3
Hand over in the weeks before
Plan a handover period of one to two weeks before the sabbatical starts. The person pairs with whoever takes over each area, writes down what isn't written down, and moves their on-call shifts to others.
Set up their out-of-office message and tell customers who will look after them. Our out-of-office generator has templates for long leave.
Step 4
Plan the team's other time off around it
The trap: with one person away for three months, the people covering for them still take vacations. If the only other person who knows search goes to Hawaii for a week in the middle of the sabbatical, search has nobody. Look at the team's whole calendar for the sabbatical months, not just the person leaving.
Check releases too. A launch in the middle of a sabbatical needs everyone else who's involved to be around.
Step 5
Plan the return
Put the return date on the calendar, and plan the first week back as a light one: catching up, meeting with whoever covered, and taking areas back one at a time.
Make the sabbatical work
Stay off Slack
A sabbatical where you answer messages isn't a sabbatical. Remove work apps from your phone.
Name one contact
One person at work who can reach you in a real emergency, and an agreement about what counts as one.
Thank the people covering
They're doing extra work. Say so, and make sure it counts in their reviews.
Fix the bus factor
Use the sabbatical to make sure every area has at least two people who can handle it.
Write it down
What changed while you were away, kept by whoever covered, makes the return easier.
Come back on a Tuesday
A short first week is gentler than a full one starting Monday.
A sabbatical is three months ofeveryone else's calendar too.
The person leaving is easy to plan for. The gaps come from everyone else's vacations during those months. Here's a sabbatical on a Forgot board with who covers what. It's live, so try moving Hana's trip.
Coverage by area
Tag what each person covers and the board names the days an area has nobody in.
On-call reassigned
On-call shifts sit next to the sabbatical, so nobody is scheduled who isn't there.
Launches warn you
A launch during the sabbatical warns you when someone needed for it is out.
- Priya's sabbatical and handover week are on her row
- Each person lists what they cover
- The summary names days nobody covering an area is in
- Move Hana's vacation and watch the search gap close
Plan a long leave and everyone covering it.
Forgot puts long leave, vacations, on-call and public holidays on one timeline, shows who covers what, and names the days an area has nobody in.
- See who covers what, and when nobody does
- On-call that warns when it lands on time off
- A warning when someone's out on a launch date
- Your team sends dates without signing up
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Questions
What is a sabbatical leave?
A long break from work, usually one to six months, after which the person comes back to the same job. It can be paid or unpaid, depending on the company.
How long is a sabbatical?
Most are one to three months. Some companies offer up to six months or a year, often unpaid.
How do I ask for a sabbatical from work?
Ask three to six months ahead, with dates, a reason if you want to share one, and a draft plan for who takes over your work and on-call while you're away.
Is a sabbatical paid?
Some companies offer a paid sabbatical after a number of years of service, often four to seven. Otherwise sabbaticals are usually unpaid. Check whether benefits continue while you're away.