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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think everyone should be able to take career breaks

39 replies

Sakura7 · 05/09/2018 17:39

Most of us will work for 40+ years over the course of our careers, and during that time we give up most of our days, for most of our weeks, to work. The typical annual leave allowance of about 4 weeks is not a lot spread over the course of a year, and a week or two off in the summer and at Christmas is just not enough to properly disconnect from work and come back refreshed.

I've worked full time continuously for 12 years now and I'm exhausted. I do have pressures in my life outside of work and they are so much harder to deal with when your time is so limited. I feel like a hamster on a wheel and the thought of doing this relentlessly for the next 30+ years is extremely depressing.

I'd love a career break but it really seems to be frowned upon unless you're in your 20s and going travelling. Whenever I mention this to people in real life I get comments like "you can't just give up a good job", "it'll be harder to get a job when you're not in one already", "it's really bad to have a gap on your CV", etc.

Is it so crazy to think that people will be happier and more productive if given a proper chance to have a rest and focus on other things in their lives for a while? I really believe that once people have worked for a certain number of years continuously (say 5 or 10 years), they should be entitled to take a few months off outside of annual leave allowance, and that they should even get some kind of benefit to help financially for some of that time. It would be one way for the government to show it's serious about rewarding work.

I just think there's so much more to life than work, and while it is important, society shouldn't be so obsessed with it. There needs to be a balance.

I realise my idea would be highly unlikely to happen but I'm just curious if others feel the same.

OP posts:

RomanyRoots · 05/09/2018 17:42

You can already if you want to, nobody is stopping you.
The benefit is tc, ctc, whichever you'd be entitled to.

MaisyPops · 05/09/2018 17:43

I think that people after X years service should be entitled to take a sabbatical year and return to their post after.

CandleWithHair · 05/09/2018 17:48

I’m taking one, next year. So far no one has said any of that stuff to me, although they may be thinking it!

WhatHaveIFound · 05/09/2018 17:54

Have you worked for the same employer for 12 years? And do you want to continue doing it after a break? If so it might be worth asking if you could take a longer break?

I'm self employed but one of our major clients allows their staff of 10 years + to take sabbaticals (of up to a year) which are heavily funded. Staff retention is very good as a result of this.

Original poster

Sakura7 · 05/09/2018 18:04

Whathaveifound
That sounds wonderful. I have worked for two companies over that time, I never asked the first one but a colleague was turned down as management didn't want others getting the same idea. She ended up leaving but applied for a different role on her return and got it. My current employer don't have a policy on it but I'm not really happy there so would be looking at leaving and then applying for new jobs after the break. It's just a case of affording it and explaining it to potential employers.

OP posts:

JagerPlease · 05/09/2018 18:09

Mine do but its unpaid (civil service). People use it for all sorts of things and at all ages, and nobody thinks badly of anyone who does it!

LeftRightCentre · 05/09/2018 18:09

I really believe that once people have worked for a certain number of years continuously (say 5 or 10 years), they should be entitled to take a few months off outside of annual leave allowance, and that they should even get some kind of benefit to help financially for some of that time. It would be one way for the government to show it's serious about rewarding work.

Nope, I don't want to pay for this in my taxes. Get another job if you don't like yours. If you want to skive off for a time, save up money and do it off your back, don't expect others to pay for it for you.

Original poster

Sakura7 · 05/09/2018 18:12

LeftRightCentre
You'd be able to do it yourself too you know?

Also I think the significant chunk of taxes I've paid so far count for something!

I suppose we should all just work til we drop?

OP posts:

AdaColeman · 05/09/2018 18:19

So imagine if you were self employed, running a small business, how would you feel about paying extra tax so that other people could have the benefit of sabbatical leave?
As a small business owner, you couldn't shut your business down for a few months to take a sabbatical, it would destroy your customer base and put your business in jeopardy, not to mention causing problems for your staff.
So I can't see many business owners backing the idea.

SpectacularAardvark · 05/09/2018 18:19

Some places definitely do it, I worked for the council years ago and my boss went on sabbatical for a year. Didn't seem to affect her job, they just got someone to cover, similar to maternity cover.

LeftRightCentre · 05/09/2018 18:27

Also I think the significant chunk of taxes I've paid so far count for something!

They already do! We are all very privileged that, thanks to our taxes, we live in a country with a stable government, good infrastructure, health care, education, transport opportunities, police/fire staff to protect us, courts and laws to provide the stability we all need to largely go about our business unmolested. Does that not count for something or does everyone think they're entitled to sweeties from the government as well?

Satsumaeater · 05/09/2018 18:27

It's just a case of affording it and explaining it to potential employers

The first bit is the hard bit if you don't have the money.

But the second bit is easy. Nobody is going to hold it against you that you took a year/six months/whatever out to travel and do activities that appealed to you. We only have one life, it's not a dress rehearsal as they say, so if you can find the money do it and don't worry about what people will say.

MaisyPops · 05/09/2018 18:28

Yeah people taking unpaid leave from their job is totally taking money from taxpayers.

Bloody hell.

By page 3 we'll have tales of how someone gets up at 230am and works a 56 hour day in hard manual labour and doesn't get their lunch and wastes away working 18 days a week so any institution doing anything to help retain staff, have balance, enable staff to have a wider life is obviously wrong.

Rebecca36 · 05/09/2018 18:31

I see no reason why you cannot ask for unpaid leave for a period of time. Your employer can only say no and they may be agreeable if you're a valued worker.

LeftRightCentre · 05/09/2018 18:32

Yeah people taking unpaid leave from their job is totally taking money from taxpayers.

Well, Maisy, if you had read the OP that's exactly what the OP was suggesting.

But since you did not, here you go: they should even get some kind of benefit to help financially for some of that time. It would be one way for the government to show it's serious about rewarding work.

You're welcome.

QueenGoblin · 05/09/2018 18:36

I took a year off in my mid twenties (so a few years ago now). No one said anything negative about it. To be honest it was mostly disinterest. To you it's this big amazing adventure, but other people don't really care! I try not to be one of those people that goes 'when I was in Vietnam..' etc so it doesn't really come up that much.

It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I did it before I bought a house, got married and had a baby. I managed to get a job when I got back without any problems, so it wasn't damaging to my career or anything. If anything it's just one more thing that helped me focus on what I wanted from life.

Original poster

Sakura7 · 05/09/2018 18:38

Ok I'm not talking about getting benefit for a whole year or anything. But maybe 6 to 8 weeks worth after say 10 years of working and paying taxes. We're still net contributors by far, hardly scroungers.

I just think that giving people a little bit of time away from work to recharge once in a while should be encouraged. I genuinely believe it leads to more engaged and more productive staff.

OP posts:

IrenetheQuaint · 05/09/2018 18:45

I agree it's a great thing to do - I took several months off when changing careers in my mid 30s and it was brilliant and really renewed my work mojo.

However, I think it has to be up to individual employers whether to allow career breaks ... for small companies it could be a real burden. And I can't really see a rationale for any public spending on this.

DemocracyDiesInDarkness · 05/09/2018 18:48

My friends company does this after five years service. They encourage it, you get six weeks off to do something you want to, but it's understood that either party can decide they don't want to continue the agreement.

When he came back from his lovely holiday, his work didn't want him back! He found something else though.

Bombardier25966 · 05/09/2018 18:52

If you want time off, surely you pay for it with your savings? Benefits are intended to be a safety net, not for extended holidays.

If you're feeling like work is too much, how about cutting your hours?

Original poster

Sakura7 · 05/09/2018 18:57

The reason I mentioned potential benefits is because there are lots of people on low pay who work hard and struggle, and I think they could use a break too. As I say, in terms of benefits I'm talking weeks rather than months. I just see it as something that would be positive for society, and as everyone would be entitled to do it once they've worked long enough there's nobody being taken advantage of. Considering the amount of benefits that are paid to people who have no intention of working, I don't think a small gesture to workers is such a terrible thing.

OP posts:

DickensianHysteric · 05/09/2018 19:00

I took a career break when I was 29, to travel, and now 10 years later I'm desperate for another one. Luckily my employer does offer sabbaticals so I'm hoping to take one in the next couple years. Budgeting for it will be tricky but to me it's worth it as I know I will really benefit from the break.

Ted27 · 05/09/2018 19:02

I absolutely agree with the idea of career breaks, as long as you can fund it. I had a two year break, funded in part by savings, a redundancy payment, renting a room out, and working very part time whilst I went back to university for a year.
The only difficulty I had with employers afterwards was getting round the issue of my last salary which was higher than the jobs I was applying for. But then I got a job in a charity which was thrilled to get me for the money they were offering.

Bombardier25966 · 05/09/2018 19:03

Considering the amount of benefits that are paid to people who have no intention of working,

Ah, the "scroungers" you were referring to, I thought they'd get another mention. The fraud rate for benefits is tiny. Don't confuse Daily Mail BS with real life.

Aftershock15 · 05/09/2018 19:03

Don’t see how you can be a net contributor to the tax system and not afford to fund 6/8 weeks unpaid. Over their lifetime very few people are net contributors. The top percentage that are net contributors could afford to fund an unpaid break, or are living such a massively lavish lifestyle that I don’t think anyone else should be able expected to fund a sabbatical.

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