The term sabbatical originated in the USA. It refers to special leave for employees that is particularly long. During the sabbatical, the employer continues to pay a reduced salary. In German-speaking countries, sabbaticals are usually referred to as sabbatical years. However, the period does not necessarily have to be one year.
Is there an entitlement to a sabbatical?
A sabbatical – or sabbatical year – refers to all forms of extended absence. This absence is agreed in advance with the employer. During a sabbatical, employees continue to receive part of their salary. The sabbatical is defined by these three factors.
An exception is a long, unpaid leave that has also been agreed with the employer and after a return to work has already been contractually agreed.
It can therefore be said that a sabbatical is a form of special leave or a special type of leave of absence. Working time is replaced by free time. This can be done, for example, via a time account in which working time is saved and then compensated for by a sabbatical.
There is no legal entitlement to a sabbatical. However, the sabbatical year with continuous pay is explicitly defined in the public sector. Apart from this, sabbaticals are at least considered, especially in large companies, or can be agreed between employer and employee. However, the contract does not contain any fixed provisions on this.
The sabbatical in practice
A savings phase is initiated first. This is a phase in which you work as normal but are paid a reduced salary. The unpaid salary is then paid in the second phase, the leave of absence, without any work being done.
The length of the sabbatical can be agreed individually. It is also possible to treat shorter leaves of absence according to this principle. As a rule, however, these are longer breaks.
With this form of sabbatical year, the employee continues to be insured through the employer. However, if the sabbatical is used for travel, it may be necessary to take out international health insurance. This is not regulated by the employer.
This is not only possible in the public sector. However, you have to find out for yourself whether the company you work for is open to this form of long-term leave or not. Alternatively, companies may only offer unpaid leave after which a return to work is guaranteed.
If it is unpaid leave, however, the situation looks a little different overall. In this case, there are neither reduced salary payments nor are employees still insured through the employer.
There are generally no major hurdles to overcome when returning to work. Normally, all the rules have already been laid down in advance. However, employees should be aware that things can change in the company during longer absences. New positions are filled, employees are promoted, processes are optimized and so on. It therefore makes sense to prepare a little for your re-entry by finding out about changes in the company. A call to a colleague at work can already help.
Conclusion
The sabbatical or sabbatical year is usually a long-term leave of absence during which at least part of the salary continues to be paid. It is directly regulated in the public sector, but can also be offered in other industries. In principle, there is no legal entitlement to a sabbatical. The regulations must be negotiated separately with the employer. As there is no direct legal basis for this, the duration, timing, salary or regulations for returning to work can be freely negotiated between the parties.
