Sabbatical: Definition and Regulations

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A sabbatical or sabbatical year is a longer break from professional activities. After this break, the employee returns to work fully. The term was originally used by American university professors who continued their education during their sabbatical.  

The sabbatical can be carried out in various ways and has no set period of time. Employees can therefore take a career break for just a few weeks or for a whole year.

Who is entitled to a sabbatical?
In principle, employees have no legal right to a sabbatical. The only exception is civil servants and public sector employees. They have a legal right to special leave of up to one year.

In most cases, the sabbatical must be agreed upon with the employer. However, there are no legal requirements as to how many sabbaticals can be taken.

How is the sabbatical financed?
There are various ways in which the time off can be financed. Basically, a distinction is made between the savings option and the wage waiver:

economy option

The savings option is particularly suitable for shorter Cell Phone Number Database sabbaticals. Here, overtime is accumulated over a longer period of time and then reduced during the sabbatical.

wage cuts

Wage waiver is the most popular way of financing a sabbatical. In this model, part of the salary is waived in advance without reducing the required hours. The reduced salary is then paid out during the sabbatical to ensure ongoing income. The bottom line is that the employee only receives his full salary at a later date.

What models of sabbaticals are there?
The sabbatical can be carried out very individually. There are popular and not so popular models. It usually depends on the length of the sabbatical and the reason which model suits the situation. We present the most popular ones here:



Graphic models of the sabbatical
long-term account
The long-term account involves waiving wages: for a longer period of time, employees save a certain amount of working time in a value account. The sabbatical is thus partially paid and social insurance remains in place.

You can find an article on the topic of working time accounts and saving working hours here.

leave of absence
The leave of absence is similar to an unpaid vacation: the employment relationship is paused for a certain period of time, there is no payment during the leave of absence and the employee must also take care of social insurance themselves, for example.

part-time employment
Another option is part-time employment. By reducing their working hours, employees can perform other activities in parallel to their work and, for example, concentrate more on their family for a certain period of time. However, this model also involves a reduction in salary.

special leave
Special leave allows employers to be released from work for up to one month. In contrast to leave, however, they remain covered by statutory social insurance and their job is guaranteed.

Depending on which sabbatical model you and your employee choose, you should not forget the issue of insurance, because depending on the financing model, social insurance will remain in place or the employee will have to take care of it themselves.