Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Equality, diversity and inclusionFamily-friendly working

Legal Q&A Career breaks

by Personnel Today 6 Dec 2005
by Personnel Today 6 Dec 2005

Do we have a legal obligation to honour a request for a career break or sabbatical?

Career breaks are not officially recognised by law. However, many employers are willing to consider the possibility as an alternative to losing a valuable employee permanently. To formalise requests for career breaks, many employers have put career break policies in place. Currently, these policies are the only way to regulate career breaks in a legal environment that does not formally recognise the concept.

Nevertheless, no matter how the policy is worded, the career break is usually a resignation on the hope of a later re-engagement.
This means the employer has no certainty as to whether the employee will return to the organisation at the end of their break. Furthermore, the employee is unlikely to have any certainty as to whether or not they will be re-engaged.

If we want to offer a career break option, what issues should we be aware of with respect to former employees returning to their previous jobs?

Problems may arise when an individual has sought to establish that continuity of employment was not broken by virtue of the career break.
Some employers will allow re-engaged employees to count the period of employment prior to the career break for the purposes of accruing contractual rights (for example, entitlements under contractual redundancy, sick pay and holiday schemes may increase with length of service).

Despite any agreement to the contrary, an employee who returns from a career break is likely to have lost any statutory rights that depend on accrued length of service (such as the right to claim unfair dismissal after a year’s service).

Most career break policies are also carefully worded to ensure there is no right to return to the same job or on the same terms and conditions at the end of the career break.

Are there legal implications if an employee on a career break continues to do work for our organisation?

Periodic work carried out during the career break may enable an employee to demonstrate that their continuity of employment was not broken by the break. However, an individual may free to pursue alternative employment during the period (subject to any restrictive covenants).

Is the legal position on career breaks similar to that of parental leave?

While the law creates ever more regulation in respect of periods of parental leave, an individual who takes leave to fulfil a different personal aspiration will find themselves in a completely unregulated area of absence. A career break is effectively a period of unemployment.

So could we be putting our employees at a disadvantage and storing up future trouble by offering a career break option?

The career break option can be part of a flexible working package. It requires careful planning and good communication, so that each side fully understands the implications of any commitments made.

Most employees who wish to take an extended period of leave would rather not view the job they left behind as abandoned forever. Rather, they may wish to pick up their careers where they left off following a fulfilling break.

Could the law be tightened up in this area to deliver greater clarity?

It would be helpful if legislation could formally recognise career breaks for limited purposes. It could clarify the extent of an employer’s obligation (if any) to re-engage an individual who has come to the end of their career break.

Although a career break policy may state that the individual will be re-engaged if their job still exists, the business may have moved on, or the individual may no longer be the most suitable candidate for the job.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

If employers are keen to entice good staff to return from a career break, it would be helpful if parties could agree to treat the separate periods of employment as continuous for statutory purposes. It may also be helpful for individuals to have an obligation to inform employers of whether they intend to return to the organisation.

Career breaks are likely to become a more common request if, in practice, retirement ages are raised for economic or regulatory reasons. While career break policies can plug a gap in the law, appropriate laws may help employers manage the period of absence in a more practical way.



Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Unions set to merge
next post
Blow for HR as OFRs axed

You may also like

One in eight senior NHS managers from black...

1 Jul 2025

Government launches ‘landmark’ review of parental leave

1 Jul 2025

How HR can support families with adoption

1 Jul 2025

Progressive DEI policy is a red line for...

27 Jun 2025

Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer...

23 Jun 2025

BBC Breakfast bullying and misconduct allegations under investigation

20 Jun 2025

Finance professionals expect less emphasis on ESG and...

18 Jun 2025

Lack of role models a ‘barrier’ for people...

17 Jun 2025

Pride 2025: why corporate allyship still matters

16 Jun 2025

HR is second ‘most sexist profession’ survey suggests

13 Jun 2025

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+