77 Companies That Offer Sabbaticals — And Why Every Company Should

What is a sabbatical? How is it different than a career break?

Sabbaticals used to be something that mainly happened in the academic world. 

Professors or researchers who had been heavily focused on one area of study would customarily take a sabbatical, which would involve paid time off (PTO), for a period of about six months. They would use this time to recharge and refocus on a different set of issues or area of study. 

Today, however, sabbaticals are pauses in regular employment that are sponsored by an employer but do not necessarily have any single motivation. They also are generally unpaid breaks in employment, though employees typically understand that their position will be held for them until they return to work.

A career break is typically defined as something where an employee takes time off, but without the official sanction of an employer, nor the right to return to work. A career break usually implies someone has quit or been fired, and simply has no plans to return to work in the near future. Sabbaticals are generally far less risky in the sense that both the employee and employer intend to return back to an employment relationship.

How long is a sabbatical?

This depends on the company's policy. Anecdotally, one New York internet startup offered employees who worked for five years a one month sabbatical. Academic institutions often offer up to six months, but that benefit is generally for tenured professors. 

Why do employers offer sabbaticals?

Sabbaticals are one interesting way employers can address employee burnout and reduce high-stress levels and staff turnover. The average American worker will work over 40 years in her career. That’s a lot of time for any one person to put into work, so it’s no wonder that some feel burned out during some parts of those years. 

Taking a career break is another obvious alternative, but many people understandably worry about leaving the security of a job and paycheck and so do not end up quitting. That’s why sabbaticals are such an interesting benefit and seemingly so beloved by the employees who take them.

Sabbaticals can be used as a retention tool, and are typically associated with older employees who may use the paid or unpaid time off to travel, rest, or spend quality time with family and friends. Some even use their sabbatical time to explore other hobbies or interests. Unlike generic banks of paid time off benefits, sabbaticals often involve a prolonged period of time away where there is no pressure or expectation to stay involved with their jobs on a day-to-day basis. 

From an employer’s perspective, while it may be scary to let a tenured employee go for an extended period of time, it’s also an opportunity to let some junior employees step up their game by temporarily taking on additional responsibilities.

How common are sabbaticals?

All in all, sabbaticals are still a relatively unusual benefit in America. Estimates of the percentage of companies that offer sabbaticals range from 19-23%, according to Fast Company, and typically larger employers are more easily able to offer (and afford) these benefits. Those companies that do offer sabbaticals typically do so in order to reward employee loyalty and/or to reduce burn-out. This typically means that only those employees who have been with the company for several years are eligible take advantage of the perk.

Sabbaticals can be paid or unpaid, though some research, such as the 2010 study by not-for-profit WorldatWork, suggest that 2/3 of the companies that offer sabbaticals offer it as unpaid time off, rather than paid. 

While it’s hard to uncover a truly comprehensive list of employers that offer sabbatical leave, or the exact details regarding any particular company’s sabbatical policy, we did find that the following 77 companies offered some sort of sabbatical policy, according to publicly available sources:

1. Accenture

2. Adobe

3. American Century Investments

4. Alston & Bird

5. American Express

6. Arthrex

7. T. Kearney

8. Autodesk

9. Baker Donelson

10. Birchbox

11. Blue Cross Blue Shield

12. Boston Consulting Group

13. Capterra

14. CDW

15. Centro

16. Charles Schwab

17. Clif Bar

18. David Weekley Homes

19. Deloitte

20. Dow Jones

21. eBay

22. Edelman

23. Edelman Financial Services

24. Emma

25. Federal Express

26. Genetech

27. General Mills

28. Google

29. Goldman Sachs

30. Hallmark

31. Hyland Software

32. IBM

33. Infosys

34. Intel

35. Intertech

36. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants

37. McDonald’s

38. MEC

39. MeetUp

40. Men’s Wearhouse

41. Microsoft

42. Morgan Stanley

43. MorningStar

44. Nike

45. Nordstrom

46. PayPal

47. Perkins Coie

48. Plante & Moran

49. PricewaterhouseCoopers

50. Principled Technologies

51. Quad/Graphics

52. QuikTrip

53. Rackspace Hosting

54. Rally Software

55. Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI)

56. Renewable NRG Systems

57. Republic Bancorp

58. Robert W. Baird

59. Roche Carolina

60. Ruby Receptionists

61. Russell Investments

62. Ryan

63. Salesforce

64. SAP

65. S.C. Johnson

66. Seventh Generation

67. Silicon Graphics

68. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

69. The Cheesecake Factory

70. The Container Store

71. The Motley Fool

72. Thoughtworks

73. Timberland

74. VMware

75. Waggener Edstrom

76. Wegman’s

77. New Target

If we’ve missed a company, or you find an error in our data (e.g. because a historical sabbatical program has been phased out), or your employer has recently decided to offer sabbatical leave, please drop us a line at info@fairygodboss and we will add the correct information to this list!

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