Anyone ever take a sabbatical? At an IPG agency and wondering what I can expect. Hoping for 4 months - would any of that time be paid? We technically have unlimited PTO

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I would be laughed out the door. I’m sorry. This country/industry is not kind to our time.

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Bingo

Everywhere with “unlimited” PTO is subject to both manager approval and hitting your yearly hours minimum. Once this topic is broached, it’s unlikely you’d get any part of your sabbatical as PTO—but up to two weeks if you’re lucky.

Personal leave exists, and it keeps you on benefits but with zero salary. But four months is a longgg time to get approved in the agency world.

Bottom line, best case is two weeks paid IMO, but you have to plan on none—or outright rejection.

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I mean I guess you could take unpaid leave. They're not going to let you go in PTO for four months though haha.

This seems like a really good way to get “laid off”. They would have to replace you for 4 whole months. That alone would put you in a predicament. What if your temp replacement is way better than you? And for sure you won’t get more than 2 weeks paid leave. You can’t abuse unlimited pto. It’s just a way to say we don’t count all of your days off but it’s never meant for a long term leave. Maternity leave doesn’t even get you that much time off.

Okay, so likely a bit of confusion here. Some companies offer a paid sabbatical after predetermined years of service. Ask HR if that’s on offer. The remainder of this advice applies to US residents:

If you need a leave for mental health, burnout, family care, or physical health, that’s FMLA. You’re entitled to three months of unpaid leave and job security. Your company may offer short-term disability insurance to cover some or all of your salary while you’re on leave, subject to approval.

If your ask doesn’t fall into either of these categories, say, you want to take a sabbatical to step away from the company a bit and discover yourself, travel, etc., well, I hope you’re very senior and very valuable otherwise you’re looking at quitting and taking the time on your own dime.

IPG would never, way too cheap.

Thanks everyone! I was going to ask my company for a sabbatical (no FMLA, it’s just for personal reasons) in January, with the intent that my time off begin in April.

Since you’re highly skeptical they’d ever approve, is it even worth asking or should I just resign 2 weeks before I want to leave?

Better to ask, “Hey, I’d like to take a sabbatical, what could that look like?” and be told “no” than not ask at all.

Also, I’d say it’s less skepticism and more learned experience. I had a 10-years’ service one that granted me two weeks paid or four weeks at half pay. The 15-year one was a month at full pay.

If you’re thinking of asking for 4 months in the current state of the industry, I’d love for you to get it. But realistically, the odds are against you. I remember a C-suite level agency person getting that years ago and it was a BFD, so much that their stepping away hit AdAge.

Ask away, and report back!

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