By Kath Sadler-Smith and Osborne Clarke | Brightmine Editor: Susie Munro
Career breaks can benefit employers and employees. If used appropriately, they can be a useful tool for employee retention. However, there are areas of uncertainty associated with their use and employers that are considering offering them need to think carefully about their career break policy. Career breaks are not legally defined, so it is important that employers and employees are clear about the terms on which career breaks are granted and the consequences of taking a break for an employee’s future employment, statutory rights and contractual benefits.
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- What is a career break?
- Benefits of career breaks
- Deciding whether to offer career breaks
- Length of a career break
- Who qualifies?
- Considering a request
- Is employment terminated by a career break?
- Annual leave
- Sick pay
- Bonuses
- Benefits
- Service-related benefits
- Career development
- Requirement to work for the employer
- Other employment
- Returning to work
- Failure to return
- Individual agreements
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About the author
Kath Sadler-Smith
Kath Sadler-Smith is a training and know-how lawyer with Osborne Clarke, specialising in employment and benefits law.
She has advised on both contentious and non-contentious issues, including: the employment aspects of corporate transactions; senior executive appointments and dismissals; restraint of trade; redundancies and business reorganisations; outsourcing and business transfers; discrimination issues; and the implications of engaging contractors and atypical workers. She regularly delivers bespoke training and updates to clients.
Kath spent more than two years on secondment to a blue-chip multinational software company, where she was responsible for: advising on a broad spectrum of HR issues; training HR and management; streamlining HR documentation and processes; and assisting US management in dealing with sensitive UK employee issues.
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