Organizations Who Get It

Sabbaticals have long been associated with universities and religious organizations. Over the last decade there have been a rising number of corporations, law firms, service organizations, and not-for-profit organizations who embrace the benefits of sabbaticals, what we call a Reboot Break™.

Below is a list of companies and firms who have implemented some form of a sabbatical program for their employees. The majority of programs were created to offer a fully paid Reboot Break™ after five, seven, or ten years of service and with an average duration of one to three months. Some programs offer six months to a year. There are many other organizations which do not have formal programs, but, when approached by employees in good standing will allow them to customize a personal Reboot Break™ while holding their jobs upon their return. Hewlett Packard (HP) is an example of a company that does not have a formal program, but employees can create their own. At Citibank, one can request up to one year unpaid leave.

In times of economic difficulty, some firms implemented temporary programs to help them manage costs while still retaining key talent. Furlough programs offer employees the opportunity to take time off, unpaid or partially paid, but with a guarantee that their jobs will be waiting for them upon their return. Accenture offered such a one-time program. Workers who agreed to 80% pay cut would be allowed 6 to 12 month sabbatical with benefits. Cisco staffers who accepted a two-thirds pay cut were offered the chance to volunteer at one of 29 pre-selected not-for-profit organizations. Cisco management expected 30 people to take advantage of this program; 300 signed up. In this recent economic downturn, Skadden, Arp, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and other law firms paid newly hired lawyers one third of pay not to show up for a year. They retained talent while giving their new employees a gift of time. Some were expected to work pro-bono for not-for-profit organizations, build experience and make potential contacts and future clients.

At the end of our list of companies, we include a list of a foundations who fund sabbaticals.

360i
3COM
AA Appointments
AARP
Abacus Planning Group
Accenture
Actel
Acxion Corporation
Addleshaw Goddard
Adobe Systems
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Allison & Partners
Alston & Bird
American Century Investments
American Express
Ammex
Anderson ZurMuehlen
Anomaly
APEX
Apple
AppRiver
Arco Construction
Arrow Electronics
Arthrex
Athenahealth
Autodesk
AvalonBAY Communities
BAIN & Co.
Baker Donelson
Bandwidth
Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith
Bassett Healthcare Network
BBH London
B.C. Hydro
Bingham McCutchen
Birchbox Inc.
BKD
Blast Radius
Boston Consulting Group
Bureau of National Affairs
Brogan & Partners Consulting Group
Capital One
Cascadia Blue Cross Blue Shield
CDW
Centigram Computer
Charles Schwab
Cirque du Soleil
Citrin Cooperman
Clark Nuber
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Clif Bar & Company
CMS Cameron McKenna
Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass
Commonfund
Container Store
Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB)
David Weekley Homes
Daxko
Deloitte
Deutsche Bank
Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group
DPR Construction
DreamWorks Animation SKG
Drivers Jonas
Durfee Foundation
eBay
Edelman
Edgequest
Edward Jones
Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner & Hoffman
Eide Bailly
Epic Systems
Farella Braun & Martel
FedEx
Firstborn
Fleishman-Hillard
Foley and Mansfield
Guardian Media Group
Genentech
General Mills
Gleiss Lutz
Goldman Sachs
Hallmark
Hammonds
Hitachi
HLB Tautges Redpath
Hopping Green and Sams
Hotel Equities
Hutchinson Black and Cook
Hyland Software
Infosys
Intel
John Lewis Partnership
Joie de Vivre Hospitality
Jones Hall
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Ketchum
Kimpton Hotels
Linchris Hotel Corporation
Linear Technology
Linklaters
Logos Research Systems
Macdonald and Company
Margolin, Winer and Evens
McDonald Jacobs
McDonald’s
McGladrey & Pullen
MEC
Men’s Warehouse
Menlo Innovations
MITRE
Microsoft
Morningstar
Mortenson Construction
Net Atlantic
New Leaf Community Markets
Newsweek
Nike
Norton Rose
NRG
Patagonia
Peace Over Violence
PeopleMatter
Perkins Coie
Plante & Moran
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Procter & Gamble
Quad/Graphics
QuikTrip
Ralston-Purina
RBS Citizens Financial Group
Random House
Recreational Equipment (REI)
Renewable NRG Systems
Reznick Group
Robert W. Baird
Rossetti
RSM McGladrey
Ruby Receptionists
Russell Investment Group
Ryan
S.C. Johnson & Son
Satyam Technologies
Schroder Investment Management
Seattle-Northwest Securities
Segal
Seventh Generation
Shearman & Sterling
Silicon Graphics
SiRF Technologies
Standing Partnership
Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE)
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Sybase
Stayner, Bates & Jensen
TEXT 100
The Cheesecake Factory
The Container Store
The Guardian Media Group
The Motley Fool
The Sun
Timberland
Unicef UK
United States Navy
Vauxhall
Vertex, Inc.
VMware
Waggener Edstrom
Watson Wyatt
William Mills Agency

Foundations that Fund Sabbaticals

Barr Foundation
The Durfee Foundation
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust
Rasmuson Foundation
Alston/Bannerman Fellowship Program
Lilly Endowment