Leave of absence: definition, types and how to ask for one

A parent is seriously ill in another city. A long-planned degree needs six months of full attention. A reservist is called up. An employee is simply worn out, and knows that two weeks of holiday will not mend it. In each case the question is the same: can I step away from my job for a while, and still have a job to come back to?

This article gives the definition of a leave of absence, explains the difference between leave that you are entitled to and leave that your employer may grant, outlines the rules in the UK and the United States, and shows how to ask for leave and what to agree before it starts. It is general information, not legal advice.

A good leave has a conversation before it and a conversation after it. See how New Dynamics continuous feedback supports check-ins between managers and their teams.

What is a leave of absence?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a leave of absence as “time away from your work or studies that is formally given to you by your organization”. Its business entry puts it as “formal permission to be away from work, or the period of time that you are allowed to be away”. Its examples show the range: an unpaid leave of absence, an indefinite one, and “a six-month leave of absence from her job to go travelling”.

Three features set a leave of absence apart from ordinary time off.

• It is formal. It is requested, approved and recorded.
• It is longer, or for a particular reason. A week of holiday is not normally called a leave of absence. Three months to care for a relative is.
• The job continues. The intention on both sides is that the person returns.

Holiday, short sickness absence and public holidays are time off. They are not usually what people mean by a leave of absence. Our guide to absence management covers day-to-day absence.

Two kinds of leave of absence

1. Leave that the law entitles you to. Parliament or Congress has decided that people in certain situations can take time away, and that their jobs are protected while they do. The employer cannot simply refuse. Examples are family and medical leave in the United States, and unpaid parental leave in the UK.
2. Leave that your employer may grant. Everything else: a career break, a sabbatical, extended unpaid leave for study or travel, compassionate leave beyond any legal minimum. The employer decides, within its own policy, and the terms are whatever the two sides agree.

The distinction decides almost everything that follows: whether you can be refused, whether you are paid, whether your benefits continue and whether your job is guaranteed at the end.

Leave in the United States: the FMLA in outline

The main federal entitlement is the Family and Medical Leave Act. The regulation at 29 CFR 825.100 says that the Act “allows eligible employees of a covered employer to take job-protected, unpaid leave, or to substitute appropriate paid leave if the employee has earned or accrued it, for up to a total of 12 workweeks in any 12 months”.

The regulation at 29 CFR 825.112 lists six qualifying reasons.

1. The birth of a child, and care of the newborn.
2. Adoption or foster care: the placement of a child with the employee.
3. Care of a family member, meaning a spouse, son, daughter or parent, with a serious health condition.
4. The employee's own serious health condition, which makes them unable to perform the functions of the job.
5. A qualifying exigency arising from a family member's covered active military duty.
6. Care of a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness. For this reason the total is up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period.

Three protections go with the leave. Health benefits are maintained “as if the employee had continued to work”. The employee “generally has a right to return to the same position or an equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefits, and working conditions”. And the regulation notes that the right applies equally to men and women.

Note the words eligible and covered. The entitlement does not apply to every employer or to every employee, and states may add their own rules. Check your own position.

The federal government's own rules show the two kinds of leave side by side. The Office of Personnel Management's fact sheet on leave without pay says that, in most instances, “granting LWOP is a matter of supervisory discretion”. It then lists the situations in which federal employees have an entitlement, including family and medical leave and service in the uniformed services.

Leave in the UK: a patchwork

The UK has no single “leave of absence” law. It has a set of separate rights, and a wide area that is left to agreement.

Rights. GOV.UK describes several. Eligible employees can take unpaid parental leave to look after their child's welfare, and their employment rights, “like holidays and returning to a job”, are protected while they do. Employees are allowed time off for dependants, which GOV.UK describes as “a reasonable amount of time off to deal with the emergency”. The employer may pay for it, but does not have to. Maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave have their own rules.

Agreement. Longer breaks are a different matter. GOV.UK's page on career breaks is blunt: “There are no laws that deal specifically with taking a career break – it is only an agreement between the employer and the employee.” Employers do not have to offer them. If they do, the policy must be clearly laid out, and should cover eligibility, notice, how to apply, how long is allowed and whether the contract's terms continue.

GOV.UK adds a warning that every employee should read twice. Arrangements to return after a career break “are not legally binding”, and it could mean ending the existing contract of employment. Employees cannot take legal action if the employer decides that they cannot return to their job or a similar one. If your leave is discretionary, the paper that you sign is all that you have.

Common reasons for a leave of absence

• The birth or adoption of a child.
• Caring for a relative who is ill or dying.
• Your own illness, injury, surgery or recovery.
• Bereavement.
• Military or reserve service.
• Jury service or other public duties.
• Study, research or a qualification.
• A sabbatical or career break.
• Travel, volunteering or a personal project.
• Exhaustion, when ordinary leave has not been enough. See a doctor as well as your manager.

Five things to agree in writing

1. Dates. The start, the end, and how either can be changed.
2. Pay. Paid, part paid or unpaid, and what happens to bonuses and pay reviews.
3. Benefits. Pension contributions, health cover, holiday accrual and length of service. Do they continue, pause or stop?
4. Contact. How often, by what means and about what. Some people want news, and others want silence.
5. Return. The job that you come back to, on what terms, and what happens if either side's plans change.

For a statutory leave, the law settles some of these. For a discretionary leave, this list is the agreement.

How to ask for a leave of absence

1. Read the policy first. Look in the handbook for leave of absence, career break, sabbatical and unpaid leave. Find out whether your situation is covered by a legal right.
2. Ask early. The more notice you give, the easier it is to say yes. Emergencies are the exception, and good employers know it.
3. Be specific. “I would like unpaid leave from 1 March to 31 May” can be answered. “I need some time” cannot.
4. Bring a plan for your work. Who could cover what, what can wait and how you will hand over.
5. Put it in writing, and get the answer in writing, with the five points above.
6. Say only what you need to. You may have to give a reason to show that you qualify. You do not have to share every medical or family detail with your line manager. HR can often handle the sensitive part.

For managers: handling a request

• Check the law first. If the leave is an entitlement, your job is to arrange it. It is not to decide whether to allow it.
• For discretionary leave, decide consistently. Use the policy, and treat like cases alike. Inconsistent decisions are a common source of grievances.
• Plan the cover with the team, and do not simply share the work out among those who remain.
• Agree contact, and respect it.
• Plan the return. A conversation in the first week back about what has changed, a gradual build-up where that helps, and no penalty in the next pay or performance review for having been away.

If you are writing the policy, our employee handbook guide shows where it belongs.

Common mistakes

A handshake agreement. Especially in the UK, where a career break may not be binding, write it down.

Assuming that the job is safe. It is safe when the law or the written agreement says so.

Forgetting benefits. People discover six months later that their pension contributions stopped.

Treating a legal entitlement as a favour. Managers who grumble about statutory leave create legal risk and lose good people.

Silence during the leave, and surprise on return. The role has changed, the team has moved, and nobody said.

Marking people down afterwards. Judge performance on the time that the person worked.

Frequently asked questions

What is the definition of a leave of absence?

A leave of absence is formal permission to be away from work for a period, usually longer than ordinary holiday or sick leave, with the intention of returning. The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as time away from work or studies that is formally given to you by your organisation.

Is a leave of absence paid?

It depends on the type and on your employer. Family and medical leave under US federal law is unpaid, although accrued paid leave can sometimes be substituted. Career breaks and sabbaticals are often unpaid unless the employer's policy says otherwise. Check your contract and handbook.

Can my employer refuse a leave of absence?

If the law entitles you to the leave and you qualify, the employer cannot simply refuse. If the leave is discretionary, such as a career break, the employer can say no. GOV.UK states that employers do not have to offer career breaks.

Will I get my job back after a leave of absence?

For leave under the US Family and Medical Leave Act, the regulation says that an employee generally has a right to return to the same or an equivalent position. For a UK career break, GOV.UK warns that arrangements to return are not legally binding. Get the terms in writing.

How long can a leave of absence be?

Statutory leave has limits that are set by law. For example, US family and medical leave is up to 12 workweeks in 12 months, or 26 to care for a covered servicemember. Discretionary leave lasts as long as the employer and the employee agree.

What is the difference between a leave of absence and a sabbatical?

A sabbatical is one kind of leave of absence: a longer break, often offered after a number of years of service, for rest, study or travel. Leave of absence is the wider term, and also covers medical, family, military and other leave.

Your next step

1. If you need leave: read your handbook today, work out whether a legal right covers you, and write down your dates.
2. If you manage people: find your organisation's policy, and check that it says what happens to pay, benefits and the job.
3. If there is no policy: write one page that covers eligibility, how to apply, the five points above and the return to work.

For help with putting policies like this into a clear staff handbook, read and download our employee handbook guide. The guide is free to read, and the PDF uses our short download form.

Want regular check-ins that make the conversations before and after a leave easier? Book a New Dynamics demo and bring your current approach. You can also email contact@new-dynamics.com.