Rights when leaving a job...

rightyabe

Ok me and the girlfriend are heading for australia in mid August sometime, she is currently working 22 hours part time and getting €50 odd euro a week on the dole.

What are her rights withs regards taking a year out, she has been working in the place for 5 years. Would she have any rights to take a year out and walk back into her job when/if she returned?

Cheers

Eoin

Sabbaticals / career breaks are at the discretion of the employer, so there's no automatic entitlement.

rightyabe

So how would you suggest she leaves her job? a letter of resignation or ask for a sabbatical?

And how long can a sabbatical be for 1 or 2 years?

seamus

A sabbatical/career break is an agreement with your employer that you'll leave for a fixed amount of time, unpaid, and then return again, typically at the same level and doing the same job as when you left, but not always.
Sabbaticals are usually for people who want to take medium-term breaks from their job which wouldn't be covered by standard holiday leave - so 2 months to a year, really.

If she particularly wants to keep working where she is, then no harm to request a sabbatical. Just note that they're typically fixed-length things. Depending on the work if her employer hires a contractor to cover for her, then she won't be able to come back early or stay longer.

Agreeing to it is entirely at the employer's discretion. And they don't have to give her the same job nor the same pay or the same hours when she returns, unless that's specified in a contract.

Tbh, if she's part time on a low wage, her employer is unlikely to gvie her a career break. They're usually for management in companies or academics. If the employer refuses a career break, then her only option is to quit.

rightyabe

seamus wrote: »

A sabbatical/career break is an agreement with your employer that you'll leave for a fixed amount of time, unpaid, and then return again, typically at the same level and doing the same job as when you left, but not always.
Sabbaticals are usually for people who want to take medium-term breaks from their job which wouldn't be covered by standard holiday leave - so 2 months to a year, really.

If she particularly wants to keep working where she is, then no harm to request a sabbatical. Just note that they're typically fixed-length things. Depending on the work if her employer hires a contractor to cover for her, then she won't be able to come back early or stay longer.

Agreeing to it is entirely at the employer's discretion. And they don't have to give her the same job nor the same pay or the same hours when she returns, unless that's specified in a contract.

Tbh, if she's part time on a low wage, her employer is unlikely to gvie her a career break. They're usually for management in companies or academics. If the employer refuses a career break, then her only option is to quit.

Very good info there.

She was full time for 4 and a half years, until christmas 2010 she was cut to part-time. There is talk that if she stayed she would be full-time again in September, but we're leaving in August.

Its a community playschool if that helps...

seamus

OK, well as it's a smaller and less formal environment, then they may be less stuffy about this kind of thing. All she can do is ask.

A number of companies were happy enough to give career breaks over the last couple of years as they didn't necessarily want to lose good people, but they needed to reduce costs in the short-term too. So this may be true of her employer, especially she gets along well with them.

Typically though smaller employers can't really afford to be that fluid with their manpower, so my guess is that she'll be allowed to go with their blessing but told to get in touch a month or two before you plan on coming home to check if they would be able to take her on again.

rightyabe

Yeah she gets on well with them, so would you suggest asking the board of management in writing or verbaly for a sabbitical?

Also the board of managment changes every year, would that affect it in any way if the current board allowed her to take a sabbitical, could the new board refuse to take her back? even though it was agreed?

seamus

rightyabe wrote: »

Yeah she gets on well with them, so would you suggest asking the board of management in writing or verbaly for a sabbitical?

She should say it verbally to the person that she directly reports to, who can then take it to the board, or whoever, to decide if it needs to be more formal.

Also the board of managment changes every year, would that affect it in any way if the current board allowed her to take a sabbitical, could the new board refuse to take her back? even though it was agreed?

No, the agreement would be with the company, so it doesn't matter who the board is or how often they change.

rightyabe

Would it advisable to get the board to put it down in writing that they agree to take her back within the 10-12 month period?