More Life, Less Work

6 Different Ways to Take a Career Break

There are at least six different ways to experience a career break:

1 – The Lay-off Break (my first break!)

Length – until you find your next job, or as agreed to (more below)

Frequency – infrequent or as often as you get laid off

Many people, unfortunately, have experienced this type of career break. For engineers and Information Technology (IT) people, it is only a matter of when you’ll be laid off. As a mechanical engineer, I know…. I’ve been laid off twice in my career.

Since this type of break is so common now, we’ll focus on lay-off breaks to help people return to work. Our preferred work option will be as contract employee working through an agency. There are many reasons for using the contract option that will be detailed in other articles.

I can’t recommend taking time off from work by getting laid off, with one possible exception. Most people are not prepared financially when a lay-off occurs. It is hard to enjoy yourself on a lay-off break like you can with planned breaks. You should still enjoy your time off as much as you can. Life is short, and you’ll get past this situation.

The one exception as noted in the paragraph above would be if you can take a voluntary lay-off for a period of time. I have seen at least one company that gave people this option. The employees that took this path were laid off, went on unemployment (after a one week waiting period), and then returned to work after an agreed to number of weeks off. This option was offered to reduce headcount for a period of time while allowing the company to keep experienced employees. If a lay-off is coming, you may be able to convince your employer to offer you this option, but, for most people, a voluntary, temporary lay-off will be a rare option for a career break.

Take note, once you get beyond an involuntary lay-off life will improve. You’ll be able to start the process to put you on the path to taking frequent or annual breaks when desired. The other types of career breaks are further below. Your lay-off can turn into the event that changed your life in the most positive way. Keep reading, we’ll show you the way!

2 – The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Break

Length – 12 weeks maximum

Frequency – infrequent, if you meet the requirements

The FMLA break is generally a shorter-term break than the other breaks discussed here. The FMLA break will allow you time off from your job with the ability to return to your job when done. An FMLA break can be used multiple times when you meet the criteria. You’ll need to be careful not to “abuse” this privilege with your employer.

Legally, your company must allow you to return to your previous position or an equivalent job with the same salary, benefits, and other conditions of employment. If you “abuse” the privilege of repeated FMLA breaks, your boss can still make your life hell. I’ve never taken an FMLA break, but I’ve worked for several jerk bosses. That type of boss may not be able to fire you, but they can make you want to quit.

FMLA career breaks will not be a focus on this site. If an FMLA break is your goal, please refer to other information and websites for the current rules on FMLA breaks.

Keep reading to find out about other types of career breaks that you may be able to take in the future.

3 – The Sabbatical Break

Length – 6 to 12 months, typically

Frequency – once every five or more years?

The Sabbatical break is what most people think of when they hear the term career break. This type of break is usually a longer break, generally up to a year, and occurs more infrequently. This occurrence may be once in a career, or once every five years in some situations. These tend to be for professors or others in academia. Sometimes these types of breaks are paid for by the employer, which is a nice deal if it is available.

Note that you can take a self-funded sabbatical. It can sometimes be difficult to arrange with your employer.

This site will include information that will be helpful for people on a “true” sabbatical. The main focus of the site will be to show people how to take more frequent or even annual career breaks.

4 - The Long-Term Break – the parent track

Length – multiple years

Frequency – as often as you can afford

Most people on multiple-year breaks are caring for children or elderly parents. This break is also not what most people will think of as a sabbatical!

We will not be focusing on multiple-year breaks on this site. There will be tools here that can help this group (currently under construction). People that have been a Please use tools on this site to help with your return to work. Years way from work for years suffer the difficulty of getting a job again when they need one. One problem with this group can be the loss of job skills. Changes to software and technology can also make your skills obsolete.

My suggestion for people in this group that plan to return to work at some point would be to periodically take a contract job in their industry. This job can keep your skills more up to date. This experience should also keep help you from falling behind on pay. If you haven’t worked for years, get a contract job now if you plan to return to a full-time job later. This action should help you in the future.

Years long career breaks will not be our main focus on this site. Please use tools on this site to help with your return to work whether that is for a short contract job or a return to full-time work. If you go back to work full-time, we can help take you take a career break too!

5 - The Frequent or Annual Career Break (my preferred type)

Length – 6 months

Frequency – as often as you prefer depending on finances

Frequent career breaks are generally less than a year in length. It is definitely longer than the vacation time most people get (even if they get off six weeks per year). This type of break is usually from 3 to 6 months or slightly more time in length.

Imagine the possibilities of what you can do when you have 3 to 6 months off every year! Yes, that is correct, EVERY year!

How is that possible? Well, it generally won’t be through the typical employer. There are some unique situations where it may be possible to work as an employee six months per year. It is possible, yet unlikely for most people. There are some seasonal jobs where you can work a few months per year. The working time may be too short to earn enough money to sustain you during your break time. The pay for some of these jobs can also leave you wanting more. If you’re retired on a pension/social security, these seasonal jobs may be enough for you. If not, keep reading!

So how can we work six months each year and earn enough money to pay for the non-working months? How do we make that work with employers?

The solution is to work short-term contract jobs, through an employment agency. You find a job, do the work, get paid for all the hours you work, and leave at the end of the contract. When you’re in the money earning stage of the year, you work. While you’re in the working phase, you’ll want to work as many hours as possible, especially overtime when allowed. Overtime as a contractor is typically at time-and -a-half your normal pay rate, which adds up quickly. When you’re on break, you have no concerns and nobody to answer to like you might as a freelance person or if you own your business.

But what do I do when I need to start working again?

Simple. You take another contract job and repeat the cycle again. Contact your manager from the previous contract. If you did a good job for that manager, this can be an easy way to get the next contract.

6 - The Retirement Break - going back to work from retirement

Length – as desired

Frequency – as desired

I don’t have any experience being retired, as it is traditionally defined. Career breaks could be defined as being semi-retired. If you’re bored, or if you need more income, returning to work may be a consideration. For the retirees here looking for help, you’re in the right place!

You can take a more low-key job than what you may have done for your career, but those jobs would be at a lower pay rate. There is nothing wrong with this option, but it might require you to work a more full-time schedule. Maybe you work fewer hours per day, but you still work five days a week. Will that job tie you to that location?

If being tied to that location is acceptable, that low-key job might be the way to go. If not, you may prefer to go back into your former career. It may have been stressful in the past, but knowing that you’ll soon be taking another break will make it easier than in the past. Also, if the job is really bad, you can quit. Especially if you have the money to walk away from the job.

If you still want to travel, or be a snowbird, alternating between working and career breaks might be a better option. You can make a higher rate of pay, granted, probably working a full-time schedule, but you won’t need to work for the whole year. Working a few months per year, possibly in a new location, at a higher rate of pay than the low-key job sounds like a better option if you need, or want to work.

Conclusion

The ability to quickly get a job when needed is one of the keys to this lifestyle. You can typically get hired more quickly on a contract basis than a full-time basis. There are a lot of positives to contract employment, and few negatives if you value freedom. Remote work, following Covid, is now a possibility. Prior to Covid, contract work required going to the job location. Going to the job location is still true for some jobs and employers. Depending on your attitude, living and working in a new location can be either a positive or a negative. The location jobs have been a positive for me by allowing me to experience the new location.

Career breaks are possible as freelancers and business owners. These work relationships can be harder to completely drop when you want to be away from work. It is surprising that more people don’t use agency contracting as an employment option based on the job flexibility!

You can transition through these various career breaks as you move through life. Your first career break may be a lay-off. From there you may progress to taking frequent career breaks, or one of the other career break types. When you retire, you may need some additional money, or you may be bored. Returning to work may be appealing at that point.

Which group are you in at the moment? How can we help you get from your current situation to either a career break or back to work?