UK reward metrics · Time Off & Family

Do UK organisations offer sabbaticals or career breaks?

Source lumi HRBase 259 organisationsFieldwork 2026 H1

76.1%No specific provision

76.1% of organisations in the lumi HR community answered “No specific provision” on sabbatical and career break availability (base: 259 UK organisations, 2026 H1).

Figures describe organisations in the lumi HR community, not a random sample of UK employers.

How UK organisations answered

Yes - paid sabbaticals are available 4.2% Yes - unpaid sabbaticals or career bre 19.7% No specific provision 76.1%
Sabbatical and career break availability (base: 259 organisations, 2026 H1). Percentages percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding.
Sabbatical and career break availability: share of organisations by answer
AnswerShare of organisations
Yes - paid sabbaticals are availablerare4.2%
Yes - unpaid sabbaticals or career breaks onlyrare19.7%
No specific provisioncommon76.1%

Common, alternative and rare describe how each answer sits against the community: the most chosen answer is common; an answer chosen by fewer than one in five organisations is rare.

Definition

Whether extended sabbaticals or career breaks are available, and whether any such leave is paid or unpaid. See the methodology for how the base is built, how not-applicable answers are handled, the public floor, and which organisations are excluded.

For context, CIPD "Reward Management Survey 2022: Focus on employee benefits" reports 26% (base: All-UK employers, ~280 reward professionals).

Cite this figure
Source: lumi HR, UK Reward Metrics, September 2026, lumihr.co.uk/metrics/sabbatical-and-career-break-availability
Last updated 19 September 2026 · Data licence: CC BY 4.0 for the figures in the CSV download.

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