All core staff, after five years of employment, are eligible for a sixteen (16) week 100% compensated sabbatical period. The purpose of sabbaticals is to promote periodic rejuvenation of long-time staff through extended time away from the day-to-day operations of an organization, and to support more resilience and leadership development throughout the rest of the organization. An extended break can allow people to rejuvenate themselves physically, emotionally, creatively, and spiritually and thus return to the organization with renewed commitment and perspective. We expect staff to return from the sabbatical and continue working for the Law Center, though we do not require a specific formal commitment.

There are no requirements for how the sabbatical time is spent, other than that it not be used to work for SELC or be employed full-time (30+ hours/week) somewhere else (which would defeat the stated purpose of the sabbatical). Upon return, staff are invited to present to co-workers, in any desired medium, how sabbatical time was spent, but this is not mandatory. 

• Sabbatical requests must be proposed to the General Circle at least four months in advance of proposed start date, and should include relevant information, such as how current roles and accountabilities will be filled in the staff person's absence. Approval shall be based on factors generally limited to the organization's ability to fundraise, staff capacity to fill roles in requester’s absence, and overall impact on the organization.

•  Staff are encouraged to take their sabbaticals within 12 to 18 months from the time they are eligible. 

• Prior to bringing a proposal to the General Circle, a staff person shall (that is, must) discuss their sabbatical proposal with the Internal Resilience Circle so Internal Resilience Circle members can ensure that the spirit and process of the policy is followed, which includes support with assessing and mitigating organizational impact. It is also the responsibility of the Internal Resilience Circle to check in with any other staff who became eligible for their sabbatical prior to the one bringing their proposal and to check with any staff member who became eligible to take their sabbatical earlier does not have plans to take their sabbatical at the same time. 

  • Staff should bring a description of how they are going to distribute and/or put on pause their roles, projects, and other work when they meet with the Internal Resilience Circle that can be updated and revised while they plan their leave. Here are some resources for staff to use: we have a google sheets version of our "TEMPLATE Extended Leave Plan" in our Google Sheets Template Gallery here and a google docs version "Extended Leave Plan [TEMPLATE]" in our Google Docs Template Gallery here 

• Sabbaticals shall be taken in one continuous period unless a very specific and compelling reason is provided to break it into shorter periods, which, at minimum, shall not be less than four weeks.

• Sabbaticals should not be taken within 12 months of another period of extended leave, if at all possible. Besides the impact on the rest of the organization when staff take extended leave or try to combine different types of extended leave, staff may lose their Law Center insurance benefits if they are not working for extended periods of time and may have to cover their insurance costs themselves. If the GC decides to approve the combination of two types of extended leave, the requesting staff with the support of appropriate Circles and Roles shall:

  • Review the Law Center's health plan’s summary plan document (SPD) or consult our broker to identify the active‑employee coverage requirements and termination rules.

  • If the anticipated or actual leave extends past protected time or plan limits, the ROLE: Health/Dental Benefits Coordinator must issue the staff member the appropriate COBRA/Cal‑COBRA notices to any employee losing coverage.

• For extended leaves beyond legal entitlements (such as the federal Family and Medical Leave Act or the California Family Rights Act), the Admin CIRCLE and the ROLE: Legal Compliance Manager should discuss whether extended leave would be a reasonable accommodation under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), in order to extend benefits eligibility.

• The impact of sabbaticals on SELC's overall capacity will be a consideration for approving sabbaticals. No more than one staff person should be

• All core staff will be eligible for further sabbaticals every additional five years from their hire date.  

• Compensation during sabbatical will include regular salary at the current rate of pay, and all regular staff benefits. In other words, a staff member remains a staff member during the sabbatical period, and is eligible to participate in all governance decisions.

• Eligibility for subsequent sabbaticals shall follow the same policy as above, starting from the end of the first sabbatical period.

• Staff are advised that this policy neither guarantees an initial sabbatical or subsequent sabbaticals and that the terms of the policy, including the length of compensated time off, may change. 

[Updated 12/11/25 to Reflect proposals passed on July 2, 2025  Re: Amending Time Period of Subsequent Sabbaticals, and December 9, 2025 Re: Sabbaticals Policy]
[Updated 07/18/22]