Documents for Business

In excess of 1,000 customisable documents covering every conceivable business issue.

Introduction to this document

 

Letter rejecting request for a sabbatical

Although sabbaticals are growing in popularity, you don't have to accept a request for this type of leave. If doing so will leave your business short-staffed, or incur significant costs elsewhere, it should be declined. Use our letter rejecting request for a sabbatical to explain the reasons for your decision.

Request denied

Many employees are tempted by the idea of a sabbatical; if agreed, it allows them to take time off safe in the knowledge that they will be returning to exactly the same job and pay. But their plans to undertake a period of extended leave to travel or study may not suit you. If they don't, you should decline their request without hesitation. Alternatively, you can ask the employee to defer their leave or make a further application at a later date (although you don't have to guarantee it will be accepted).

If you decide to reject, do provide a reason why. For example this might be that:

  • you only grant sabbaticals to employees with a particular length of continuous service, e.g. two or five years
  • they've had a previous sabbatical
  • the purpose of the sabbatical conflicts with your business interests; or
  • the sabbatical is unlikely to bring any benefit to your business.

 

We are really sorry 

If the employee doesn't like your decision, well, that's just tough. Neither do they have a right of appeal as taking a sabbatical is not a statutory right. You can use our Letter Rejecting Request for a Sabbatical for this purpose. Simply delete the parts that you don't need. If you have made your decision because of a reason not listed in our letter, it can easily be amended to suit your own business needs.