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Sabbatical and unpaid leave

There may be times when you would like to take a period of leave away from work to pursue other interests. This could be for reasons including, spending time with family, travelling, studying, or doing voluntary/community work.

Unpaid leave allows you to take time off work without affecting your continuous service.

For the purpose of this policy, we talk about a sabbatical as a period of unpaid leave of 4 weeks or more.

Types of unpaid leave #

There are some circumstances in which there is a legal provision for unpaid leave. These are covered by other guidance within the playbook:

Often we provide more than the legal minimum required in relation to unpaid leave. If you have any questions please contact the People team.

Eligibility #

You are entitled to apply for a period of unpaid leave of less than 4 weeks from day one of your employment.

How much sabbatical leave you are eligible to apply for is linked to your length of service:

You can apply for more than one sabbatical during your employment. There must be a period of 12 months between returning from one sabbatical and applying for another.

Sabbaticals are a discretionary benefit. It may be that we cannot accommodate your request, even if you meet the eligibility criteria.

We will always give you clear feedback on why and discuss any alternative solutions with you.

How to apply #

  1. We recommend having a chat with your line manager first to make them aware of your request.
  2. The application process, and people involved in the decision, will differ slightly depending on the length of the leave you are requesting.
    • For requests of unpaid leave up to 1 week, please speak to your line manager, who will then discuss this with your “Head of”. If you are in a billable role, this will also be discussed with your delivery lead.
    • If your request is for longer than 1 week, please send an email to the People team, your line manager, and your “Head of”, detailing the reason for your request and start/end dates for your unpaid leave or sabbatical.
  3. Your “Head of” will then consult with your business unit director and consider the request. If you are in a billable role, the Head of Delivery will also be involved in the decision process. The outcome will be communicated to you within 14 calendar days.
  4. Each request will be considered on an individual basis taking into account a range of relevant factors. These factors include, but are not limited to:
    • Financial implications
    • Workload implications for colleagues
    • Impact on quality of work/level of service provisions
    • Any previous sabbaticals taken
  5. If your request is approved, the People team will communicate the outcome to you, and confirm the impact on your salary and benefits by sending you an agreement letter that will require your signature.
  6. The People team will adjust BreatheHR and make any other updates as required. 

If your request is declined, you can submit an appeal to the Head of People, in writing, within 7 calendar days of receiving the outcome of your unpaid leave or sabbatical request. You will receive a response to your appeal within 14 calendar days. There will be no further appeal beyond this stage.

Accruing holiday while you’re on sabbatical leave #

Our dxw standard holiday entitlement, for a full time employee, is 25 days plus bank holidays (England). 

Whilst on a period of unpaid leave or sabbatical, you will continue to accrue holiday, and this will be at the dxw rate detailed above.

If you are part time, then pro-rated calculations will apply. 

Any bank holidays that fall within your usual working days, and occur whilst you are on unpaid leave, will be added back into your holiday entitlement for use upon your return.

We expect holiday entitlement to be taken roughly as it accrues throughout the holiday year. If you are taking a period of sabbatical leave, you will usually be expected to use any accrued holiday by the start of the sabbatical period. Depending on the request, we may ask you to take annual leave at either end of your sabbatical.

If you have any questions relating to using your holiday, please contact your line manager or the People team to discuss this further. 

Salary and benefits #

During the period of your unpaid leave, you will not receive your salary and, as a result, your pension contributions will stop.

Employees who are in receipt of our Electric Vehicle scheme must continue with their payments during the period of sabbatical leave, in accordance with the relevant agreement made. 

Employees who are signed up to our Cycle-to-Work scheme will be able to pause their payments during the period of their sabbatical leave.

All other benefits will continue as normal. More detailed information will be included in the agreement.

Taking a period of unpaid leave will not impact negatively on your career progression. If a dxw-wide salary increase is granted during the time you are on leave, you are still eligible to receive this, and this will be applied to your salary from your return date.

Contractual arrangements #

Apart from the information outlined above, all other terms and conditions of your employment will remain the same throughout any period of unpaid leave. 

Keeping in touch #

If you are taking a period of unpaid leave or sabbatical, you may be required to keep in touch with your line manager while on leave. Details of this will be outlined in the agreement sent over to you.

You should discuss any handover of work in detail with your line manager and your team ahead of your unpaid leave or sabbatical beginning. 

In most cases, you will be asked to keep hold of your device and any other equipment during your period of unpaid leave or sabbatical. Your device will remain under the terms of your Employee Equipment Agreement. The People team can provide you with a copy of this.

Returning to work #

We want to make sure you feel supported returning to work after an extended period of leave so you should also check in with your line manager prior to returning to work.

Last updated: 23 September 2025 (history)