Ask HN: Have you ever taken a 6-month to 1 yr break anytime during your career?

Post by kovacs_x » Sun, Jul 11, 2021, 8:24 AM UTC

captmorrel wrote: post #34

kovacs_x wrote: post #31

As a person who's done that (3x ~1 year, 3x ~3-6 months "gaps" with total 20+ years experience as well), my simple answer is- yes, do it. Every other day you're only thinking on it is a loss for you! As for me- I travelled quite a bit, completed a game project 5 years in a making, read some books, watched lot of movies, after last one of these "vacations" moved from permanent employment to freelance, to be able to ha…

Thanks for the encouragement! I agree, its absolutely important to plan for it, not only for yourself, but for family and friends. This is one of the keys to it being a successful time off. I am of the slight suspicion that I might not want to get back to being permanent anymore like you. If you did move to freelance, may I ask how you handle health insurance for you and family? Or are you not in the US? :)

nope, not in the US.

Post by captmorrel » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 9:24 PM UTC

brutus1213 wrote: post #48

captmorrel wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious, what does an LOA give you? I dont suppose you get paid or still get health insurance. Is it just a stopping of payroll/benefits and resuming it once you are back?

Legally, I guess it depends on the state and country. If a company approves a LOA but changes its mind, perhaps that would be counted as a termination and make the person eligible for severance, unemployment, etc. I'm not a lawyer and this is tricky stuff. But from a human perspective, there is some expectation that HR or the manager would try to help the employee return back after the LOA.

Thanks for the valuable input!

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever taken a 6-month to 1 yr break anytime during your career?

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever taken a 6-month to 1 yr break anytime during your career?