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Ask for a sabbatical or career break

You need time out: to travel, care for someone or just recover. Get a request that shows how your work will be covered and what you'll come back with.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

The prompt · ChatGPT

Help me ask for a sabbatical or career break.

How long and when: [e.g. 3 months from June]
Why: [share what you're comfortable with]
My role and who could cover: [details]
Our policy: [paste it if there is one, or "none"]
What I'd come back with: [e.g. rested, a new skill]

Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers.

Then:
1. A one-page proposal: dates, reason, cover plan, handover, how I'll come back.
2. A cover plan table: my tasks, who covers, what they need.
3. Questions to ask HR: pay, pension, holiday, benefits, my job on return.
4. What to say if they say no, or offer something shorter.

Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, dates or results. UK English.

Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.

A short example

Fill the blanks, then paste. e.g. 3 months from June: a short note you already have. share what you're comfortable with: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.

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