TIME OUT: Stepping off the official treadmill for a while can rejuvenate you

Once the exclusive domain of academics and senior executives, sabbaticals are the latest trend for those wanting temporarily to step off the professional treadmill.

Taking a sabbatical ? a mutual agreement between employer and employee whereby you are granted extended leave over and above your usual holiday entitlement ? doesn’t mean that you are not committed to your career. Many employers consider sabbaticals important because they help their staff to develop professionally by providing opportunities for reflection and personal exploration.

So, is it possible to step off the career carousel and simply jump back on without losing your place? For PAs and secretaries wanting a pit stop, the answer is yes.

Andrea Martins, 31, worked as PA to the international operations manager at a global exhibitions company before taking a “life sabbatical” in 2002.

“I loved my job but I was at a professional crossroads,” she says. “I craved a temporary break from my nine-to-five routine, so I resigned from my job and registered with Teaching & Projects Abroad, an organisation for volunteer placements.”

Just six weeks later, Andrea arrived in Mexico: “I was looking after the British contingent of volunteers in the city of Ciudad Guzman. Correspondence was in English but otherwise my Spanish skills, which I had learnt at university, were tested to the utmost. There was a lot of logistical work so I used my secretarial skills and learnt new skills as well, such as marketing.” She enthuses that her sabbatical gave her a fresh career perspective: “I work part-time at the Institute of Linguists now, essentially in an administrative role. People in the workplace are so eager to discuss my sabbatical ? it has opened many avenues for me.”

There is no law that guarantees anyone an automatic right to be granted a career break, and smaller companies may struggle to accommodate one, given the practicalities of arranging cover.

Susan Channon, 56, has worked as a secretary since she was 17. Her final job prior to going travelling was at a company where there was no one available to fill her shoes temporarily. “I decided in the end that it was fairer to leave and let my bosses find a permanent secretary for the role,” she explains.

After a year of planning, she used the travel company i-to-i to set up volunteer projects and combined them with independent travel in South Africa, South America and Asia. “The highlights were working outdoors, usually in beautiful surroundings, and meeting very different kinds of people from those in my ‘normal’ life,” she says. Susan returned to the UK late last year.

Some larger companies, meanwhile, offer fully paid sabbaticals as a reward for staff loyalty. Wendy Richard, a senior PA, qualified for a six-month break after 25 years’ continual service at the John Lewis Partnership. Wendy, 43, joined the company’s typing pool as a school-leaver but these days she reports to Robert Hallam, managing director of the branch at Brent Cross Shopping Centre in London.

“It was fabulous to drop the reins and walk away from work for a while,” says Wendy. “I spent six months jetting to America, Dublin, Scotland and Canada. I even managed to spend Christmas at home, which is unheard of in the world of retail.

“My sabbatical did me the world of good, but after my travels I was raring to return to work. I suppose that doing a job you don’t enjoy would make it hard to adjust. But I love my job and found it very easy to slip back into my working life.”