One of the first questions we get from job applicants is, “Do you really offer a 3-month paid sabbatical? What’s the catch?”. Well, there is no catch! It’s three months and you get paid to do whatever you want – one of our favorite employee perks.
In the late 90’s, many companies starting touting that they were a “work-life balance company”. The noise became more PR than reality. From Intertech’s early days work-life balance was always a focus – not just talk. So, we put our money where our mouth was and implemented a 3-Month Paid Sabbatical program.
The Sabbatical program has been a part of our culture now for over 15 years and is offered to employees every 7 years of service with the company. Many of us have taken once-in-a-lifetime vacations with family and others have chosen to decline the time away and take a payout they’ve applied to savings and/or major purchases.
So, what have some of us done with the time? Check out the stories of a few recent employees on their Sabbaticals.
Dave S.
“We had the pleasure of traveling for my sabbatical. In the summer of 2011 our family spent a month in Europe visiting 6 different countries by air, rail, car, and foot. Our itinerary was as follows:
- Greece (Athens)
- Italy (Rome, Pompeii, Vatican City, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Milan)
- Germany (Munich, Dachau, Fussen, Cochem)
- Switzerland (Lucerne, Interlaken)
- France (Lyon, Limoges, Oradour, Paris)
- Belgium (Brussels).
I used the remainder of my time on a 10-day fishing trip with my son to Lake of the Woods (our favorite fishing destination), and various other weekend getaways and hunting trips.
Jim W.
“For my sabbatical, my wife (Kelly) and I traveled to New Zealand (3.5 weeks) and Australia (4.5 weeks). The sights we saw, people we met and food we ate was amazing. We did some things I never thought I would do on the trip including:
- Hiked to the top of a volcano and down (“Mt Doom” from Lord of the Rings)
- Petted kangaroos and koala
- Bungee jumped
- Camped out and hiked at Uluru
- Came face to face with a turtle on the Great Barrier Reef
- Saw constellations, shooting stars, and the Milky Way in the night sky of the Outback like man before there were artificial lights.
- We also drank great wine!
Rich F.
“For my sabbatical, I went to the Philippines for one month with my wife. We were remarried in a beautiful setting and went to Thailand for our honeymoon for one week.”
Want to create your story? Check out our Career Center and learn what opportunities are available to join Intertech. You’re just a few years away from an amazing Sabbatical experience.
