How can you support micro-retirement?
How can you support micro-retirement?
A growing trend on social media amongst millennials and Gen Zs, particularly on TikTok, is the concept of micro-retirement. What is micro-retirement and how could you potentially support it in the workplace?
#Micro-retirement
Micro-retirement involves an employee taking extended blocks of time off work throughout their working life to go travelling and enjoy other experiences rather than waiting until their retirement. With many people now working longer and retiring later than was traditionally the case, short career breaks like these can improve an employee's work-life balance and prevent burnout. An employee could take time off between jobs but another option would be for them to be permitted to take a career break during a job.
Tip. Employees have no statutory right to career breaks, so whether you grant them is up to you. If you do, you must act fairly, consistently and in a non-discriminatory manner.
Career breaks policy
You can support micro-retirement by putting in place a career break policy. This should cover: (1) who is eligible to apply (how they should do so and the factors that will be considered in determining applications, e.g. is there a minimum service requirement? Are career breaks prohibited where the employee wants to go and work elsewhere?), (2) minimum and maximum career break duration, (3) the status of the employee's employment contract during the career break and the consequences for their statutory rights and contractual benefits, and (4) the arrangements for their return to work at the end of the career break.
Termination of employment?
Most career breaks are unpaid. However, even if unpaid, if the employment contract continues in force during the break, the employee will continue to benefit from statutory employment rights, including the accrual of statutory paid annual leave (although you can agree that purely contractual benefits will be temporarily paused). A better option for small businesses is to ensure the employment contract is terminated for the career break by requiring the employee to resign by mutual agreement as part of its terms. This will then usually be coupled with an option of re-employment at the end of the career break.
Tip. If the employee is to resign as part of the agreed terms of the career break, you should also make clear that (1) their continuity of employment will be broken by the break, and (2) if they return to work, it will be a new period of employment.
Tip. Confirm the terms of the career break in writing and ask the employee to sign a copy as acceptance of those terms.
Right to return to work
If the employees has resigned, they have no statutory right to return to work after their career break, so any return arrangements are a matter for agreement. However, many employers will want to guarantee re-employment in the same role or at least in a similar role on no less favourable terms and conditions, and this is what your career breaks policy provides for. If you are going to make a promise of this nature, be sure you can honour it (and have clear-cut redundancy situations from a promise of re-employment).
Micro-retirement involves taking extended time off during working life rather than waiting until retirement. You can support it by offering unpaid career breaks. If you do, it's advisable to require an employee to resign as part of the terms so that their contract terminates. It's up to you whether to promise re-employment at the end of the break.