
Ask HN: Burnt out, can I take a sabatical? - BurntSchnitzel
Hello HN&#x27;ers,<p>I&#x27;m a mobile developer, with solid backend skills. I&#x27;ve been working since past 12 years and have never taken a break. I&#x27;m now feeling the classic burnout, and my health and productivity is tanking. All the spare time I&#x27;ve, goes into managing my kids chores, and working overtime fixing broken builds&#x2F; code issues at the startup I&#x27;m working at. I would love to take 3 months break, as I feel that&#x27;s best in this situation.<p>I live in Berlin, DE and is it possible to take a sabbatical&#x2F;break due to burnout? Will the JobCenter support such endeavor? Do German companies support sabbaticals and is there any legal provision that could help me here?<p>Any help is sincerely appreciated.<p>--<p>Best Regards&#x2F;Veile Grüße
A Burnt Out Developer.
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mkreis
Hey there. Sorry to read about your situation, I hope I can help you a little
bit since I'm German. Sabbaticals are not uncommon in Germany any more, but
are at will of your employer. Essentially it is just an unpaid leave and a
promise that you'll still have your job. Small companies, like your employer,
which is a startup, will probably not have enough people to easily compensate
while your gone and have a harder time to find a replacement for just the time
in which your away. Especially because you working overtime already, they seem
to have a too much work for too less people. A Freelancer would be easier to
get, but they are much more expensive than regular employees.

But in general it depends on the company, whether they see employees are
resources or as the engine running the company. If you talk to your boss, that
might give you an idea whether unpaid leave is an option. And he might also
recognize that the workload is too high.

There are no legal provisions for sabbaticals. Also the job center will not
immediately pay an unemployment benefit if you choose to quit for your
personal reasons. At least you'll not get any pay for the first three (?)
months. If and what pay you'll receive afterwards depends on if you are
eligible and how much contribution you have paid in the past.

There is another option: Talk to a doctor. Potential burn out is a serious
topic and any good doctor should recognize the signs and prevent anything
worse. You're health care provider might also be able to help you there, most
likely they sponsor yoga sessions. But calling their help line for medical
advise is certainly worth it. Doctors might be able to put you on sick leave,
but most likey just a few days until you have serious symptoms.

A side note: Be aware that any treatment you receive might affect your rating
for occupational disablement insurances. If you don't have one (which you
should as long as you're healthy!), and you choose to get one any time within
the next five years, then they'll request all diagnosis from all doctors you
have been seeing. Any illness / reason for which you have been seeing a doctor
will most likely be excluded from the insurance. Some psychotherapists
unfortunately tend to write stuff (some standard clauses) into your file which
is not true (ie. anxiety disorder because you can't sleep), but makes them get
more money from the health care provider. Thus if you don't have an
occupational disablement insurance and choose to visit a psychotherapist, make
sure you know what diagnosis they are noting down.

Hope this helps! Best of luck!

