Officer Sabbaticals: Analysis of Extended Leave Options

As a competitive employer in the United States, the Department of Defense (DoD) strives to maintain benefits comparable to those of the public and private sector. Throughout the 1990s, as the state of the economy improved, many companies began offering their employees a variety of extended leave, or "sabbatical," options to increase morale, meet employees' needs, improve retention rates, and compete with other employers. In response, DoD recently asked RAND to explore the greater use of extended leaves as part of the department's strategic human resource plan. This report looks at the possible use of extended leaves for military officers. In particular, the authors focus on the different kinds of existing civilian leave programs, how the programs might work if implemented in the military, and how such programs could be evaluated. The authors offer recommendations and observations on which extended leave programs would most benefit the military as well as ideas on how to implement such programs.