Jaguar Land Rover has reported a higher than expected take-up of an offer that lets workers go on sabbaticals of several weeks at 80 per cent pay.
Nearly 400 employees applied to take the sabbaticals, according to Des Thurlby, HR director at the automotive company.
The programme, which applies to production workers rather than office staff, was introduced by the car manufacturer in response to a slump in demand for new cars.
Workers can take paid leave for periods of four, six or eight weeks depending on which vehicle production line they are employed on.
“In that time they’re free to do what they want, whether it is go on holiday, improve their golf handicap or even become a temporary postman,” said Thurlby. “Obviously, this programme appeals more to people whose kids have left home or who haven’t got a big mortgage. But if you’re living week to week it doesn’t make sense.
“It’s a short-term measure. If there’s a fundamental shift in demand then unfortunately you have to consider redundancies,” he added.
Thurlby said that of the 400 applications for sabbaticals, 350 had been accepted. The rejected applications came from workers whose specialist skills meant they could be engaged in other tasks, such as maintenance.
Vauxhall has also offered workers the chance to take sabbaticals for nine months at 30 per cent of pay, but said it had no figures as yet on how many employees had taken up the offer.