The Navy and Work-Life Balance
Guest Blogger: Jessica Burrus, WLCP - Work-Life Project Liaison, WorldatWork

April 3, 2009

I’ve been in the work-life field for two and a half years now and one thing I haven’t heard much of is work-life programs within the U.S. military. It looks like that won’t be the case now. I recently read an article that describes a pilot program just launched by the Navy called “Career Intermission.” It’s much like a sabbatical, with the most significant difference being the amount of time you can take off, which can total up to three years. The time taken is without pay and volunteers have to agree to serve two months for every one month of time off, along with some other stipulations. It seems their goal is to become more like the private sector and offer members opportunities such as maternity leave and time off for continuing education, stating, "For us, it's acknowledging the fact that you've got to have some flexibility if you want to keep some of this talent that we have in the Navy."

The Navy will be the only branch taking part in this pilot, but the goal is to eventually expand the program to all other branches of the military. The pilot program will span six years involving 60 officers and 60 enlisted with no more than 20 of each group actually being granted the leave each year of the pilot. 

I’ve never been in the military and don’t know too many people who are, but from what I’ve seen and read, I can’t think of a more deserving population to benefit from a work-life program through their employer. Too bad as taxpayers we don’t get the final say on whether or not this program lasts!

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of WorldatWork and its affiliate, Alliance for Work-Life Progress (AWLP).