Hi,
I am planning to take extended unpaid leave 8 weeks for personal trip. Is it easy to get approval for that ? I know MBB has some kind of employee benefit on that.
What is usually the deal ? is it harder to take it during holiday season due to staffing shortage ? thank you
Eight weeks is a significant amount of unpaid leave, and exceeding standard policies might raise concerns. Be prepared to explain your reasons and demonstrate that your absence won't disrupt ongoing projects or impact client deliverables.
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Hi there,
I can speak for BCG but I guess all MBB offer flex or unpaid leave option (up to I think 2-3 months per year, possible to use also attached to holiday) and it is very rare not to get it approved as it is one of the important benefit. The only thing is to align to not leave in the middle of the project. You also should have I think 6 m or 1yr tenure.
Lucie
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Hi there,
speaking for Bain:
I took several leaves at Bain myself. In general, leaves are a major perk for MBB and typically employees needs will be respected. Bain provides rather structured leave programs, i.e. 10+2/11+1 (where you either get an extra 2 or 1 month off unpaid vacation, with your salary being adapted pro rata so your health insurance continues). Those programs require a minimum tenure of 12 months.
Additionally, the general AC-deal includes a set of options (being financially supported) after you get promoted to consultant (i.e. 6 month experience track, 24 month PhD leave, MBA program, etc.).
With respect to the timing - the earlier you plan, the more easy for staffing to consider your preferences. In contrast to your hypothesis, holiday season (i.e. July-September) is rather well-suited for taking a leave as majority of clients will be on holiday too, relaxing the staffing situation a bit.
Two personal tips on your leave plans:
Firms often have specific policies for unpaid leaves or sabbaticals that might list some criteria that have to be fulfilled in order to get approval, e.g.:
- minimum tenure with the company of x years
- you haven't already had a leave of absence in the last x years
- general staffing situation (is the firm sold out currently?)
- submission of approval request at least x months in advance (or other specific formal steps that need to be followed)
I would check on the intranet of your company for relevant HR policies or just inquire with your HR business partner
Hello,
This will depend on your office and role, but I think MBB is usually quite flexible. I know McKinsey NA has a flex program that allows employees to take extended periods of time off, and I believe the other firms have similar programs too. As long as you plan it well with project timings, taking it during holiday season shouldn't be an issue either.
At McKinsey you could take an extra 10 weeks for a 20% pay cut. I'm sure every firm has some version of that. But yes it's totally fine to do this don't worry.
It is neither easy, nor impossible - function of the following
0. Best to take b/w engagements - when you are on the beach
1. Your alignment with your HR/ PD/ mentors/ DGLs (managers)
2. Have you opted for any such program (e.g. McKinsey has a My time option for 80% flex but you need to opt in start of year)
3. Office staffing situation (depending on the office utilisation and staffing crunch, folks may not care v/s care a lot)
4. At the end, these are partnership driven firms - so if you have a couple of partners supporting you - life is a lot easier
Hi there,
You should be just fine doing this.
Just make sure you give advance notice, follow the appropriate steps etc.
