If you’re lucky, your place of work may already have a scheme in place for sabbaticals. Organisations such as Deloitte, the NHS and Tesco publish details of their programmes, so it’s easy to check your eligibility and what the requirements for putting in a request are.

However, it’s worth scrutinising the small print. Although returning to the same job and salary level may be guaranteed, some companies will reserve the right to switch the team you work in or the specifics of your job role on your return. “Open discussions with your boss before you go will mean you have no nasty surprises to come back to,” advises Mhairi Todd, founder of Revolve Coaching.

For smaller organisations, there may be no policies to check. Every employee in the UK has the right to request flexible working arrangements, but that doesn’t mean your workplace has to say yes. If your contract or employee handbook doesn’t mention anything specific, career coach Florence Weber-Zuanigh of Diversity In The Boardroom suggests having a quiet word with a colleague who has managed to get one in the past to quiz them on how they approached it. “There are often unwritten rules around when and how companies would accept such a request, so you might as well get it right from the get-go,” she explains.

Feel like you could do with a break from work? Here’s everything you need to know about taking a sabbatical