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I'm fucking worn out, and I could use a break. Our fiscal year is over, and I don't want to miss out on my bonus or promotion--I feel like I've earned those things based on the work I've done over the last year, and shouldn't be penalized because I'm now totally exhausted because I did that work. Anyone ask for a leave of absence/reduced hours? How'd it go?

Any thoughts?

I've never personally done it, but I've seen others take reduced hours for reduced pay. The exchange doesn't seem worth it. Career suicide plus they cut your salary more than you're getting back in return hour wise.

Have you already taken a decent vacation? Maybe two weeks where you spend at least a week of it actually vacationing and not handling matters?

I did this at Cleary (unpaid leave for a few months) and it wasn't a problem, other than the presumption from folks that you won't be coming back. No firm obstacle with returning per se, but I think for a lot of people the break leads to a "what am I doing with my life" moment and they decide to try something different. Maybe 2-5 associates per year here go this route and for the most part it's busy associates that are too burned out to look for a job while still working. Makes sense if you think about it, the firm doesn't have to pay you during the leave, so if they like you they are happy to accommodate and if they don't like you they are happy to have you off their payroll.

If you are trying to make partner, it's a different story of course.

Going to a reduced schedule on the other hand seems to be reserved for people who need medical or family specific accommodations. And anyway if your issue is burnout you'd probably benefit most from making a clean break for a bit.

HTH and good luck my friend.

Thanks all. I'm going to try to shed work but hang on at least until I see what my bonus is.