Effects of a free sabbatical year

From 1 February 2002 until 31 December 2004, a free-year trial was conducted in twelve municipalities in Sweden. Employees could apply for a free sabbatical year (a period between 3 - 12 months), and still get 85% of the compensation they would have received if they were unemployed. Under the same time the person be replaced by an unemployed person that got a temporary employee. Purpose: The overall purpose of the study was to examine different aspects of health among individuals who were sabbatical leave, and among those who were substitutes.