I did not go on medical leave but I dropped to part time for an indefinite period due to stress related health conditions. I suffered with migraines for about a year before we decided enough was enough. I basically sat down with my boss and said that my husband and I had made the decision to change our lifestyle for my health. I said I loved my work and my team, but I just could not manage working and commuting for almost 60 hours a week anymore. I offered to go part time, obviously taking a major cut in pay. I reiterated that I wanted to continue working there, but I needed to change the work arrangement to do that. I was the most established member of the team, and an extremely high performer, so they decided it was much better to keep me part time than lose me completely.
I wish I could say the transition was smooth, but it certainly wasn’t. The team was so accustomed to the sheer amount of work I could churn out in a 40 hour work week that they had a very hard time adjusting to my 20 hour schedule. Even though my productivity per hour worked was even better than before, and even though I was still producing top notch results, my boss really struggled with not having me available 5 days a week. It caused a lot of unnecessary stress and I was reprimanded more than once for not being more available…on my days off. It wasn’t retaliation for going part time/taking more time for myself, but an inability to handle the stress caused by losing that extra working time from an employee she relied upon heavily. However, I will say that going part time was definitely the right move for my health. My migraines went away completely and my mood immediately turned around.
If you are a key team member who does a lot of heavy lifting in an overworked team, it is going to be really hard to take a leave of absence or reduce your workload without incurring at least some resentment and frustration. It is really hard to make a temporary change or try to hit pause on your career with the hopes of just starting up again like nothing ever happened. I really had to think long and hard about downshifting but it was worth it to me. No regrets here, but you need to think really carefully before attempting these things. As a former manager who made this type of choice myself, I still would be highly suspicious of any employee that needed to take significant time off or downshift work due to stress. People like me (and maybe you?) are just huge flight risks - when you ask for time off/reduced hours, you show your hand. You are telling them they are not the most important thing in your life, and if needed, you will sideline them. As a result, if they are smart they will only invest so much in you to mitigate risk in case you burn out or decide to bail again. Employers can't officially cite your previous absence as a specific reason for withholding a promotion, etc, but they certainly will consider it when making any decisions about whether or not you can handle new responsibilities, if you deserve a raise, etc. No manager wants to give a raise or promotion to someone who might burn out or leave within the year.