It sounds like lots of people here have taken breaks, but have any of you taken actual sabbaticals (i.e. with explicit employer permission and with the intention of coming back afterwards)? How did you negotiate it and how did it go for you?
It's not an academic's typical sabbatical, but it's a nice perk to disconnect as well as force us to not be excessively dependent on a long-time veteran for daily ops.
To your last question, it's a company perk, so wasn't negotiated; my first one went very well; I caught up on some hobbies that I'd let slide and did some fun travel and am looking forward to my second one.
That's not a sabbatical, that's a normal summer vacation in Europe :)