What if:

Companies gave each employee personal leave of say 6 or 12 months with guaranteed income and the promise that their job would await them at the end of that time period. 

And let’s say the employee could have one of these personal leave periods for every 3 years of employment at the company.

The employee could use that time for travel, to write a novel, to teach monkeys to sing or to raise a newborn child, all without the worry of money or job-security.

That seems fair, doesn’t it?