Places I've worked previously (am independently contracting these days) had similar policies in theory but they were really more guidelines to try and keep cont

Places I've worked previously (am independently contracting these days) had similar policies in theory but they were really more guidelines to try and keep continuity in place. If you planned in advance and had cleared it with your colleagues then a 1-month or longer break was completely do-able. I should add I'm speaking from a UK point of view.