British car manufacturer Vauxhall, a subsidiary of General Motors, has offered sabbaticals to the workforce at one of its plants.

The company has offers a sabbatical on 30 per cent pay to unions at the Ellesmere Port, Cheshire plant. Under the scheme, staff would stay away from work for up to nine months between January and September 2009, drawing less than a third of their basic salaries.

Reports quoted a spokesman for the company as saying that the move was aimed at avoiding forced redundancies, and that company was working with the unions to reduce structural costs with a view to weathering an anticipated rough 2009 "without losing staff". The Ellesmere Port plant had ceased production for two weeks days in October.

If the planned sabbatical works, it could be rolled out across other auto makers in Europe such as Saab, Opel and other Vauxhall plants in the UK, reports said, even though the company did not anticipate a "huge take-up" for the offer. Vauxhall employs over 5,000 people in Luton and Ellesmere Port.

Workers at Ellesmere Port have reportedly been given up to a month off over Christmas on account of falling sales. The plant is currently reported to be closed until 12 January. In the UK, car sales have dropped over 37 per cent as compared to the same period last year, which is higher than the numbers for October when the comparative fall was 27 per cent.