The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 7 letter word TAX HOLIDAY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
T
A
X
H
O
L
I
D
A
Y
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "A period to be off-duty" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a period to be off-duty = tax holiday.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.