Faculty of Laws Newsletter : December 2022 : issue 3

Abstract

When I first joined the UM as a Resident Academic, Prof Kevin Aquilina told me that whenever I went abroad, including during recess, I had to fill in the ‘leave of absence form’ which today is available online from https://www.um.edu.mt/hrmd/secure/personnelrecords/AcademicLeaveform.pdf . At the time, I did not understand why this was necessary, my reasoning being that ‘holidays’ (as I thought recess time to be) were precisely so, but I followed his instructions. Nine years later, apart from the fact that at Senate meetings we are often reminded that full time Resident Academics are to fill in their leave forms, I have come to understand why we must fill in this form, even during recess. The reason is that ‘recess’ at UM means ‘no lectures’; staff are not ‘on holiday’ unless they book vacation leave, hence the need to fill in said form, especially when travelling. Myself, I have taken to filling in this form even when not travelling, so that ‘recess’ (or part of it) will be converted to ‘actual holidays’; I have actually written as reason for absence that ‘I am not travelling but I want a break from email and phone calls’. Nobody has ever objected to this, let alone disapproved by application; nor has anybody ever told me that I have exhausted my leave entitlement. That way I have been able to switch off my mobile and to not reply to emails during my holidays. Briefly put, there is absolutely no reason for one to not fill in the form in question, whether during recess or otherwise, even if we are travelling on UM-related business. On the contrary, apart from it being our obligation as UM full time resident academics to fill this form, a situation may arise where one may find themselves having to justify for example, why they were unable to attend a particular meeting or why they did not reply to an important email. One cannot simply say ‘it was holiday time’ because to be on justified absence from UM one has to fill in the Leave Form.