Definition of Sabbatical Year

This is used expression to mention the period of time in which someone postpones their studies or their professional activity in order to dedicate themselves, generally doing activities such as traveling, to write or simply rest, discovering yourself and reflecting on life.

The sabbatical year has two possible modalities: charging a remuneration or without charging it.

In the academic field

In the university context of some countries, teachers can request a period of paid leave from work as long as two basic conditions are met:

1) who have accumulated a minimum of years of work activity and

2) that the sabbatical year is oriented to a justified activity, such as investigation or academic training.

An option that can be beneficial in many senses

This practice is also contemplated in some companies, where the worker who takes the sabbatical year is replaced by an unemployed person and who resigns from their work activity receives financial aid from the state.

Sometimes, those who finish their university studies make this decision in order to start some

draft enriching: a volunteer activity for an NGO, a stay abroad to learn a language or any other option for the purpose of having new life experiences. In this sense, it is not about wandering around and doing nothing, but about stepping out of the comfort zone to acquire new skills and abilities.

Some people decide to temporarily leave work in order to get to know themselves better.

The origin of the expression is found in Judaism

In the Jewish religion, the Sabbath is the day of rest dedicated to Yahweh and during it any work activity is interrupted.

On the other hand, in the old law Mosaic farmers had a habit of abandoning the culture of the land after six years of sowing so that the land would rest and after this time it would be in better condition to restart the cultivation.

It should be noted that this practice is also known among farmers as fallow. In any case, with the passage of time this custom spread to the university environment and to other sectors.

The problem of financing

At present the sabbatical year is a possibility that can only be carried out in those cases in which there is sufficient financial support, either savings or remuneration wage.

Without a source of funding, this form of leave of absence is not viable.

Photo: Fotolia Chechenko

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