Leave Letter
When you are currently part of a company, organization, or institution, you are required to submit a document to support your need to be absent. If you are employed, you are entitled to a few leave credits each month; you have vacation and sick leave credits. However, there is a need for you to apply for leave for a number of days so that you can still receive pay.
For vacation leave mostly, it is a standard to apply a week before the effectivity of your leave. In this case, a good leave letter will allow you explain your reason for such request to your employer.
Elements of a Leave Letter
A good leave letter will allow you to clearly explain why there is a need for you to leave work for a few days. It will help your employer understand the necessity and will encourage them to allow you to leave especially when there is currently a boatload of tasks to be done. The difference between a good and bad leave letter are the elements that are included. Thus, to help to make a good leave letter, here are some of the essential elements you need to include:
1. Specific: Since you are applying to leave work for a couple of days or weeks, you need to specify how many days you will be out. You need to specifically indicate the date when your leave will start and end. This will allow your employer to adjust certain activities to cope with your absences.
2. Clear: Your leave letter should be able to clearly explain why you have decided to file for leave. Although it does not need to be a lengthy letter, at least try to make your employer understand the necessity of the absence. Remember there is no need to divulge personal information, just make sure your employer understands your reason. You may also see leave application examples.
3. Comprehensive: Aside from the number of days you will be on leave, you should also specify if you are taking a vacation or sick leave (scheduled medical appointments). You should also include your contact information should they need assistance with your ongoing tasks and/or projects. Include all the necessary and relevant information.
4. Professional: Since this is still a formal business letter, make sure you use a professional language and tone. Although you are entitled to take a leave with pay, do not act so privileged. Be courteous and cordial in your letter even if it is urgent, an emergency, or planned.
5. Brief: Although there is a need to be comprehensive and include all relevant and important information, a leave letter should be brief. Most companies already have leave forms you can just fill out, your leave letter is just a supplement to support the form, if necessary and required in your company.
14+ Leave Letter Templates
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Simple Leave Letter Template
Paid Administrative Leave Letter
Sick Leave Letter
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Administrative Leave Letter
Maternity Leave Request Letter
How to Write a Leave Letter
A leave letter is a useful tool you can use to inform your employer beforehand about your decision to be out for a specific period of time. It also an essential record the company keeps of having applied for leave. In this case, a leave letter can be your ticket to convince your employer to approve your request for leave. As a guide for you, here are easy steps you can follow when writing a leave letter:
1. On the top left portion of your paper, write out your return address. Your return address should consist of your current mailing address and contact information. Remember to only include current and correct information. For example:
Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State, Zip Code
Your Phone Number
2. Write the date when the letter was written. It is ideal to immediately send the letter once you have it finalized to have a present or updated date that your company will be recording. The date of your letter should be written one space below the return address. For example:
- 30 October 2018 – British English
- October 30, 2010 – American English
3. One space below the date, the inside address should be indicated. The inside address of your leave letter should consist of the name of your employer or immediate head/manager, the complete company address, and current company contact information. For example:
Name
Title
Organization
Address
City, State, Zip Code
4. A single space below the inside address, the salutation of your letter should immediately be indicated. The salutation of your letter is a formal greeting you express to your recipient, in this case your employer or immediate head/manager. It should begin with the salutation Dear followed by the title and last name of the recipient, then a colon (:). For example: Dear Mr. Doe:
5. After the salutation, immediately write the purpose of your letter. As your introduction, courteously ask your employer or manager to grant you how many days or weeks of leave. You should include the specific dates you wish to start and end your leave in this paragraph.You may also see acceptance letters.
6. On the next paragraph, make sure you provide enough information about the reason why you have decided to request for leave. Providing the general information about your request is necessary if want to add points for fast approval. You should also offer your contact information so that they can keep in touch if ever they need your assistance for certain tasks or projects.
7. Conclude your letter by expressing gratitude to your employer or manager. You can conclude it by saying “Thank you for your kind consideration” or even just a simple “Thank You!” as a kind gesture to them for considering and approving your request.You may also see application letter examples
8. Lastly, close the letter with a courteous complimentary close such as Sincerely, Truly Yours, Respectfully, etc. and by affixing your actual signature above your name and title/designation on your signature line.
Tips in Writing an Effective Leave Letter
Since you already know how to write a leave letter, you need to also learn some tips and tricks to help make sure you write a leave letter that clearly articulates your purpose and reason. Hence, listed below are some tips in writing and effective leave letter:
1. Talk to your employer or manager beforehand about your decision to request for leave.
2. Know your rights and company policy with regards to leave requests and leave credits.
3. Be clear and specific.
4. Clearly discuss how your workload will be handled during your absence.
5. Provide necessary information that your company can record.
6. Since it will be kept as a record, be sure to be truthful.
7. Use convincing words.
8. Make sure the language, tone, and content of your letter is formal and professional.
9. Proofread and make sure there are no errors in your letter; edit accordingly.
Types of Leave
A company can have more than one type of leave that can be utilized by its employees. With that, a leave letter may be requested by the company on top of a filled out leave form. In cases like this, it is better to be familiar with the different types of leave that may need a leave letter. Hence, listed below are the types of leave that one may use a written leave letter:
1. Vacation or Holiday Leave:
As the name would suggest, a vacation or holiday leave is a type of leave when a person wants to take some time off to celebrate or observe a religious or national holiday or to use accumulated paid vacation time. For this type of holiday, the leave letter should be written in advance; most companies require the letter a week or two in advance.
2. Court Leave:
A court leave is when a person is required to appear in court for jury duty, criminal cases, domestic relation issues and civil suits. In this case, a leave letter is given to school faculty or an employer as soon as the person has knowledge about his/her obligation to appear in court.
3. Compensatory Leave:
This type of leave is commonly used in the working field. An employee may request for a time off work in exchange for overtime payment. It helps the employee even out his/her number of hours he/she has worked by taking some time off. However, some companies may not implement this type of leave; thus, a leave letter depends on the company policies.
4. Family and Medical Leave:
A family and medical leave can be used for maternity obligations, paternity responsibilities, adoption process, serious illness of the employee or serious illness of an immediate family member. Under the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, employers are required to give employees this type of leave. The employee should give a leave letter for this type of leave as soon as a decision is made.
5. Funeral Leave:
In times when an employee needs to attend the funeral, wake, or other memorial service of an immediate family member, a funeral leave letter should be submitted to his/her employer. Some companies give their employees at least three days of funeral leave, but this can vary depending on company policies.
Leave Letter Sizes
Letters can be written in any size of paper. However, since a leave letter is a formal business letter, companies may require that you write in a specific size of paper. Some companies commonly use an A4 sized paper or 8 1/4″ × 11 3/4″. Some use 8″ × 10.5″ or 8.5″ × 11″.
Leave Letter FAQs
Here are answers to some of the frequently asked questions about leave letters:
Is a leave letter necessary?
Depending on company policies, a leave letter may not be necessary. Some companies only require their employees to fill out leave forms containing basically all the information that is needed to request for a paid or unpaid leave. However, some companies may require a leave letter to supplement a leave form.
How may days prior should a leave letter be submitted?
It is a common policy implemented by most companies that a leave letter, especially planned leaves, to be submitted five business days prior to the leave date. However, for unplanned leave like medical leave, a leave letter or leave form may be submitted the day the employee resumes work along with required documents like an authorized medical certificate.
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