Request Time Off Form

A clear time-off request form saves managers and staff from confusion about who is away and when. This pack gives you editable request forms — a one-page quick version and a detailed version with coverage and handover — plus a manager approval log, a team leave calendar and an Excel tracker that works out accrued, used and remaining leave for each employee.

Forms in the pack

What a time-off request form should include

• Employee name, job title and department.
• Type of leave: vacation, sick, personal, bereavement, jury duty, unpaid, other.
• First and last day away and the date of return.
• Total days or hours requested, and whether any are half days.
• Who will cover urgent work.
• Employee signature and date of request.
• Manager decision (approved / declined / approved with changes), signature and date.
• HR note of the balance before and after.

A simple approval process

1. The employee checks their balance and the team calendar.
2. They submit the form a set time in advance — many workplaces ask for two to four weeks for vacation.
3. The manager checks coverage and any blackout dates.
4. The manager approves, declines or suggests other dates, in writing.
5. The approved dates go on the team calendar and the balance is updated.
6. The employee sets an out-of-office message and completes handover.

How PTO accrual works

Many employers let paid time off build up (accrue) over the year instead of granting it all on day one. A common method spreads the annual allowance across pay periods: 15 days a year paid over 26 fortnightly pay periods is 15 ÷ 26 ≈ 0.58 days per pay period, or about 4.6 hours for an 8-hour day. The Excel tracker calculates this automatically from the annual allowance and number of pay periods, then subtracts days used to show the remaining balance.

Worked example

Legal minimums differ

Rules on paid leave vary widely. In the United States there is no federal law requiring paid vacation, although some states and cities require paid sick leave and some regulate what happens to unused vacation when an employee leaves. In the UK, most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year (28 days for someone working five days a week, which can include bank holidays), and EU law sets a minimum of four weeks. Check the rules where your employees work before setting a policy.

Tips for managers

• Publish blackout periods (for example year-end or peak season) early.
• Decide how competing requests are handled — first come, first served, or rotation for popular dates.
• Reply to requests promptly and in writing.
• Encourage people to actually take their leave; burnout costs more than cover.
• Keep records consistent across the team.

Formats and printing

Forms are editable Word documents and fillable-by-hand PDFs; the tracker and calendar are Excel workbooks that also open in Google Sheets. Everything prints on US Letter or A4.

AI-assisted content

Templates were drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by Kedop. They are general templates, not legal or HR advice.