Time Off Request Form: Our Complete Guide

A time off request form is a simple and effective way for employees to inform their employer or supervisor that they need to take some time off for a future engagement.

The employee simply fills out the form in detail and hands it in to the responsible department for review.

These forms should be printed out and readily available to all employees to make the review process much easier for everyone involved. But what should a tie off request form include? And when should it be used?

What is a Time Off Request Form?

A ​Time Off Request Form is a formal and professional way to let your employer know that you want to use some of your vacation days or sick leave days. It can also be used to inform an employer of a pending engagement or event that you will need to take time off for such as caring for a family member who will undergo surgery or personal matters that you need to take care of while out of town.

Employers should provide these forms to their employees to make the process easier for both parties. It will help to ensure that the employer receives a proper notice regarding any absences. Overall, it simply makes the process of asking for time off less of a headache.

When You Should Use a Time Off Request Form

You should use a time off request form when you anticipate that you will need to take extended time off that spans more than one of two days. For example, if you have an upcoming surgery planned or need to care for another family you should use a time off request form.

If you are a business owner and want to provide your workers with all the necessary forms they will need so that they can get a message to you whether you are in the office or not, you should come up with a time off request form by creating your own template or using a free template that can be found online.

If you have obtained a lot of vacation time throughout the years and want to take some time off to spend with your family, in most cases you will still need to fill out a time off request form.

Even if you are entitled to the time off you are requesting, it is still a good idea to provide your employer with a completed request form so that they will know what days you will not be there. Giving them this information in advance will help your employer have enough time to find a temporary replacement until you return to work, if necessary.

Anytime you are unsure about taking extended time off from work, it is a good idea to fill out a time off request form. This will help to ensure that you can, in fact, take time off without putting our job in jeopardy or causing an issue with your employer or your fellow co-worker’s work load.

Making an official request shows how responsible you are concerning your job and how considerate you are of others.

Having a notice in writing can help an employer or supervisor keep track of who is available to work and who is not. You can always call and request time off, but your boss may not always be able to write that message down, or their notes may be misplaced. A formal time off request form can easily be filed so that they are in a safe place and may be accessed at any time.

Time off request forms provide employers and employees with a simple solution that helps keep everyone informed and organized.

What to Include on a Time Off Request Form Template

If you would like to request time off and your employer doesn’t have a pre-existing form available, you can always create one of your own so that you may provide them with a professional and personalized form.

And employers can do the same by creating a time off request form for their employees to fill out to make it easier to request or inform them about time they need off from work.

There are a few specific parameters that you should always include on a ​time of​​f request form template:

​Additional Sections to Add

You may want to include a section that reminds yourself to record the dates on the employee calendar and into the payroll system. This is especially important if the company provides paid time off.

If the company has different processes for requesting different types of time off (vacation time, sick leave, or bereavement time off). Your company might also have a different process for time off that is paid for and that which is not paid for. Keep all of these instances in mind when creating a time off request form template and add in the proper sections as needed.

3 Reasons Why You Should Use Time Off Request Forms

Why should you offer time off request forms for your employees?

Here are 3 good reasons:

How to Handle Time Off Requests Fairly as an Employer

As the owner of a company, you want to treat your employees fairly and offer them time off as needed due to sickness, emergency situations. or vacation time. But you also need to have a full staff on hand at all times to ensure that your daily work is completed on time.

Time off request forms can help to organize your employee’s schedules and ensure that you do not end up with only half your employees working every Friday.

Here are a few tips to help you avoid just that:

On every time off request form you should ​define the company’s policy for requesting time off. All employees, HR workers, and members of management should have a clear understanding of how time-off works for your employees and how it doesn’t.

Some of the rules that you should add to the form may include:

​Create a Policy for Overlapping Time Off Requests

From time to time, there will be overlapping time off requests from your employees, especially during the summer or holiday season.

It’s important to ​crea​t​e a policy for this so that you do not end up with too many employees asking for time off at the same time. You may determine how this is handled by coming up with a first come first served policy or one that is seniority-based.

​What You Should Remember About Time Off Request Forms

It’s important that your time off requests are as detailed as possible so that you get all of the facts about the employee’s time off.

Make sure that the company’s policy for requesting time off is included and that you have a system set up to record all the information so that you can keep up with which employees are working each day and which are not.