Leave request form template for Word (free download)
Leave request form template for Word (free download)
A leave request is the agreement by which someone steps away from their post for a set period, with the knowledge and authorisation of whoever coordinates their team. In practice, most of these agreements are made out loud: a message, a short conversation, a quick word in the corridor. The problem is almost never the leave itself; it is what nobody wrote down.
When an absence goes unrecorded, the questions start. Nobody remembers exactly which days were approved, who took on the urgent orders, whose hands the keys, the petty cash or the system access ended up in, and which commitments the person leaving still had open. By the time they come back, something has slipped through or a simple task has been sitting untouched for days.
This leave request form template for Word is a one-page internal document that you fill in by hand or on a computer, sign and file. It does not replace the conversation: it puts it in order. It is meant for the immediate supervisor, for the human resources area and for any employee who needs a short absence on record: a medical appointment, a family matter, a personal errand or a short assignment away from the office.
⬇ Download leave request form (.docx)
What it is and what it is for
A leave request is neither a favour nor a punishment: it is an authorisation of absence that has to be clear to three parties. To the employee, because it confirms the absence is approved and on what terms. To the immediate supervisor, because it forces them to think about who covers the work while the person is away. And to human resources, because it is the record that answers the question later, when someone asks what happened with those days.
The form works as a record, not as a penalty. Its value sits in the part that almost never gets filled in: the terms of the decision. That is where you note whether the request is approved, partly approved or not approved, under what conditions, who covers for the employee, and what happens with the time not worked. That information is what prevents arguments and rework later.
It is worth saying plainly from the start: the form decides nothing by itself. The remuneration conditions of the leave, whether those days are paid, deducted, made up later or handled in some other way, are defined by the human resources area case by case, according to the type of absence and whatever has already been agreed with the person. The template only records what that area decided; the immediate supervisor does not set those terms on their own.
What it is good for, in practice
- Putting the approved absence in writing, with a start and end date and time, rather than leaving it as a verbal agreement.
- Forcing a decision on who covers the work during the absence, to what extent, and who they report to.
- Recording what was left pending and what was handed over before leaving: keys, cash, access, documents, equipment.
- Showing whether the leave is paid or unpaid, and whether the time is made up later, as decided by human resources.
- Acting as the supporting record when the human resources area consolidates absences for the period.
- Providing verifiable evidence if a question about the agreed terms comes up later.
What the template includes
The file has seven blocks and a control table. They appear in this order:
| Section | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 1. Employee details | Full name, identification document, job title, area, name of the immediate supervisor and date of the request. |
| 2. Details of the requested leave | Type of leave, start date and time, end date and time, total time requested and the reason, written in a few lines. |
| 3. How the work is covered during the absence | Who takes on the urgent tasks, what is put on hold, who they report to, and how the person is contacted only if a real emergency occurs. |
| 4. Supporting documents attached | A list of the documents that accompany the request and how many pages or attachments are handed in. |
| 5. Decision of the immediate supervisor | Approved, partly approved or not approved; conditions of the approval; whether it is paid; whether the time is made up later; observations. |
| 6. Employee statement | A declaration that the information given is true, a commitment to close off pending items, and a signature with the date. |
| 7. Human resources record | Who receives it, who reviews it, what decision the area takes and on what date, plus internal notes. |
| Control table | Document code [PR-___], version of the form, date of issue and page number. |
How to use it, step by step
- Download the file and save it with the employee's name and the date of the request, so it is not confused with others.
- Replace the company name and contact details in the footer with those of your organisation; if the form is already personalised, check that the information is still current.
- Write the document code [PR-___] that belongs to this request in the control table, along with the version of the form and the date it is filled in.
- Fill in the employee details and the leave details without leaving any field empty; if a date is not confirmed yet, enter it as provisional and mark it as such.
- Complete the coverage block: the name of whoever takes on the urgent tasks, what stays pending and what is handed over before leaving.
- Attach the supporting documents and list them, without describing them at length: naming the document and how many pages it has is enough.
- Pass the request to the immediate supervisor to mark the decision and sign; the remuneration conditions of the leave are defined and recorded by the human resources area.
- File the signed original and give the employee a copy; if anything changes later, add a note with the date and the signature of whoever authorises the change.
Common mistakes
- Approving the absence without writing down who covers the work, which is the most common reason an urgent task falls through.
- Leaving the reason blank or writing it so vaguely that the record loses all its value.
- Failing to note what was handed over before leaving, when doubts about keys, cash and access are exactly what tends to survive.
- Marking the request as approved without defining whether the leave is paid or whether the time is made up later.
- Assuming the immediate supervisor sets the remuneration, when those conditions are determined by the human resources area.
- Filling in the form after the person has returned, when nobody remembers the details and the dates end up approximate.
The part that almost never gets written down
If you take one idea away from this guide, let it be this one: what matters is not the signature, it is everything written before the signature. Three blocks hold almost every later problem, and all three are left blank with surprising frequency.
The first is who covers the work. An approved absence with an empty coverage column is not a leave request: it is a promise that something will be sorted out along the way. Writing the name of whoever takes on the urgent tasks, saying what happens to the rest and clarifying who they report to takes two minutes and saves entire arguments. If nobody can cover a task, it is better to know that before approving, not after.
The second is what stays pending. A list of three or four open commitments, with the date each should be closed, lets someone else pick them up without having to rebuild the context from scratch. Without that list, whoever covers the post improvises, and on return nobody knows whether a task was done, half done or never started.
The third is what was handed over before leaving. Keys, cash, access, tools, documents, equipment: all of it tends to change hands without leaving a trace. Writing it down, with the name of the person receiving it, is the difference between an orderly handover and a problem that surfaces weeks later, when nobody remembers how things ended up where they are.
It is worth adding a fourth habit: write down when the return has to be confirmed. A leave that starts with a tentative date and ends with no confirmation leaves the coverage up in the air. A short note on return, with the real date and the signature of whoever receives it, closes the cycle.
When it is worth moving to a system
The template handles the individual record well. When the team is small and absences are few, a tidy folder of signed forms is enough and there is no reason to complicate it. The problem arrives with volume: several areas, several sites, dozens of requests a month, and the need to know at any given moment how many people are away, who covers for whom and what was left open.
At that point, copying the file from folder to folder starts to cost more than it saves. That is the signal to evaluate a tool that centralises the records, lets you search by person or by date, and warns you when a request has been left without a decision. Tools such as Kardex Tauro help keep operations orderly when the record of people crosses with the movement of goods, keys, tools and equipment; it is worth checking whether it fits the way your team works before taking the step.
The advice is simple: do not swap the template for a system because it is fashionable. Change when you can no longer answer, in under a minute, who is absent this week and who covers their work. Before that point, the Word form remains the more reasonable option, and it works just as well in a team of five as in an area that deals with the public every day.
Like any personnel document, this model is a general guide for internal use: review it with your adviser and adjust it to your organisation's policies before using it.
