The Best Office Leave Application Formats (+ Templates)

Remember back in the day when your parents would phone up the school after registration to say that you’re taking a ‘sick’ day and won’t be attending class? Well, office life isn’t quite like that. 

Whether it’s in an education, science, or business workplace, any absence that you take, for any period of time, is going to need an office leave application letter. Instead of making an informal phone call like in the past, office leave application letters are a formal request for official leave, and are essential in giving your employer time to work around your absence.

Though office leave application letters can come in either the form of a letter or an email, an office leave application format has to be formal. Unlike in school when your teacher just had to accept your absence, your employer can still reject your request for leave, so it’s imperative that details are communicated clearly and accurately. Hence why formality is so important.

But what kind of information should you actually include in an office leave application letter, and what kind of office leave format should you use? Let’s find out.

Though the leave letter format for offices can come in the form of a (physical) letter, the leave mail format for offices - ie. email - is much more widely used. 

That said, the office leave format of both office leave application letters and emails must include:

1. A clear subject line

Be it a letter or an email, the formal office leave format kicks off with the subject line mentioning the type of office leave and the duration of leave. Ideally, you should follow the subject line office leave application format reflected in the templates below.

If you’re writing a leave letter format for office leave, the subject line should sit below the hiring manager’s name and address on the left-hand side. If your memory of a letter’s format is a bit cloudy, it’s worth checking out these cover letter examples to jog your memory. 

2. Purpose of application

Essentially the whole purpose of the office leave application letter, you should most definitely include what form of leave you’re requesting.

Here’s a few to choose from, although there’s plenty more:

• Sick/medical leave
• General/casual leave
• Maternity/paternity leave
• Annual leave
• Bereavement
• Vacation

3. Reason for leave

Once you’ve offered the purpose for the office leave application letter, you should briefly go into more detail about your unique reason for leave. Are you crafting a medical leave letter format for office because you have a family emergency? Or are you instead thinking about a marriage leave letter format for offices since you have a wedding to attend soon?

Whatever it is, from maternity leave to taking a mental health day, be sure to offer a clear and concise reason for leave.

4. Leave period

You should explicitly address the duration of your requested leave period - from start to end. Office leave application letters that fail to provide this information are sure to be rejected.

5.Your emergency contact information.

Should you need to be contacted during this time, it is wise for you to mention your contact details within your office leave application letter. These can be your work or home contact information, as long as you are comfortable with your employer/colleagues using these methods to contact you.

6 Any other related details

Remember, whether it’s a leave mail format for office or a leave letter format for office, you have to make this document formal. That means including greetings, giving thanks, and professionally signing off.

As for your work plan, you may also wish to state the name of a colleague who may be covering your work in your absence (if applicable). Depending on what is required, you may also need to provide a written plan for your employer, detailing what your colleague should do/accomplish each day.

Creating your own office leave application letter can be daunting, especially if it’s your first one. Luckily for you, we’ve created two awesome templates you can use to create your own leave letter sample for offices! 

Find below templates for:

When it comes down to writing an office leave application letter, regardless of whether it’s a leave mail format for office or a leave letter format for office, you should:

Address the receiver

As always when it comes to letters, make sure to mention who the (intended) receiver is.

Once again, if you’re planning on writing a physical office leave application letter, it’s vital that you include these three features before addressing the receiver:

• HR Manager/supervisor’s name and address
• Your name and address 
• Date (Month-Day-Year)

In other words, the office leave application format for a letter should look just like any other letter or cover letter you’re ever written. If this sounds all a bit too complicated, we recommend just opting for writing a leave mail format for office leave (ie. email). 

Mention your reason for leave in the opening paragraph

Since office leave application letters are very rarely more than one page, you should mention your reason for leave right at the get-go. Within this paragraph, you should aim to include a brief reason for requesting office leave, as well as the duration of your intended absence (with the start and end date). 

Here’s an example opening paragraph for a marriage leave letter format for office leave:

Include all necessary details

Where possible, it is ideal that your leave letter format for office and email include information regarding the duration of absence within the opening paragraph, as well as the initial subject line. 

As for contact information, it is best that you pair this with your preference on being contacted during the period of leave. Normally, this is preceded by an indication of your work plan (if applicable).

Here’s an example paragraph that addresses the aforementioned information from a leave letter sample for offices:

Close by thanking the reader

Remember that your employer retains the ability and the right to reject your request, so close your office leave application letter by summoning all your politeness and thanking the reader for their consideration.

Here is an example:

While writing office leave application letters may seem easy, there are a few tips you should bear in mind before hitting that ‘send’ or ‘print’ button:

Check the details

Like any professional document, be sure to check all the factual information before sending off your office leave application letter. Think about things like:

• Your dates for leave - are they correct? 
• Your reason to leave - according to company policies, do you require proof of illness?

Additionally, if you have a work plan and are allocating tasks to a colleague, make sure that they’re aware of this before mentioning it in your office leave application letter.

Include contact information

Even if you don’t want to be contacted during the leave period, contact information should still be included in office leave application letters. While mostly a formality, including this expresses your sincerity to your employer, and may just be the thing that gets your office leave application letter accepted.

Be clear & leave no room for misunderstandings

If you choose to include a work plan in your office leave format, be sure to concisely explain the responsibilities or expectations of the colleague taking your place. Failure to do so may leave your employer lacking confidence in these tasks getting done, which in turn may jeopardize your request for leave. 

So, be clear and concise. An office leave application letter should be no longer than 2 pages, though ideally much shorter if your office leave application format omits work plan information.

Crafting a suitable office leave application format for an office leave application letter is fairly easy. But, like any request for leave, be it in the workplace or at school, if you want better results then a little bit of formality should be involved. Though, in the case of the workplace, think a lot more formality.

In planning a leave request format for offices, you should strive to provide a valid and convincing reason for your absence. If you are going to be away for a while, make sure to express your sincerity by adding a work plan into your office leave format. Even just a simple ‘Dave is going to do that’ will suffice, as long as Dave is aware of this in advance.

Remember, your employer is under no obligation to accept your office leave application letter, so this is your chance to convince them to do so.

--- Originally written by Eva O'Mara ---