Leave Letter for Work: Sample, Format, & How to Write

Whether you’re going on vacation, taking maternity leave, facing health challenges, or dealing with a family emergency, sometimes you just need to step away from work. Whatever the reason, you’ll need to communicate your leave of absence to your employer, and often, this means putting it in writing. 

In this article, I’ll show you how to write a leave letter for work based on a leave letter format that you can customise for any situation. You’ll also get a step-by-step writing guide to handle the formalities with confidence.

Use the LiveCareer cover letter builder to create a professional leave letter for work. Just choose one of the designs and personalise the leave letter template from this guide.

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Annual leave letter sample

Maternity leave letter sample

You can use these two leave letters as templates when wondering how to write a leave letter for work, even if the reasons for your absence from work are completely different.

If you had a different business letter in mind, check these articles:

• Resignation Letter Sample
• Retirement Letter Sample
• Appreciation Letter Sample
• Apology Letter Sample
• Termination Letter Sample

And now, here's how to write a leave letter in a few steps:

1. Begin your leave letter with a proper header and salutation

Even if you have an easy-going relationship with your superior, your leave of absence letter is a formal document. You'll also notice that it resembles a typical cover letter structure. Start with a proper header: align your name, postal address, email, and phone number to the right. Leave a line and add the date of writing, followed by another empty line.

Then, align to the left your manager’s name, their job title, the company name, and the company’s inside address. Type out the postal addresses just as though you were addressing an envelope. Do all of this, even if you’re submitting a leave request by email—it may still be printed and archived for future reference.

Continuing with the standard letter format, you’ll need an appropriate salutation. Use ‘Dear + Mr/Ms + Surname’ or ‘Dear + First Name’. Go with your better judgement as to which, and default to the more formal ‘Dear Ms Jones’ if you’re not sure. 

Leave letter for work examples: header and salutation

To whom should you address your leave letter?

2. Get straight to the point of your leave letter and lay out the key facts

Immediately state that you’re writing to apply for or inform your reader of your need or desire to take a leave of absence. Name the reason without going into any details. Need to take time off for medical reasons? Simply state this, identifying the specific reason only if you feel comfortable doing so.

Let the recipient of your leave letter know when you intend to go on leave and when you expect to be back at work. That’s all this opening paragraph should do. If your situation is such that you need to provide extra details or a backstory, do so in a separate paragraph. Seek legal advice in very complex cases.

Leave letter example: opening paragraph

You can adjust every cover letter created in the builder to meet the job requirements. Choose the name of your profession and the company to which you’re applying, and the LiveCareer cover letter builder will automatically adapt the content for you. Create a cover letter faster than you ever thought possible and apply for the job in record time.

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3. Outline the coverage plan for your duties

Include a brief paragraph to help your supervisor manage your workload during your absence. Mention any urgent duties or deadlines that fall by the wayside in your absence. Suggest a temporary replacement, if appropriate. Let your recipient know what needs doing and who might be able to help.

Of course, if you're writing a sick leave, emergency leave, or bereavement leave letter, you may have limited time to prepare. In such cases, provide whatever information you can. Put more thought into putting your affairs in order if you’re applying for maternity or paternity leave or writing a sabbatical leave letter.

Manage your recipient’s expectations when it comes to your availability during your leave of absence. Set clear boundaries, this will save both you and your employer some stress and frustration. Include your contact details if you do intend to make yourself available.

Leave letter for work example: planning ahead and declaring availability

4. End your leave letter for work by expressing gratitude and signing off

If possible, make yourself available to answer any follow-up questions from your employer. Offer to submit any necessary supporting documentation if appropriate, like a medical certificate. Thank your reader for their time or consideration. An expression of gratitude like this can go a long way.

Sign off with ‘Yours Sincerely’. Leave a few lines blank and type out your name in full. Sign above your name if you’re printing out your leave letter. Consider pasting in a digital copy of your signature if emailing your notice of leave letter. An emailed leave request will be good without a signature.

Leave letter for work examples: closing and signing off

5. Pay attention to these leave letter format best practices

Your leave letter should adhere to the standard business letter format—which it likely already does if you’ve followed the guidance in this article. Proofread your leave letter for spelling and grammar, as this is the bare minimum in professional contexts and will increase your chances of approval.

Set out your leave letter for maximum readability

Set the line spacing in your leave letter to 1.15 and use double spaces between paragraphs. Leave all four margins at the default one inch. Try to keep your letter to a single page, but don’t bunch up your text to make this happen. Aim to make your leave letter as easy to read as possible.

Choose a professional-looking font

Choose an understated, easy-to-read font for your leave letter—the default Arial or Calibri will do just fine. Leave the font size at 11–12 points. Don’t go any lower than 11 points: your leave letter might be printed out and archived in hard copy, so it needs to be readable even when there’s no option to zoom in. 

Send your leave letter in PDF

If you're emailing your leave application, save it as a PDF before sending. A PDF preserves your formatting and layout more reliably than a Word document. It’s also more stable on a wider variety of devices and screen sizes, as well as printing more predictably.

You don’t have to create any content yourself. The LiveCareer cover letter generator will automatically suggest the best content for your cover letter with ready-made examples and expert tips.

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If you wish to learn about other types of business letters, check these articles:

• Appointment Letter Sample
• Appeal Letter Sample
• Acceptance Letter Sample
• Recommendation Letter Sample
• Reference Letter Sample

Thank you for your time, and good luck with writing your leave letter!

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Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with LiveCareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.

Sources

• Creating absence policies, ACAS Working for everyone
• Check if you can take time off work. Citizens advice
• Health and Safety Executive, Managing sick leave and return to work
• GOV.UK, Maternity pay and leave
• NIdirect, Paternity leave