A clear form for vacation, personal days and other leave requests, with balance check and manager decision.
Informal requests by text or in the hallway get forgotten, and two people end up off on the same day. A written request with a balance check avoids both problems.
Some leave, such as protected medical or family leave, follows legal rules rather than your normal approval process. Route those to HR.
13 items. Use it on screen, or print it and fill it in by hand.
A cook requests three vacation days in July, 24 hours, with 40 hours of balance. Another cook is already off one of those days, so the manager approves two days and offers the third on the following week, which the employee accepts.
A written request with a balance check and dated decision shows that leave was handled the same way for everyone, which matters if a decision is later challenged as unfair. It also gives payroll the exact hours to deduct, so balances stay accurate.
| Employee | Jenna, front desk, Lakeside Animal Hospital, Orlando FL |
|---|---|
| Type | Vacation |
| Dates | Dec 22 to Dec 24, 10-hour shifts |
| Hours requested | 30 |
| Balance | 34 hours available |
| Coverage | Tom swapped Dec 23; Dec 22 and 24 open |
| Decision | Approved Dec 22 and 23; Dec 24 declined, holiday blackout |
The request is counted in hours because the clinic runs 10-hour shifts, so three days use 30 hours. The partial approval cites the posted holiday blackout as the reason, which keeps the decision consistent with policy.
Set it in your policy; two weeks is common for vacation.
Usually, for business reasons, if applied fairly. Protected leave is different.
Notice rules differ; some state and city laws apply.
Yes, and balances update automatically in many systems.
In most states, an employer can change an approved vacation if the request is not covered by a contract, union agreement or a protected leave law, but doing so damages trust and may cost the employee nonrefundable travel. A clear policy should say when approved time can be revisited and what happens to booked costs. Leave that is protected, like FMLA or state paid sick leave, cannot be cancelled this way.
Hours are safer, because shift lengths differ and partial days are common. A 10-hour shift worker taking two days uses 20 hours of balance, not 16. Recording hours also makes the balance check and the payroll entry match exactly.
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Once the time off request form is in place, the next question is usually about shifts and hours. Book a demo to see how EZTime handles scheduling and time tracking.