Time-off request
A simple, signable time-off request form covering vacation, sick, personal, and bereavement leave — with jurisdiction-aware entitlement notes.
Time-Off Request
Employee
Name: · ID:
Department: · Manager:
Request
Leave type:
From: · Through: · Total: business days.
Reason (optional):
Coverage & handoff
Entitlement note
Federal US law does not require paid vacation, but state and city laws may provide for paid sick leave (e.g., California, New York, Washington) and bereavement leave. Refer to the Company's PTO policy and applicable state law for entitlements.
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Made with WalnutsHR Paper · Reviewed for United States (general) · April 2026
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No compliance hints for this jurisdiction yet — your document looks good for the basics. Have a lawyer review before sending anything consequential.
About this template
A time-off request is the simplest piece of HR paperwork most teams handle — and the easiest one to get wrong. A clear request, a documented manager approval, and an entitlement note that matches the relevant province or state turn what should be a 30-second conversation into a proper paper trail.
When to use it
- Your time-off process is currently a Slack message and a hope.
- You want a single signable artifact that can be filed with the employee record.
- You're tracking accrued vacation, sick, and personal days against statutory entitlements.
What to include
- Employee, manager, and team identification.
- Type of leave: vacation, sick, personal, bereavement, parental, jury duty, etc.
- Specific start and end dates plus a business-day total.
- Coverage notes — who is covering critical work.
- An entitlement reference for the relevant jurisdiction.
- Signatures from both the employee and the approving manager.
Frequently asked questions
Can I require the employee to give a reason?
It depends on the leave type. For vacation, no — the reason is private. For sick leave, most provinces let you ask for a doctor's note for absences of three days or more. For protected leaves (parental, bereavement, family responsibility) you can ask for proof of entitlement but you can't refuse the leave on the basis that the reason isn't to your liking.
What if a request can't be approved on the dates the employee chose?
Vacation can be scheduled by the employer for operational reasons in most jurisdictions, but you generally have to give reasonable notice. Protected leaves can rarely be denied — you can request alternative dates only where the legislation expressly allows it.
Should I store these requests centrally?
Yes. A central record reduces disputes, supports vacation accrual tracking, and creates an audit trail if a leave-related dispute escalates. WalnutsHR's time-off module does this automatically.
Legal disclaimer. Time-off entitlements vary materially by jurisdiction and by leave type. Some leaves (parental, family responsibility, sick leave in many provinces) are statutorily protected — refusing or penalizing a request can attract human-rights or employment-standards complaints. When in doubt, approve and seek advice rather than refusing on the spot.
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