Free Leave of Absence Letter Templates and Examples

Taking time off shouldn’t feel like another task on your to-do list—but writing a leave of absence letter often does.

These free leave of absence letter templates help you skip the guesswork. Whether you’re stepping away for personal, medical, or academic reasons, use them to craft a clear, professional request that keeps things moving while you’re out.

What Are Leave of Absence Letter Templates?

Leave of absence letter templates help students and professionals formally request time off from school or work. These templates provide a structured format that includes essential details—such as leave dates, reasons, and handoff plans—to ensure your request is clear and compliant with policies.

Here is what a standard leave of absence letter template looks like:

• Date: The date of writing the letter
• Recipient details: Name, title, address, and contact information of the recipient
• Subject line: The reason for taking leave, such as medical reasons or other personal reasons
• Salutation: A formal greeting to maintain professionalism and respect
• Duration of leave: Include your start and return dates
• Work management plan: Explain how responsibilities will be covered in your absence, including who’s handling which tasks
• Contact information: How to reach you if necessary
• Gratitude: Express gratitude for considering the leave request
• Closing: Formal closing like ‘Yours sincerely’ along with your name and signature
• Attachments: Any supporting documents you want to share

What Makes a Good Leave of Absence Letter Template?

A well-structured leave of absence letter template helps you communicate all the relevant points and ensure transparency.

Therefore, it is necessary to check the following points when choosing one:

• Clear structure: Makes your message easy to read and review
• Customizable sections: Let you personalize the letter to your situation (e.g., medical, family, or vacation leave)
• Professional tone: Helps maintain respectful communication without sounding too stiff
• Adaptability to situation: Prioritize a template that is easily customized to different personal leave and leave reasons, from medical leaves to sabbatical leaves
• Space to add documents: Pick one that allows you to attach supporting documents like medical certificates or approvals

15 Leave of Absence Letter Templates

Want to ditch the stress and keep the leave of absence request letters comprehensive? Here are some of the leave of absence letter templates to explore. These tools will help you craft formal letters with relevant information:

1. Excuse for Absence Letter Template

Use this template without overexplaining if you need to submit a brief written excuse—like missing a class, a short shift, or a one-time work event. It’s ideal for quick, formal acknowledgments. The Excuse for Absence Letter Template simplifies the process with a structured format. It details the reasons and supporting information.

This excuse letter template includes fields for your reason and date, ensuring your message is clear, concise, and easy to understand.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Customize the sample letter to align with the specific circumstances and the company’s leave policies
• Include work delegation particulars to show accountability and responsibility
• Add relevant details like job position and contact information
• Create a crisp and focused letter and avoid fluff

Here’s what Christian Gonzalez, Administrative Coordinator at Cámara Nacional de Comercio, Servicios y Turismo de Guadalajara, thinks about using :

2. Two Weeks Notice Letter Template

Resigning can be stressful, especially when you’re unsure how to phrase your two weeks’ notice professionally. The Two Weeks Notice Letter Template is designed to help you resign respectfully.

This template gives you a composed, respectful starting point—no need to overthink every word. It has an organized structure that covers your two-week notice message, reason for leaving, handover data, and a courteous closing.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Include your contact details along with the manager’s address and company name
• Cover everything from notice to gratitude to never miss any detail
• Say thank you while explaining how your exit will be smooth and well-managed
• Ensure your resignation is properly documented while starting the transition process on a respectful note

3. Time Off Request Template

The Time Off Request Template lets employees input data such as dates, reasons, and backup contact information. This centralized template makes the time-off process transparent and trackable, with flexible leave type categories (e.g., maternity, sick, vacation). 

Moreover, managers benefit, too—requests are centralized, approval status is visible, and backlogs are minimized. It’s a win-win for teams aiming to manage time off efficiently.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Seamlessly manage and track time-off requests with statuses like approved, new request, and rejected
• Get an overview of the start date, end date, and duration of leaves to plan effectively
• Organize the reasons for the request and the reasons for disapproval if the request is rejected
• Maintain direct supervisor details to ensure seamless communication

4. Out of Office Coverage Plan Template

Managing the work of an out-of-office employee becomes much simpler with the Out of Office Coverage Plan Template.

It offers a structured space to manage leave schedules.

Sort the leaves by department and type, such as vacation, maternity, paternity, sick, emergency, and bereavement. This tool also helps you delegate tasks, notify stakeholders, and prepare colleagues without chaos.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Keep operations smooth with sections for critical tasks, assigned backups, and contact instructions
• Automate the calculation of leave days by adding a formula to avoid inaccuracy
• Organize the reasons for leave, leave dates, and leave days in one place
• Tailor your leave request form to reflect your company’s policies and workflow

5. PTO Calendar Template

The PTO Calendar Template offers a clear structure for managing all PTO details in one centralized location. It provides a shared view of time-off schedules, helping you avoid conflicts and plan coverage more efficiently.

With the leaves sorted by type, you can schedule tasks in advance. Additionally, this template helps managers plan their capacity effectively by visualizing approved leaves on a calendar view. It also provides employees with visibility into upcoming absences.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Include comments and PTO reasons to add specifics and identify a trend
• Create a PTO form and customize the settings to ensure alignment with your workflow
• Improve planning with real-time availability updates and integrate time-off tracking with task assignments
• Maintain records of the assignee and approver to ensure accountability

✅ Explore how to use Calendar View in :

6. Personal Schedule Availability Template

Juggling personal plans and work meetings? This template helps you set clear boundaries. The Personal Schedule Availability Template makes communicating your availability for meetings, shifts, or collaborative work easy. It is ideal for freelancers, part-timers, or hybrid workers who need to share their weekly or monthly working hours, especially when availability varies from day to day.

You can visualize the tasks’ timeline filtered by day, week, and month. Use built-in prompts to quickly build a form and keep your schedule structured and shareable.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Share recurring availability patterns or one-time exceptions to maintain team alignment
• Mark the availability status as busy or free, or add custom availability statuses
• Set the start date and due date for each task to ensure efficient planning
• Indicate the priority status of each task as low, normal, high, or urgent

7. Leave of Absence Letter Template by PandaDoc

The Leave of Absence Letter Template by PandaDoc helps you formally request time off. State the duration and reason for your leave. This template lets you explain how you’ll keep work running smoothly while you’re away. Plus, communicate information about when you will return to work.

Whether for medical reasons, family emergencies, or sabbaticals, it ensures the request is formal and complete.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Include fields for duration, return date, reason, and point of contact
• Confirm whether additional time off might be needed, and assure timely communication if the duration changes
• Include your and your manager’s address details and contact information
• Customize the template based on the leave reason and dates

8. Leave of Absence Letter Template by Template.Net

Confused about how to craft a crisp and professional leave of absence letter? The Leave of Absence Letter Template by Template.Net provides a clear structure to clearly outline the reasons for leave, whether due to a serious health condition affecting work, jury duty, or family reasons. Additionally, communicate how you will ensure an uninterrupted workflow.

The template helps you include all the details about the leave to keep your manager informed. It offers tailored versions for different situations, saving time and improving clarity. This saves you time while improving your communication.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Download the template in Word or PDF format
• Mention who will take over your current tasks while you are on leave
• Add contact information to connect in case of emergencies
• Customize fields while keeping formal language, and use pre-written phrases to save time

9. Vacation Letter Template by Template.Net

The Vacation Letter Template by Template.Net is perfect for planned personal vacations where you want to give early notice and align expectations before you log off. It covers the essentials—dates, purpose, and contact arrangements—while maintaining a polite tone.

This template is especially useful for planning, as it allows both employees and managers to align on expectations before time off begins.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Include alternate contacts and expected return dates
• Maintain professionalism in tone and phrasing
• Edit easily for different job levels or team roles
• Let your team know how to reach you in case of urgent needs—without overcommitting your availability

10. Paternity Leave Letter Template by Template.Net

The Paternity Leave Letter Template by Template.Net is designed for fathers-to-be who wish to request time off formally. It supports short-term and extended leave formats. It additionally includes space to note delivery dates and caregiver plans.

It guides you to include all essentials—leave dates, who’s covering your work, and how to stay reachable. Clarifying timelines and return expectations creates a seamless experience for employees and employers.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Communicate paternity leave needs with sensitivity and clarity
• Align expectations around leave duration and return dates for easy workflow planning for team members
• Highlight childcare and household support arrangements
• Use a tone that balances professionalism with empathy

11. Half-day Leave Letter Template by Template.Net

Perfect for personal appointments, last-minute errands, or school visits—this short form Half-Day Leave Letter Template by Template.Net helps you inform your manager of partial-day leave while maintaining professionalism.

This template outlines why the situation is unavoidable. Mention how you will maintain the workflow during the half-day. Moreover, this short-format letter informs managers while keeping a record of brief time-off requests.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Submit short-leave requests without over-explaining and maintain a formal tone
• Mention the time by which you will complete the current projects
• Highlight who will take over your responsibilities when you are away
• Close with gratitude to end on a respectful and positive note

12. Professional Leave Letter for School Template by Template.Net

The school-specific Professional Leave Letter for School Template by Template.Net provides a clear format to explain the reason for the leave. Be it a health issue or other personal reasons, list the steps you have taken to avoid missing any important lesson or assignment.

It’s a thoughtful tool for maintaining professional standards in academic environments. It keeps the students and staff informed.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Mention the reason for leave and the dates when the leave will begin and end
• Highlight the teacher with whom you have arranged to catch up on the syllabus
• Explain how you’ll catch up on missed lessons and assignments
• Attach the necessary documents for reference

13. Emergency Leave Letter Template by Template.Net

Some emergencies require you to request leave on short notice, which can disrupt the workflow. Use the Emergency Leave Letter Template by Template.Net when you need to step away urgently—like in the case of a family emergency or sudden medical issue—and want to keep your team informed without delay or confusion. The template emphasizes brevity and sincerity. It ensures that essential elements, such as contact and duration, are included.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Communicate serious matters while remaining respectful and professional
• Mention why you need leave on such short notice, and the dates of leave
• Mention that you left the handover notes to manage the workflow during your absence
• Encourage your manager to provide any suggestions and any arrangements before leaving

14. Professional Holiday Leave Letter Template by Template.Net

The Professional Holiday Leave Letter Template by Template.Net is great for requesting time off around public holidays or festive breaks—especially when your company stays partially operational. It includes expected dates, backup plans, and optional gratitude messages.

This structure makes it seamless to convey the leave schedule. Outline the essential details, such as how you have optimized the workflow to ensure your team’s success. It strikes a thoughtful tone—professional yet friendly—perfect for planning holiday breaks.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• Assure that your projects will be up-to-date and who will take over in your absence
• Mention your availability in case any high-priority situation arises
• Adapt easily to different company policies or regions
• Add your signature, designation, and email at the end

15. Sabbatical Leave Letter Template by Template.Net

When planning an extended break, the Sabbatical Leave Letter Template by Template.Net communicates your purpose, duration, and intentions. It balances transparency with a future-focused mindset—ideal for long-term planning.

Use fields for goals, contingency planning, and return strategies to convey every detail about the sabbatical leave so your team can prepare accordingly.

📌 Why this one’s worth saving:

• List all the arrangements you have made to handle your responsibilities
• Give the company email and the company phone number to connect in emergencies
• Clearly state your sabbatical goals and how the break supports personal or professional development
• Build trust through detailed planning and communication

Make Time Off Requests Easy (and Professional) with

Writing a polished and comprehensive leave of absence letter may trigger writer’s block. However, it becomes seamless with the right leave of absence letter template. The right tools and templates help the HR department track and manage leave applications easily.

This is where , the everything app for work, helps you write leave of absence letters that thoroughly capture the key details. Whether you are a working professional, a student looking for a structured template, or an HR manager searching for a tool to manage leaves, has got you covered. Don’t let vague communication stall your plans.

Sign up for to draft professional leave letters, manage time-off requests, and keep your team in sync—effortlessly. 🚀

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