Simplify time-off approval with our sample policy and request form

by John Connell | Aug 31, 2001 7:00:00 AM

Tags: John Connell

Takeaway: When you or one of your employees wants to take some time off, the last thing either of you needs is a complicated process of approval. Download our customizable vacation policy template and vacation request form to make time-off requests a cinch.

You've been cramming almost two weeks of work into one in preparation for a trip. Suitcases still need packing. Did you remember to stop the mail and newspaper? Oh, and don’t forget to set the auto-reply on your e-mail client detailing the date and time of your return.

When you or one of your employees has decided to take a well-earned vacation, the last thing either of you want to deal with is last-minute minutiae. Moreover, human resources is busy enough without having to deal with excessive paperwork associated with employee requests for time off—especially if vacation policies and procedures differ among departments. But with our "Vacation policy and request form," you can streamline time-off requests in your IT department and minimize those last-minute details and questions.

The policy template
Anyone in IT knows how difficult it can be to get away and take advantage of those accumulated vacation days. However, despite the intense time demands on IT professionals, only 25 percent of the respondents to a recent TechRepublic poll claim that their companies have vacation or time-off policies specific to the IT department.


If you're thinking of drafting a new policy for your department or want to revamp the policy throughout the entire organization, you can customize our template to fit your organization's needs. If employees earn vacation time based on a per-pay-period basis, for example, you can simply enter in the amount of vacation hours they accrue for each paycheck they receive.

Of course, vacation isn't the only time when employees might be away from work. If your company offers sick days or personal days or even allows for leaves of absence, you'll want to spell out the particulars and procedures for taking advantage of them in your vacation policy document. We've included a section outlining some basic time-off issues that you can enhance with your own policy details and lingo.

The benefit of request forms
Depending on the organization, it may be necessary for employees to get approval from their managers when requesting time off. If you're interested in keeping red tape at a minimum, our sample request form is a simple document that you can distribute via your intranet or in hard copies.

At CNET Networks, we use a similar Java Server Page form on our intranet that works in tandem with e-mails sent between employees and supervisors, and then is sent on to intranet operations. If a manager approves a request, the employee gets an e-mail confirmation. Conversely, denied requests are sent back with comments explaining the denial. According to Chuck Gathard, director of intranet operations, our form significantly reduces the paperwork hassle for HR.

With employee information drawn from a PeopleSoft database, intranet ops maintains a SQL server database that applies time-off accruals or deductions to the original PeopleSoft profiles. Upon each pay period, the intranet group generates a report that is sent to HR, who then forwards the information to parties responsible for writing paychecks and keeping a repository of vacation, personal, or sick-day balances.

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Get the policy template and request form now
To download this file, click here. To check out other TechRepublic downloads, visit our Downloads Center.

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