How to correctly write an application for time off at your own expense for 1 day: sample 2020

Employers and employees are in different weight categories when it comes to the legal intricacies of regulating labor relations. Workers do not always know their rights and are forced to seek advice. In this article we will provide a sample application for leave without pay in 2020, and consider the issues of registering such leave under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Mandatory leaves without pay

The topic of vacations at your own expense raises many questions. The rules are regulated by Article 128 of the Labor Code, but it does not provide comprehensive answers for all cases. Many provisions are scattered across different legislative acts, which are difficult for even an experienced personnel officer to navigate. In table No. 1 we list the cases specified in the Labor Code.

A number of cases are mentioned in other articles of the Labor Code: Table No. 2

The Labor Code defines the reasons for granting leave without pay as “reasonable” and “for family reasons.” If everything is clear with the listed situations, then dealing with the so-called other cases is extremely difficult.

Of course, if the boss considers the reason valid, he will grant leave. For this, the desire of the employee and the consent of the employer are sufficient. But what if a valid reason is not listed?

Let's consider situations that relate specifically to these “other cases” when the employer does not have the right to refuse an employee.

Good reasons

There is no definition of valid reasons in the Labor Code. However, such a list can be compiled by analyzing regulations and judicial practice.

Good reasons include:

1. serious illness of a close relative, when a sick leave certificate for care is not provided;
2. farewell to the army;
3. natural disaster (fire, flood, etc.);
4. children's holidays, child's departure to summer camp, quarantine in kindergarten or school;
5. examination session if the employee receives a second higher education.

The reasons listed do not directly oblige the employer to sign a leave application, but he should take them into account. A persistent employee will most likely be able to defend his right in court. It is best to include a list of valid reasons in the collective agreement. Then employees will not have disagreements with the employer.

But even in this case, unforeseen circumstances may arise that will be considered a valid reason. When resolving such issues, you need to use common sense. Personal relationships with superiors are of great importance. It is unlikely that a responsible and well-proven employee will be denied leave if he objectively needs it.

Application examples

Time off may be needed for various reasons. The most common of them:

At your own expense for one day

It is recommended to submit the application a few days before the required time off. Of course, you cannot guess what answer the employer will give. This depends on various factors: personal relationships between the manager and the subordinate, the workload of the production process, how valid the reason is, whether this person can be replaced by another employee, etc. However, the employee must know in what situations time off is guaranteed by law. In such situations, he must defend his interests.

Example

Please give me leave on January 25, 2020 for one day without pay. Gas equipment will be replaced in my apartment, so my presence is required during the work.

Applications for time off for a previously worked day

There are situations when an employee performs his job duties during non-working hours. For example, he stays after the end of the working day and goes out to work on holidays and weekends. For the hours he has already worked, compensation is due in the form of cash payments. But employees often ask for time off instead. In most cases, management will grant the request in such situations.

Sample application for time off for previously worked time

For family reasons

Of course, the reason “For family reasons” is used in situations where the employee does not want to disclose the true reasons for the required time off. However, you need to understand that it is not always appropriate. For example, if an employee has been working for a given organization for less than six months, he cannot receive a day off due to this wording. However, exceptions are pregnant women, minors and employees who have young children.

Often, employees who belong to these categories believe that they are paid wages during their time off. However, it is not. Representatives of these categories are only allowed to indicate “For family reasons.” At the same time, they go on free leave. Although in such situations the collective agreement may provide for one-time payments and financial assistance. But this has nothing to do with wages. If the employee has sufficiently long continuous experience, he or she can indicate this reason.

Example

Please give me leave without pay for one day on 05/04/2019 for family reasons (I need to be at a matinee in my child’s kindergarten).

For donating blood

The law obliges the heads of organizations to provide a day off to employees who donate blood as donors. Time off can be given both on the day of the medical examination and on the day of the actual blood donation. In this case, the employee himself chooses which day to ask for time off. Employees whose work is recognized as harmful and dangerous are given time off strictly on the day of blood sampling and the next day.

You also need to know that if an employee donated blood during his required vacation, on holidays or weekends, he is allowed to take time off on any other working day. For example, add this day to your vacation. Moreover, the law guarantees the calculation of average wages for this day.

Example

Please allow me two days off on 10/05/2019 and 10/06/2019 in connection with donating blood as a donor and undergoing a preliminary medical examination.

On account of vacation

You can often find yourself in a situation where you need a day off only for one day. But I really don’t want money to be deducted from my salary for this day off. In such situations, you can ask for time off against future vacations. The applicant may request as many days off as he or she needs. But the duration of the main vacation cannot be less than 14 days. If the manager gives time off, the employee is entitled to vacation pay. The application must be submitted a few days before the leave. This will allow accounting employees to calculate vacation pay on time.

Example

I ask you to change the annual leave schedule and allow me to use five days of my leave from March 4 to March 8, 2020.

Sample application for time off for vacation

For a few hours

Employees of various organizations often wonder whether it is allowed to take days off for only a few hours? As a rule, in such situations, employees verbally agree with managers. It must be remembered that it is almost impossible to prove the fact of such an agreement. If an unscrupulous director decides to take advantage of an employee’s gullibility, he will be able to fire him. Since the contract will not be supported by any document, the employee’s absence may be considered absenteeism.

However, in order to be officially absent from work, you will still have to write a statement. In judicial practice, there are cases where the court found the calculation of time off in hours incorrect. But on the other hand, the Labor Code does not indicate the minimum period of time off that is allowed to employees. Therefore, if the employer and employee have reached a mutual agreement, you can still ask for a few hours off in the application.

Example

I ask you to release me from my workplace on April 25, 2019 from 10:00 to 13:00. At this time, I need to be present in the apartment at my place of residence, since the gas service is planning to carry out maintenance of the heating boiler.

Some employers may ask you to provide a reason why you need time off. It is in the employee's best interest to not simply note the reason; if possible, it is recommended to provide supporting documents, such as sick leave certificates, subpoenas, etc.

Mandatory leaves without pay based on Federal laws

The list of grounds for compulsory leave without pay is not limited to the Labor Code. Certain categories of workers have this right based on federal laws. We present these categories of citizens in table No. 3

Rights of employee and employer

The employee and the employee have the rights and obligations to comply with the procedure for granting leave. There are a number of categories of employees who are entitled to it upon request:

The laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, collective agreements of enterprises and organizations, and other regulations define additional categories of persons.

They may be:

• workers of the Far North to fly to the mainland for recreation;
• employees who combine positions, in cases where the rest for the main job is shorter than for the additional one.
• Heroes and holders of the Order of Glory, Labor Glory - up to 14 days a year;
• state and municipal employees – up to a year.

Regulatory acts and collective agreements provide this opportunity to military wives, employees sent for treatment to sanatoriums, parents with more than two children under 14 years of age, disabled children under 18 years of age, mothers and fathers who are raising a child under 14 years of age alone.

The presence of a maximum period does not oblige the applicant to use it in full. He can do this several times during the year. Leave is issued by order of the company management based on a written application from the employee.

Employee rights

• Return to work before the vacation is over. To do this, you must notify the employer in writing.
• Cannot be fired while on leave at the initiative of management.
• Write an application for three days at your own expense in case of illness without presenting sick leave.

When leaving, the employee is not entitled to any payments.

Employer's rights

• If the employee does not belong to the preferential category of persons, the decision is made by the manager. The duration and period of assignment are determined by agreement of the parties and are regulated in connection with production needs.
• An employer does not have the right to send an employee on leave without pay on his own initiative.

Unpaid leave at the initiative of the employer

In practice, such situations happen quite often. The difficult financial situation of the company, renovation of the premises, downtime of production - there can be many reasons. The employer seeks to save money and sends employees on vacation at their own expense. Thus, he not only infringes on the rights of staff, but also violates the law.

It is impossible to send them on leave without pay without the consent of employees. In case of downtime, the organization is obliged to accrue two-thirds of the average earnings. You can reduce your staff, but then you will have to pay compensation. In addition, the employer will lose employees and is unlikely to bring them back when the situation improves.

To temporarily disband the staff without firing anyone, you will have to negotiate with each employee. Such leave can be issued only if it is possible to convince each employee to write an application. Everyone indicates their own reason, for example, due to family circumstances. If an employee writes that he is going on unpaid leave due to renovations in the office, the employer will be fined upon inspection and forced to pay the staff for forced downtime.

When can you take advantage of one day without pay?

Before starting to draw up an application for going on leave without pay, the employee needs to carefully analyze the chosen basis. The total duration of the vacation period provided depends on this factor. Below we propose to consider various situations that become the reason for the need for additional leave.

Work on days off

According to the current norms of the law, every employee who spends his day off or a holiday to fulfill official obligations may request that his superiors provide him with an additional day off. Such time off can be used at any time convenient for the employee. Before exercising his right to rest, the employee must agree on the procedure for granting time off with his management.

In some cases, the company's management may ask the employee to reschedule the vacation to another date. As a rule, such requests are due to the fact that the absence of a specialist can have a negative impact on the labor process. Current laws allow employees to exercise the right to monetary compensation for their time spent. In this case, additional days off are replaced by a cash payment at a double rate.

There is no such thing as “time off” in the law.

For family reasons

Quite often, working citizens are faced with various life problems that require a lot of free time to solve them. A number of such cases are described in the current provisions of the law. According to established rules, company management cannot deny an employee leave due to marriage or the birth of a child. It is important to note that the employer cannot refuse to provide such leave to the employee. In order to comply with all the formalities of the process under consideration, the employee only needs to submit an application indicating one of the above reasons.

However, there are also less compelling reasons for taking a vacation at your own expense. This could be moving to another apartment, renovation work, or even visiting a medical center. In this case, the employee needs to create an application, which is written in free form. The content of the document should indicate the basis that will become the reason for going on vacation. The wording “for family reasons” is used in situations where the employee does not want to document the reasons for the need to receive additional days off. These reasons may be verbally agreed upon with management in advance.

In some situations, company management requires its subordinates to provide a document confirming the need for time off. It should be noted here that the company's management must carefully analyze the nature of the employee's request. In some cases, the company's management may refuse to satisfy a worker's request.

Time off for previously worked time

An employee who knows that after a certain period of time he will need an unscheduled day off can agree in advance with the company management that before going on leave without pay, he will first work out his rest hours. In most cases, such an agreement is formalized orally, but lawyers recommend drawing up a written statement. It is important to note that an employee can take time off both for hours worked and for future work. The time spent on fulfilling official obligations in order to receive an additional day off must be recorded in the appropriate journal.

For processing

The current laws establish rules regarding labor regulations. It is important to note that recycling is not encouraged by law. As a rule, workers who work in shifts or on a rotational basis often encounter overwork. This category of employees has the right to additional administrative leave.

Article 128 of the Labor Code regulates the right to receive such additional days off

To the funeral

Tragic events associated with the death of close relatives can occur in the life of every person. In such a situation, the worker is granted administrative leave with a total duration of five working days. This rule is enshrined in the one hundred and twenty-eighth article of the Labor Law. Attention should be paid to the fact that the wording “close relative” itself has a vague definition. In order to determine who belongs to this category, it is necessary to carefully study the fourteenth article of the Family Code. According to this document, the category of close relatives includes:

1. Spouses.
2. Children and parents.
3. Grandchildren, grandparents.
4. Brothers and sisters.

It is important to note that each employer has the right to increase this list by several positions. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the industry where work is carried out. Ordinary citizens have the right to take advantage of administrative leave of five days. In some situations, this period of time is extended to two weeks. Persons performing military service are granted ten days of extraordinary leave. The situation related to financially responsible persons deserves special attention. Before releasing such an employee to the funeral, the employer must create a special commission that will accept the material assets managed by the employee.

How to apply for leave without pay

The employee writes a statement indicating the reason, start date and duration of the leave. In mandatory cases, the employer grants leave regardless of his wishes, and in other cases he acts at his own discretion. If the leave is approved, an order is issued on which the employee signs.

You need to write a statement and issue an order even if the employee simply takes a day off.

As a rule, the application is written by hand, but the employee must maintain a business form.

The concept of administrative leave

There is no concept of “administrative leave” in the legislation, but there is “leave without pay” (Article 128). It is the same. These terms mean forced absence from the workplace for family and other valid reasons.

For example, if an employee needs to leave for 1 day, but his annual leave has run out (or he does not want to spend it), a reasonable solution would be to take the day at his own expense.

Absence due to one’s own wedding, the birth of a child, or the death of a close family member is also considered administrative.

To go on such leave legally, the employee notifies his superiors in a timely manner: he writes a statement. The deadline for filing such an application is not established by law. In emergency cases, it will be agreed upon in one day, but if possible, it is recommended to notify management as early as possible.

The initiative always comes from the employee. The management of an organization cannot issue an order and force an employee to “rest” at their own expense. This is a violation of labor rights. If this happens, you must immediately contact the labor inspectorate and complain about the employer.

Example of an application for leave without pay

Application structure

The vacation application can be either handwritten or printed. The main condition is that it contains all the necessary information.

It consists of several parts:

1. A cap. It is written in the upper right corner of the application, it indicates the name of the organization, position, surname and initials of the manager to whom the application is sent, as well as the position and name of the applicant.
2. Title. Consists of the word “Statement”, which is written in the middle of the line under the heading with a capital letter without a period at the end.
3. Text part. This part reflects the essence of the application, it indicates the request for leave, its planned period and the reason why it was required.
4. Date, signature and transcript of the originator's signature.

This statement can only be written at the request of the employee himself; he cannot be forced to do so.

Although, many employers resort to such manipulation in order not to pay wages during plant downtime.

They voluntarily and compulsorily take such statements from employees and thus save their money. This is illegal and employees can safely refuse the employer when such a request is made to them. But if a statement was written, it will be extremely problematic to prove that it was obtained illegally.

The issue of early exit from unpaid leave received at the personal request of an employee is not regulated by law. You can write a statement about this, but the decision on it will depend entirely on the boss.

Can they refuse to grant leave for one day?

Many workers often ask questions about whether bosses can refuse to grant time off. The right to such leave is granted to every officially employed person, but the procedure for granting days off is negotiated individually. Company management may refuse to grant leave in cases where the absence of a specialist disrupts the production process. In this case, the parties to the legal relationship agree on the possibility of postponing the weekend to another date.

Before drawing up an application, the employee must first agree with management on the provision of an extraordinary day off. This approach minimizes the risk of refusal. It should be noted here that the company management must carefully study the reason why the employee is taking time off from work. It could be:

1. The need to visit the dental office.
2. Serious illness of a close relative.
3. Purchase or sale of real estate.
4. Vehicle breakdown and the need to return the car for repairs.
5. Examination tests and solving other issues related to obtaining an education.
6. Solving everyday problems or meeting with close relatives who came from another city.

The reason given to the employer must be reliable. In some cases, company management may require the employee to present documents confirming the stated reason for the leave. This could be a receipt from a repair shop or any other documents.