Requesting Time Off
There will probably come a time when you need to miss work for some reason. You may have to arrive late one day, leave early one day, or miss the entire day. For example, you may have a doctor’s appointment that can only be scheduled during work hours. In this situation, it is OK to miss part of the work day if you follow the appropriate policies at work.
Here are some acceptable reasons to miss work: 
- You are sick (i.e. fever, stomach flu, migraine)
- Doctor’s appointment
- Dentist’s appointment
- Death or illness in family
- Vacations that are scheduled in advance
- Religious holidays
 When you need to miss a part of the day or a whole day at work, talk to your supervisor about it in advance. As a general rule, you should always let your supervisor know at least one week ahead of time. Many employers have a request form that you fill out to request time off from work. Be sure to get permission from your supervisor to miss work, and give your supervisor as much advance notice as possible.
Here is an example of a request form:
Employee name: ________________________________
Your position: ___________________________________
Date request was made: __________________________
Date requested off: ______________________________
Approved?: Yes No
Approved by (supervisor name): ____________________ |
You do not need to give your supervisor specific details about why you need to miss work, especially if it is personal. For example, you do not need to say what type of doctor’s appointment you have -- saying you have a doctor’s appointment is enough.
Try not to miss work during the busy part of the day; instead schedule a doctor’s appointment at the beginning or end of the day so that you miss as little of the work day as possible.
If there is an emergency and you cannot give your supervisor advance notice that you need to miss work, make sure you call and tell your supervisor as soon as possible.
Here are a few examples of true emergencies:
- Death or serious illness in the family.
- You are involved in a traffic accident.
Vacation Time
Most people like to take vacations on occasion, even if they are just vacations from work to stay at home. Many people who work full time earn vacation time each month, which means that they can take a vacation from work and still get paid. Ask your supervisor if you get vacation time. You also want to ask about the policies and procedures for requesting vacation time. You might take a few days off at one time or even save your vacation until you earn enough time to take a one or two week vacation. If you want to take off time for vacation, you should talk to your supervisor and request the time off with as much advance notice as possible. For vacations, we recommend that you request time off at least one month in advance. |
If you don’t follow these guidelines, you could get in trouble at work. Your supervisor counts on you to work and by not showing up reliably, your work will not get done or someone will have to do it for you. This annoys supervisors.
You could be fired:
- If you don’t tell your supervisor in advance that you are going to miss work.
- If you have a poor excuse for missing work. For example, it is not OK to miss work because you over-slept, did not feeling like going, or wanted to do something else instead.
- If you are frequently missing days of work. Missing work frequently without a good excuse is not OK. If you must miss a lot of work because of health reasons, for example, that is generally OK if you talk to your supervisor about it. However, if you are missing several days of work per month because you miss the bus, your supervisor may get annoyed.
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- Ask your employer beforehand about how to handle vacation days and time off.
- Always give your employers as much advanced notice as possible before missing work.
- You should give at least one week’s notice if you have to take a day off work for an appointment.
- If there is an emergency of some sort preventing you from working, call your employer to let them know you cannot come into work.
- You should try to give a month’s notice if you are planning to take a vacation.
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