Letters of leave are used in workplace and academic settings when a person needs to request or explain a period of leave. Periods of leave are requested for many reasons, and there are different types of letters of leave for each category of reasons.

Vacation or Holiday Leave

A letter of vacation or holiday leave is a written request to take time-off to celebrate or observe a religious or national holiday or to use accumulated paid vacation time. The letter should be written and delivered in advance, according to the school's or company's human resource policies.

Court Leave

Letters of leave for court are written notifications to school faculty or an employer that the employee must be absent due to a court order. Jury duty, criminal cases, domestic relation issues and civil suits are all examples of types of court proceedings that could make a court leave necessary. The letter should be prepared and delivered as soon as the employee or student is aware of the obligation to be in court.

Compensatory Leave

Compensatory leave letters are letters requesting for time-off in exchange for overtime payment. The time-off compensates for the extra time that an employee has spent at work, to even out the number of hours worked. This type of letter depends on the policies of the company.

Family and Medical Leave

Family and medical leave letters can include maternity, paternity, adoption, serious illness of the employee or serious illness of an immediate family member. This type of leave is protected by the federal government under FMLA, the Family Medica Leave Act of 1993. It is the responsibility of the employee to prepare and deliver this type of letter as soon as the decision to take leave is made.

Funeral Leave

Letters requesting funeral leave are written requests to attend the funeral, wake or other memorial service of an immediate family member. Most employers allow three days for a funeral, but this can vary.