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Annual leave request to your employer (Great Britain)
England, Scotland and Wales · in English · for employees
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12 questions · about 5 min
Made for use in England, Scotland and Wales
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For a worker in England, Wales or Scotland who wants to book paid holiday: a dated written request giving the first and last day and the number of working days, asking for written approval. Unless your contract or holiday rules say otherwise, the Working Time Regulations 1998 ask for notice of twice the length of the leave, and let the employer refuse only by counter-notice as long as the leave. Acas explains the rules free. Send it by email or hand it in, keeping a copy.
- Made for use in England, Scotland and Wales
- Last updated October 29, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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When to use this document
- You want to book a week off in the summer and your employer in England asks for a written request.
- Your manager keeps putting off your holiday dates and you want your request on paper.
- You are planning time off around the school holidays and want to ask your employer in good time.
- You want to ask for annual leave in writing in England, Wales or Scotland and keep a copy.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employee
- Employee's address
- Town or city
- Employee's postcode
- Date
- Person at your employer you are writing to, as you would greet them (e.g. Priya Patel)
- Employer
- Employer's postal address (street and number, postcode and town on separate lines)
- First day of the leave
- Last day of the leave
- Number of working days of leave
- Anything else you want to add (optional)
Common questions
- How much notice must I give my employer before taking holiday in Great Britain?
- The notice your contract or your employer's holiday rules set. Where they set none, regulation 15 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 applies: notice of at least twice the length of the leave, so two weeks' notice for one week off. Acas's free guide ‘Asking for and taking holiday’ explains the rules. Asking in writing, with the dates and the number of days, avoids a later dispute about what was agreed.
- Can my employer refuse my holiday or cancel holiday already agreed?
- Yes, but only with counter-notice at least as long as the leave refused or cancelled, unless the contract sets other rules, and the employer must still let you take your full 5.6 weeks in the leave year. An employer can also require you to take holiday on set days, such as a Christmas shutdown, by giving notice of twice the length of that leave. Statutory holiday cannot be replaced by pay while you remain employed.
- Can I carry untaken holiday over to the next leave year?
- Statutory holiday is normally to be taken in the leave year it belongs to. It can be carried over where sickness or family leave such as maternity leave stopped you taking it, or where your employer did not give you a reasonable chance to take it, and your contract may allow more. Check your contract and the holiday rules, and ask in writing before the leave year ends.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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