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Annual leave request (Ireland)
Ireland · in English · for employees
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For an employee in Ireland asking for paid annual leave on particular dates. The letter gives the first and last day and the number of working days, notes that under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 your employer sets the times of leave after consulting you at least a month ahead and taking your family responsibilities and rest into account, and asks for written approval or other dates. Hand it in or email it, as your workplace does.
- Made for use in Ireland
- Last updated November 3, 2026
- Document in English
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- I have booked a holiday and need my employer in Ireland to approve the days off.
- My manager in Ireland keeps putting off my request for annual leave and I want it in writing.
- I want to use up my holidays before the end of the leave year at my job in Ireland.
- My workplace in Ireland asks for holiday requests in writing well ahead of time.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employee
- Employee's address
- Town and county (e.g. Ennis, Co. Clare; or Dublin 8)
- Your Eircode
- Date
- Person you are writing to, as you would address them (e.g. Ms Byrne)
- Employer
- Employer's postal address (street, town and county, and Eircode on separate lines)
- First day of leave
- Last day of leave
- Number of leave days requested (working days)
Common questions
- How many days of annual leave am I entitled to in Ireland?
- The law gives the greatest of three measures: four working weeks in a leave year in which you work at least 1,365 hours; a third of a working week for each month in which you work at least 117 hours; or 8% of the hours you work, up to four weeks. Public holidays come on top. Your contract may give more. Leave is paid at your normal weekly rate, in advance.
- Can my employer refuse my annual leave dates in Ireland?
- Yes. The employer decides when leave is taken, having regard to the needs of the work, but must take your family responsibilities and rest into account and consult you at least a month before. What it cannot do is stop you taking your leave at all: it must be granted within the leave year or, with your agreement, within six months after.
- How far in advance should I ask for annual leave?
- No law sets a deadline for the employee; your contract or the workplace's leave policy usually does. Because the employer consults at least a month before the leave, asking earlier than that gives both of you time. Check the policy for busy periods or shutdowns, and keep the written approval in case of a dispute later.
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
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