Employment: templates and forms

For an employee in Italy asking in writing for a period of paid holiday, with the dates and the number of days, and for confirmation that it is granted. The letter recalls the statutory rules: the employer sets the period, taking account of the employee's interests (art. 2109 of the Italian Civil Code), and at least four weeks a year are due, two of them in the year they accrue, consecutive on request (art. 10 of Legislative Decree 66/2003). Hand it in, e-mail it or send it by PEC; if the company uses a leave portal, use that. In Italian.

The notice telling an employer in Austria that you are taking care leave (Pflegefreistellung) under § 16 UrlG, the Austrian Holiday Act: to nurse a sick close relative or a sick member of your household, to look after your child when the person who normally cares for it is unavailable, or to stay with a child under ten in hospital. You choose whether this is the first week, the second week for a child under twelve who falls ill again or, once both are used, holiday taken without agreement (§ 16 Abs 3 UrlG). The employer keeps paying. No diagnosis. In German.

The written notice of sickness an employee in Germany gives the employer under § 5 of the Continued Remuneration Act (EntgFG): that they are unfit for work and for how long, with no diagnosis. For people with statutory health insurance it reflects the electronic sick note (eAU) — the employer fetches the certificate from the health insurer, but the employee must still report the absence at once. Those insured privately announce a paper certificate. In German, with a box for an address abroad.

The agreement by which an employee in Cyprus undertakes to keep the employer's information confidential, during and after the employment, and not to approach, for a limited time, the clients and colleagues they worked with. It contains no non-compete clause: under section 27 of the Contract Law, Cap. 149, an agreement that stops someone practising a lawful profession is void, and only narrow, reasonable restrictions can stand. It expressly excludes the employee's general knowledge and reports of wrongdoing.

For a householder in Spain who employs someone to work in the home (cleaning, childcare or elderly care) and dismisses them for a serious, culpable breach. The letter meets art. 55.1 of the Spanish Workers' Statute: the facts, the ground under art. 54.2, the effective date, the prior hearing and the final settlement. For domestic employment only. It is handed over against a receipt or sent by burofax. In Spanish.

For an employee in Spain who will be absent on full pay for a wedding or registration as a civil partner, a relative's accident, serious illness or hospital stay, a death, a house move or an urgent family emergency. The letter gives the prior notice of art. 37.3 of the Spanish Workers' Statute, states the reason and the dates and announces the supporting document. It is handed over against a receipt, sent by certified letter or by burofax. In Spanish.

For an employee on sick leave in mainland France or the overseas departments other than Mayotte: the letter that goes with part 3 of the French sick note (avis d’arrêt de travail), the part meant for the employer. In French under French law, it says whether this is a first note or an extension, gives its dates and asks the employer to send the pay details to the health insurer. The note itself is the secured form the doctor completes. Sold blank, to complete by hand, as it holds health data DocMuse does not collect.

An employee's written reply to an employer's formal warning (Abmahnung) in Germany, to be added to the personnel file under § 83(2) of the German Works Constitution Act (BetrVG). It names the allegation, sets out the facts as the employee sees them, lists witnesses and asks either for the unjustified warning to be removed from the file or for the reply to be filed with it. There is no deadline and no duty to reply, but what is written can be used later. In German, to print, sign and hand over against a receipt.

An agreement under which an employee with access to particularly important information undertakes not to compete with the employer for a set time after leaving. The employer pays compensation of at least 25% of the pay received before the employment ended, for a period equal to the ban. It must be in writing on pain of nullity, and stops binding when the employer stops paying.

You need it when applying for a loan, in a dispute about a post or about pay, or simply because your own copy is lost. The employer keeps the personnel file and issues certified copies of what is in it. The request lists the documents you are after by name, because a generally worded one usually comes back with a single sheet.

For a family or person in Spain hiring a household employee on an open-ended contract: cleaning, cooking, childcare or care of an older person, living in or out. It sets out the tasks, the trial period, the hours and rest of Spanish Royal Decree 1620/2011, pay by the month or by the hour, pay in kind, the extra payments, holidays and the termination rules as they stand since Royal Decree-Law 16/2022. Both sides sign it before work starts. In Spanish.

For an employee in Italy asking the employer for smart working, stating how much and from when, and, where it applies, the priority under art. 18(3-bis) of Italian Law 81/2017: parents of children up to twelve or with a disability, workers with a serious disability, carers. Smart working is not an automatic right: it is agreed in a written individual agreement. The letter asks for a written reply. Hand it over, send it by PEC or by e-mail. In Italian.

A confidentiality agreement with an employee in Germany, in German, that protects trade secrets as one of the reasonable secrecy measures the German Trade Secrets Act (GeschGehG) requires: named kinds of confidential information, duties during the employment, a duty afterwards limited to those secrets and a set period, return of documents, and the statutory exceptions for whistleblowers. It leaves out the catch-all clause on all internal matters that the Federal Labour Court struck down in 2024, and any ban on discussing one's own pay.

For an employee in Italy who is pregnant: the letter tells the employer of the pregnancy, with the protocol number of the electronic medical certificate and the expected date of birth, and the period chosen for maternity leave. The leave lasts five months: as a rule two before the expected date and three after the birth, or one and four, or all five after, with medical certificates; INPS pays 80% of pay, on an online application or through a patronato. The letter asks for the protections of Legislative Decree 151/2001: no risky or night work, paid time off for check-ups, no dismissal. In Italian.

The claim an employee in Germany files against the employer's notice of dismissal (Kündigungsschutzklage). Anyone who considers a dismissal invalid must sue at the labour court (Arbeitsgericht) within three weeks of receiving it (§ 4 of the Dismissal Protection Act, KSchG), or it is treated as valid (§ 7 KSchG). Every labour court's Rechtsantragstelle also records claims free of charge. The claim sets out the parties, the application, the dismissal, the size of the business, the works council and the grounds; at first instance you may conduct the case yourself (§ 11 ArbGG). In German, to print, sign and file with one copy — e-mail is not enough.

For an employee in Spain who wants to ask for holiday dates in writing. The request gives the year the holiday belongs to and the first and last day, recalls the thirty calendar days and the two months' notice of art. 38 of the Spanish Workers' Statute, and asks for a written answer. It is handed over against a receipt («Recibí») signed by the employer, sent by certified letter or, if preferred, by burofax. In Spanish.

The written request to the Social Insurance Services in Cyprus for a statement of one's insurance record: periods of insurance, insurable earnings, contributions and employers for the period you choose. It serves to check that an employer paid the contributions, before a claim for a benefit or pension, or for use in another country. It is also made as a request for access to personal data under art. 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation. With a verified CY Login account the statement can also be seen on gov.cy; this letter is for asking in writing, at the district office, a Citizen Service Centre or by email.

A letter for an employed parent in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte, telling the employer that they are taking parental leave (congé parental d'éducation), full-time or as part-time work (articles L. 1225-47 and L. 1225-50 of the French Labour Code), or the additional birth leave available since 1 July 2026 (congé supplémentaire de naissance, articles L. 1225-46-2 et seq.; decree no. 2026-419 of 30 May 2026). These leaves are a right once the conditions are met: the letter sets the dates, and the law calls for registered post with proof of receipt or hand delivery against a receipt. In French.

A written agreement between an employer and an employee in Cyprus for telework under the Telework Framework Law of 2023: pattern and days, place, hours and time recording, the right to disconnect and the measures that secure it, equipment, costs, data, health and safety, and the return to the office. Telework is voluntary and agreed in writing, and the employer bears the equipment and its costs. The agreement also serves as the written statement of telework terms the Law requires.

The request in which an employee in Romania asks to take annual leave: the dates, the number of working days, the year it belongs to and the colleague covering the duties. It ends with a space for the employer's approval. Annual leave is at least 20 working days, and holiday pay is paid before the leave begins.

A supplement to a German employment contract on working from home and mobile work, in German: start and extent, a choice between mobile work and telework at a fixed home workstation under the German Workplaces Ordinance (ArbStättV), working time, availability and time recording, equipment and a cost allowance, data protection at home, health and safety, accident insurance, no work from abroad without a separate agreement, and ending the arrangement. German law gives no right to a home office, so it has to be agreed.

An employee's written request to the employer in Cyprus for paid annual leave: dates, working days, the leave year and who covers, with room for the employer's approval on the same sheet. Under the Annual Leave with Pay Law of 1967, a full year's work earns at least 20 working days on a five-day week and 24 on a six-day week; a contract may give more. A written request leaves a record of what was asked for and what was approved.

The request in which an employee in Greece asks for paid annual leave (Greek Labour Law Code, Presidential Decree 62/2025): the dates, the working days, the year, whether all of the leave or a part of it is asked for, and who covers the work, with room for the employer's answer. From 1 January 2026 leave may be split into more than two parts only at the employee's written request, and this request serves as one; the employer records the leave in ERGANI II afterwards, within the following month.

The agreement in which an employee in Greece undertakes to keep the employer's information confidential, during employment and after, and not to compete with the employer for a set period after leaving. Greece has no statute on non-compete clauses, and the Supreme Court (Areios Pagos 1183/2025) held that a clause without reasonable compensation and without a defined geographical area is, as a rule, void. So this agreement sets the activities, the area, the length and a monthly compensation.