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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.

In the admissions ranking for a nursery or kindergarten, working parents prove their employment with a certificate from the employer. It is most often sent back not over its content but over a missing formality. So this request spells out what the certificate must carry: the employer's company number, an outgoing reference number, a date, a signature and a stamp. File it early — the rankings have deadlines, the payroll office does not.

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 landlord's formal reminder to a tenant in Austria who is behind with the rent: the amounts owed for each month, the total, a deadline and the account. Under the Austrian Tenancy Act (MRG) a court notice to quit for arrears (§ 30 Abs 2 Z 1 MRG), like ending the lease under § 1118 of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB), requires a reminder after the rent fell due that states the arrears specifically. You choose which step follows if the tenant does not pay. The court notice itself is not a letter but is filed at the district court — this is the reminder that must come first. In German.

A letter to a German bank or savings bank (Sparkasse) closing your current account (Girokonto), whether you are leaving altogether or switching to a new bank. It gives the IBAN, the account holder and date of birth, the closing date you want and the account for the remaining balance, ends the linked cards, overdraft and online banking, and asks for written confirmation. Under § 675h of the German Civil Code (BGB) you may close the account at any time without notice, unless a notice period of at most one month was agreed, and closing is free. A choice covers switching through the statutory switching service (§§ 20 ff. ZKG). In German.

For a creditor in Italy who receives payment of a debt – a loan repaid, a saldo e stralcio, the last instalment of a plan – and must issue a receipt, as article 1199 of the Italian Civil Code requires. The document, in Italian under Italian law, names the parties with their codice fiscale and states the amount, date and method of payment, the original debt and whether payment is in full or on account. The creditor signs it. Above €77.47 a €2 revenue stamp (marca da bollo), bought at a tobacconist's, must be affixed.

Your access request to a company, association or body in Austria: whether and which data about you are processed, for what purposes, where they came from, to whom they go and how long they are kept, with a free copy (Art 15 GDPR). The answer is due within one month, extendable by two months with reasons (Art 12(3) GDPR). If none comes, you can complain to Austria's data protection authority, the Datenschutzbehörde (§ 24 DSG), which provides its own form free of charge. No copy of an identity document as a condition. In German.

For every time you leave originals with someone else — an accountant, a lawyer, an employer, a bank, an agent. The receipt lists the documents one by one, marks which are originals and which copies, and gives a date for their return. An original handed over without a receipt is later chased with no evidence that it was ever handed over at all.

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 to a Greek school for a certificate of studies, a certificate of attendance or a copy of the school-leaving certificate (apolytirio): the graduate's details as the school keeps them (father's and mother's names, date of birth, name while at school), the year of graduation, the document wanted, the number of copies and the purpose. Graduates from the 2016–2017 school year on can get their apolytirio from gov.gr; this request serves older titles and certificates that are not there.

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.

An invoice template for small businesses that charge no VAT, with the note on the small-business exemption under § 19 of the German VAT Act (UStG) that § 34a UStDV has required since 2025: both parties' names and addresses, tax number or VAT ID, date, invoice number, the goods or services and the total, plus payment terms and the default notice. A small business has turnover of at most €25,000 last year and at most €100,000 this year; in the year it starts trading the limit is €25,000. It may keep issuing paper and PDF invoices for good, but must still be able to receive e-invoices. In German.

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.

Insurance first: in Cyprus the policy must cover the driver, by name or under its age and experience terms, or whoever drives is uninsured, whatever authorisation they hold. On that basis, this document lets another person drive the vehicle for a set period, area and purpose, and proves the owner's consent to the police, a hire firm or a border post. It states what is forbidden, who pays fines and damage and how it is revoked, and has a summary in English.

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.