Employment: templates and forms

For an employee of an Italian ministry, region, municipality, health authority or other public body who is resigning. Public administrations are excluded from Italy's online resignation procedure: the employee writes to the administration, giving the notice set by the sector's collective agreement. School staff instead use the free application on the Istanze online portal. Sent by PEC, registered post or through the body's registry office. In the province of Bolzano the body must also accept German, in Valle d'Aosta French. In Italian.

For a domestic helper, carer or nanny leaving a job with a family in Italy. Domestic work is excluded from Italy's online resignation procedure: here resignation is given in writing, and this letter gives it, with the notice set by the collective agreement for domestic work and the last working day, and asks for unused holiday, the accrued thirteenth-month pay, severance pay (TFR), the last payslip and the end-of-job report to INPS. Hand it over and have the copy signed, or send it by registered post with proof of receipt. In Italian.

A letter asking a German employer for a full employment reference (qualifiziertes Arbeitszeugnis) on leaving, or an interim reference (Zwischenzeugnis) while still employed — expressly covering performance and conduct, because without that request the employer owes only a basic reference stating the type and length of the work (§ 109 of the German Trade Regulation Act, GewO). It gives the job, the period of employment, the reason and a date by which the reference should be posted. No form is prescribed for the request. In German.

For an employee in Spain who needs a few days or weeks off without pay. The request asks the employer for unpaid leave on stated dates, under the collective agreement or as an agreement, because the Spanish Workers' Statute gives no general right to it, and asks for a written answer. It is handed over against a receipt, sent by certified letter or by burofax. In Spanish.

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.

Unpaid leave is not an entitlement — it is granted by the employer, so the application has to be in writing and has to carry a decision on it. State the exact period and the reason, because whether the time counts towards length of service and insurance depends on how long it is. File it early enough for someone to be able to cover your work.