An Introduction to Vacation Request Form & PTOs

Let's suppose you are an HR manager. If some employees want to take some time off, there's paperwork involved.

Employee vacation request forms, also known as PTO (paid time off) forms, are used by many businesses to manage their staff's vacation time more efficiently. However, PTOs can still be difficult to work if you aren't clued in on some finer details.

They have to request vacation time from you and the boss, and your boss may need to approve it, and the employees probably have to prepare a written or online request of some kind as well.

However, some businesses mistake misusing them, leading to frustration and sometimes hurt when an employee feels like their request was not granted appropriately.

To make sure you're using your employee vacation request form correctly, keep reading to learn what to include in it and how to use it properly.

The Purpose of the Employee Vacation Request Form

The purpose of an employee vacation request form is to gather information from employees to determine if they are eligible for paid or unpaid time off.

These forms often include questions that assess their amount of service with a company, job duties, and types of responsibilities.

Employees use these documents when applying for a leave of absence to meet specific requirements before their employers approve them.

This can help both workers and companies avoid potential legal problems by ensuring everyone follows the rules like documentation, length of employment, hours worked per week, etc.

Things to Keep in Mind When Designing Your Employee Vacation Request Form

A well-designed employee vacation request form will help keep your business running smoothly by ensuring that you have enough coverage while employees are away.

As an HR professional, it's your job to ensure that each employee has time off and is ready to return refreshed, happy, and ready to go at full steam!

Use these tips as a guide for setting up an employee vacation request form that works for your business.

How to Set Up an Employee Vacation Request Form

You have many options for setting up a vacation request form. First, decide how you want your vacation requests submitted. Some companies prefer written forms, while others collect data through an online form builder.

You can also set up a system where employees submit their requests through their HR department or supervisor.

Since you've figured out how you want employees to submit their requests, you need to decide on: format, deadline, and approval.

Questions to Include In A Vacation Form Template

Based on your industry and company, there may be additional fields you'll want to add. A few ideas are: How long have you worked for us? or What are your total hours at work per week? Since vacation policies differ based on country and industry, you should also comply with relevant laws.

Vacation Request Form Template

We've already made a vacation request form template for you. Click on the image or the link below to use the template.

Use the template above.

And with HeyForm, you can create a new vacation request form from scratch as well. Click here to get started.

I Have A Lot of Employees; What Should I Do?

When you have a lot of employees, it can be challenging to manage vacation requests. It's one thing if your team is small and you know each employee well enough that all you need is a good memory and some quick thinking when it comes time for vacation planning, but when you're managing large staff, it's best to create a process for tracking and approving vacation requests. This can help ensure that all your employees get their allotted time off.

Closing Thoughts

Your employees deserve time off to enjoy themselves. Without a vacation request form and paid time off (PTO) system, it can be hard to track how much time your employees take off or how much they owe in vacation days when they eventually leave the company. We hope our blog post and online form builder will be of help.