The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes a free leave application form that employees use to apply for annual leave or long service leave. It has one page for the employee's request and a section for the manager to approve or refuse it, and you can download it in Word or PDF from Fair Work's templates page.
It's probably the form your business handles more than any other. This guide covers what's on it, the rules behind it, what records you need to keep, and how to run leave requests without chasing paper. It's written for owners, managers and payroll officers.
This is general information, not legal advice. Facts are as at November 2026. Check your award or agreement, and the Fair Work Ombudsman's annual leave pages, before you rely on them.
What's on the Fair Work leave application form
The template is titled "Annual leave and long service leave application form". It has five parts:
| Section | What it asks for |
|---|---|
| Employee's details | First name, surname, position, contact phone number |
| Leave type | Annual leave (full pay), annual leave (half pay), annual leave in advance, leave without pay, long service leave, plus comments |
| Period of leave | Last day of work, return to work date, total number of working days off |
| Employee signature | Signature and date |
| Approval of leave | Approved or not approved, reason for refusal, manager's name, signature and date |
Two notes on the form trip people up:
- Don't count RDOs, public holidays or substituted days in the total days off.
- Annual leave in advance comes with a warning. If the employee leaves before they accrue it, the unaccrued leave can be taken out of their final pay (where the award or agreement allows). You also need a signed written agreement: see annual leave in advance.
The form covers annual leave and long service leave. Many businesses add personal/carer's leave and other leave types to their own version, which is fine. Fair Work's template is a starting point, not a legal requirement.
Is a leave application form required?
No. Fair Work says the way leave is requested is set by the award, registered agreement, company policy or employment contract. The Fair Work Act doesn't mandate a form.
A written request is still worth having. It shows exactly what was asked for, when, and what you decided. If there's ever a dispute about a refusal, or about leave paid out, the form is your evidence.
Who gets annual leave
Under the National Employment Standards (NES):
- Full-time and part-time employees get 4 weeks of paid annual leave a year, based on their ordinary hours. Part-timers get a pro rata amount.
- Some shift workers get an extra week, depending on their award or agreement.
- Casuals don't get paid annual leave, but they can still request unpaid time off.
Annual leave builds up through the year and rolls over from year to year if it isn't taken.
Can you refuse a leave request?
Only reasonably. The NES says an employer must not unreasonably refuse an employee's request to take paid annual leave. What's reasonable depends on the circumstances, for example how much notice was given, how many people are already off, and how hard it is to cover the role.
If you do refuse:
- Tick "Not approved" and write the reason on the form.
- Talk to the employee about other dates that would work.
- Keep the form with their records.
Your award or agreement may also set rules on notice, taking leave in advance, close-downs and employees with large leave balances. Check it before you decide.
What leave records you have to keep
Fair Work's record-keeping rules say employers must keep, for each employee entitled to leave:
- leave taken, and
- the leave balance.
On top of that:
- If you agree to an employee taking annual leave in advance, keep a copy of the written agreement.
- If an employee cashes out annual leave, keep the written agreement, the rate paid and the date it was paid. A separate agreement is needed every time.
All employee records must be kept for 7 years, be legible, in English, and readily accessible to a Fair Work Inspector. The completed application form isn't the record of leave taken (that lives in payroll), but it's the best proof of what was requested and approved.
Where paper leave forms go wrong
- Forms go missing. A form handed to a supervisor on site never reaches payroll, and the leave isn't recorded.
- No reason for a refusal. "Not approved" with a blank reason is hard to defend.
- The days don't add up. Public holidays get counted as leave, so the balance comes out wrong.
- Nobody knows where things are up to. The employee doesn't know if they're approved, and payroll doesn't know they're off.
Each of these is about getting one clear, dated request in front of the right people quickly.
How Canyou handles this
Canyou is employee onboarding software for Australian businesses. The same forms and workflows you use for new starters work for everyday requests like leave. You can rebuild the Fair Work leave application form in Canyou once, then let employees use it whenever they need:
- Employees apply from their phone. The leave request is a self-service form they start from their own dashboard.
- Managers approve in the same workflow. Once the employee submits, their manager gets an approval step with Approved, Not approved and a reason for refusal, just like the Fair Work form.
- Everyone hears about it. The employee gets a notification once their request is reviewed, and completion notifications tell your payroll officer or admins as soon as it's decided.
- A dated record. Every request and decision stays against the employee, with the date it was submitted.
Our help centre has the step-by-step setup: how to set up leave applications in Canyou. Canyou doesn't track leave balances, so you still enter approved leave in your payroll software, such as Xero.
If you're onboarding new staff at the same time, make sure they've had the Fair Work Information Statement, which explains their leave entitlements.
Try for free (no credit card required), or Book a demo.
Sources (checked 3 November 2026): Fair Work Ombudsman, Leave application form (templates page: annual leave templates); Annual leave; Taking annual leave; Cashing out annual leave; Record-keeping.
