PeopleMuster

Work from home request

Working from home is not leave, and a request that reads like leave invites the wrong answer. Write it around the work: what gets done, when you are reachable, what nobody will notice.

Send this for a day at home, a week during building work, or a regular arrangement. A request to be off entirely belongs in one of the leave letters instead.

Subject: Working from home — [date or dates]

Hello [manager's name],

I would like to work from home on [date or dates].

Reason: [reason in one line].

What I will be doing: [the work], which needs [what it needs] rather than the office.

I will keep my normal hours, [start time] to [end time], and I am on [channel] throughout. [meeting note]

[your name]

What to put in each blank

[reason in one line]
A delivery, a repair, a quiet day for deep work. Concrete reasons get approved more often.
[the work]
Name the actual task. It turns the request from an absence into a plan.
[what it needs]
Say what makes it suit home — "a long uninterrupted block", "nothing but my laptop".
[meeting note]
List anything in the diary and say how you are attending, or who is going instead.

Before you send it

  • Some workplaces treat working from home as its own tracked category with a yearly allowance. Check before you assume it is free.
  • Say your hours. A day at home with unstated hours is where the trust problem starts.
  • If it will become regular, ask for the regular arrangement now rather than requesting it one day at a time.

Some teams configure working from home as a tracked category with its own yearly allowance

Questions people ask about this letter

Is working from home the same as taking leave?

No. You are working a normal day from a different place, so no leave balance should be touched. Some employers still track the days separately.

How much notice should I give?

For one day, a day or two is usually enough. For a regular arrangement, raise it properly in a conversation first.

What if my manager says no?

Ask what would make it workable. The objection is often about a specific meeting or a busy week rather than the idea itself.

Other templates