Sample Email encouraging Employees to take Annual Leave

Annual leave is granted to the employees under the employment contract at the time of joining. Annual leave is the time period in a year (viz. 21 days, or 31 days) as specified by the employer, wherein an employee can take leave for that many days, and yet is entitled to get paid for that period.

When an employee has not taken many leaves during the year and there are still balance days in annual leave, then the employer can encourage the employee to take the balance annual leave. This is important for legal compliance, taking a break from work to relax, spending time with family, promoting work-life balance, bringing in the creativity in an employee, etc.

Hereunder, there are two formats of email from the employer to the employee encouraging the employee to take their balance annual leave and relax.

TEMPLATE #1

Subject: Unavailed annual leave period.

Hello (Name),

As you are aware that you are entitled to 30-days' annual leave as per your employment contract with us. We noticed that for the year 2024-25, there is still 28-days' annual leave remaining to be availed by you. 

The Company wishes you take this opportunity to avail and utilize your annual leave entitlement by the year-end. We encourage you to avail your accrued annual leave because it is important for you to take a significant time off from hectic work-life, and spend time with your friends and family to relax and rejuvenate.

This may help you to upgrade your mental health, and may even help you to reactivate your creative senses. As you know, in this day and age, we need to be innovative and bring in new ideas to survive and grow. Ultimately, this annual vacation leave will help you to maintain a balance between work and life.

You can apply for the annual leave by submitting an application with your reporting authority. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions in this matter.

Best regards,

[Name of the Officer]

[Designation]

TEMPLATE #2

Subject: Friendly reminder to book your balance Annual Leave.

Hello Team,

Hope you people are having a good day.

I am writing this mail to bring to your attention that you might have an 'annual leave' balance, which is not yet utilized by you.

I wanted to take a moment to encourage each of you to avail the remaining annual leave, and maybe go on a vacation with your friends and family.

I am fully aware that you all have workload, and you have been working very hard to meet your targets and perform your best. However, it is important to take time off from work, and prioritize our health & wellbeing.

As you are aware that the annual leave balance cannot be carried forward to next year, therefore, we encourage you to utilize it by the end of the year. Your health and wellbeing are important for the success of the company. Hence, please use your annual leave balance, and come back with a renewed energy level.

We are here to support you in any way possible. If you have any concerns in utilizing your annual leave balance, or need any kind of help, then please feel free to reach out to our HR team or me.

Best regards,

[Name of the Officer]

[Designation]