Clive wrote:

Hi Redke, Is this in India? Is it paid leave? Does it include what in Canada we would call vacation time? Best wishes, Clive

Monalisatuan wrote:

Hi Goodman, I'm surprised when you say there is no such thing as annual leave in the US. Please find below excerpts from Kentucky Personnel Cabinet and from the Office of Human Resourses Management under the US Department of Commerce: Annual Leave " All full-time employees receive annual leave as a state work benefit. Part-time and Interim employees do not earn annual leave. Your length of service will determine the amount of annual leave you earn in a calendar year......" "The first rule to remember about annual leave is that you must always get advance approval from your supervisor before taking annual leave....."  Leave Annual Leave Purpose Annual leave is a period of approved absence with pay from official duties. It is intended to allow the employee vacation, rest and recreation. It is also intended for the employee's use in attending to personal or emergency business, to extend the time available to the employee under some other leave programs, ..... REgards

This is one good example which sometimes paints a wrong picture for the foreign learners. State workers are government empoyees which are protected by the unions. Annual leave is one of those protections and perks workers in private sectors don't have. Most government employees  don't know much about efficientcy and competition as those in private sectors . If you don't believe me, try to go to any government agency for service ! In a real world of workplace, there is no such thing as annual  leave. As I had informed you, there are other leaves only granted under special situstion but it's not "annual ".  What we have as "annual" is a vacation which most companies offer to their employees, usually 2 weeks for the first two years and increase one day per year to three weeks at the 5 year mark.

Clive wrote:

Hi guys, On reading the posts in this part of the Forum, I get the idea that the term 'leave' is in common use in India for this kind of letter. If that's true, it seems OK to use it in letters written by and to Indian people. Perhaps some person from India would like to comment on this? Best wishes, Clive

Hi Clive,

Your observation is correct. The term 'leave' is very common in India, and people will be reluctant to use the term 'vacation'. I would say it boils down to the workplace culture, and managers in our country often wouldn't want their employees go on vacation since the term 'vacation' singnals that the employees are going to travel for pleasure.

Hi,

Here's the basic system in Canada. The time off that you are entitled to each year is commonly called 'vacation time'. The term 'vacation' does not necessarily suggest travelling, but rather leisure. You might just stay home and watch TV for two weeks.

Your boss is not entitled to know what your plans are for your vacation, and does not really care. You are entitled to the time, no matter what your plans are. However, you do have to consult with your boss as regards when you can take the time during the year.

If you want to go to a wedding, or visist your sick uncle, you typically do this by using a few days from your vacation allowance.

As we have discussed earlier, different countries apparently have different systems, so people should write letters based on the system in use in their particular country.

Best wishes, Clive