About Excuse Letters

If you are in a position where you are required to have written proof for an absence from either work or school, you will need to know how to write an excuse letter. Generally, these letters are used by students in case of absence from school. There are also other reasons for these letters in the workplace such as company policy or court order. There are five types of excuse letter and four situations which most often require one of these forms.

Identification

An excuse letter is a written requirement for when an explanation an absence. This letter typically explains the reasons for you not being able to comply with certain attendance policies of an institution or workplace. In most cases, it takes the form of a note from a person of authority or possibly a doctor.

Function

The function of an excuse letter is meant to resolve two issues. If you are writing the letter because of past absence, the function is to explain the absence. If you are writing in advance of the absence, the letter is used to explain the absence and the duration of the absence if it is known.

Types

There are five types of excuse letters. The use of each depends on the situation.
• Formal Excuse--This is the form used for government functions or jury duty.
• Leave of Absence--This is used for when you need a prolonged break from work.
• Medical Excuse--This is provided by a medical professional.
• Military Leave--This is usually accompanied by a draft notice or a call to duty.
• Missed Work/School--This is the most common form of excuse letter.

Considerations

An excuse letter is most often required within the following organizations:
• Educational institutions
• Companies where the human resources department mandates such a letter; this most often must come from a doctor who has examined you.
• Official government functions such as legal hearings or jury duty; again the letter needs to be written by a doctor who conducted the examination.
• Military excuse letters most often take the form of draft notices or being called into active service.

Features

All excuse letters have four basic features which are found in the following order:
1. Beginning of the Letter--This usually has the date in the top left corner of the page; this will be the current date you are handing the letter in.
2. Address--Write the name of the person receiving the letter, then their occupation underneath, followed by their address. After this portion, skip a line and write out the details of the letter sender.
3. Subject--In this section you write the name of the person requiring the excuse and the reason for needing the absence. You also need to include the dates of absence.
4. Salutation--End the letter using the proper salutations such as "Best Regards" or "Respectfully."

Warning

You should remember that while Excuse Letters do answer the question concerning where you were, they do not satisfy many requirements for legal absence. In most cases this type of letter should be accompanied by a formal doctor's notation or memo which states something similar to the letter.