Annual Leave Request Form Chile (Solicitud de Feriado Anual)

Annual Leave Request Form Chile (Solicitud de Feriado Anual) is the formal administrative instrument governed by Código del Trabajo Article 67 through which a worker (trabajador) initiates a paid annual vacation (feriado anual) and obtains employer authorization for the agreed leave dates. CT Article 67 establishes the minimum annual paid vacation entitlement of fifteen working days (quince días hábiles) per year of service for workers who have worked continuously for one year with the same employer — a foundational labor right (derecho irrenunciable) under Chilean law that cannot be waived or reduced by contract.

The Dirección del Trabajo (DT) — the Chilean government agency under the Ministerio del Trabajo y Previsión Social — supervises compliance with feriado anual obligations and processes worker complaints (denuncias) regarding denied or improperly calculated vacation rights. The DT's Inspección del Trabajo in each región regularly audits employer feriado records during fiscalizaciones laborales and can impose administrative fines (multas administrativas) under CT Article 506 for violations — ranging from 1 to 60 Unidades Tributarias Mensuales (UTM) depending on company size.

Código del Trabajo Article 67 establishes additional vacation entitlements for workers who qualify for feriado progresivo (progressive vacation): workers with ten or more years of service — whether with the current employer or computed across prior employers — are entitled to an additional day of paid vacation for each three additional years of service beyond ten. This progressive entitlement is verified using the worker's AFP contribution records (cartola de cotizaciones) which document all prior employment periods, or through prior employer certificates.

The solicitud de feriado anual serves several critical legal functions. Under CT Article 70, the vacation period must be agreed upon between the employer and worker — the employer cannot unilaterally force the worker to take vacation at a specific time without adequate prior notice (at least fifteen days under DT interpretation), and conversely, the worker cannot unilaterally begin vacation without employer authorization. The solicitud de feriado is the written instrument that formalizes this bilateral agreement, creating a documentary record that protects both parties in any subsequent dispute before the Juzgado de Letras del Trabajo.

CT Article 68 establishes that the feriado anual must be continuous (continuo) — meaning the minimum fifteen working days cannot be split into fragments of less than ten working days for the first instalment, unless the worker agrees to accumulation. CT Article 70 allows accumulation (acumulación) of up to two years of feriado with written agreement, but prohibits perpetual accumulation — employers who systematically deny workers the opportunity to take vacation face significant legal exposure under CT Article 71 which requires payment of accrued unused vacation (feriado proporcional) upon termination.

A Solicitud de Feriado Anual Chile is required each time a worker wishes to exercise their annual paid vacation entitlement under Código del Trabajo Article 67 — whether for the statutory minimum fifteen working days, the progressive feriado entitlement for long-service workers, accumulated vacation days from prior years, or partial vacation periods agreed with the employer.

Annual summer vacation planning (enero–febrero): The most common use in Chile is the annual summer vacation period, particularly in January and February when most Chilean workers — including those at Codelco, LATAM Airlines, retail companies such as Cencosud and Falabella, and public sector entities governed by Ley N° 18.834 (Estatuto Administrativo) — coordinate their feriado anual. Chilean schools' summer recess creates high demand for vacation authorizations from parents during this period.

Feriado progresivo documentation: Workers approaching ten years of service — whether computed with the current employer alone or including prior employment periods verified through AFP cartola records — should submit solicitudes that explicitly request the calculation of their progressive vacation entitlement under CT Article 67 inciso 3. The Dirección del Trabajo's online feriado calculator (available at dt.gob.cl) helps workers compute their total entitlement.

Accumulated vacation utilization: When a worker has accumulated up to two years of unused feriado through written agreement under CT Article 70, the solicitud de feriado should specify which year's entitlement is being consumed first (the older accumulated leave takes priority) and the total consecutive working days requested.

Pre-termination vacation settlement: Workers who are about to resign (renunciar) or whose contracts are about to end should submit solicitudes for any remaining unused feriado before the termination date — this maximizes their economic benefit, as unused feriado upon termination is converted to a proportional monetary payment (feriado proporcional) in the finiquito laboral under CT Article 73, which is taxable income, whereas vacation taken in kind is not subject to income tax.

A legally effective Solicitud de Feriado Anual Chile under Código del Trabajo Article 67 must contain the following essential elements to protect both the worker's vacation rights and the employer's operational planning needs:

Worker Identification: Full legal name, RUT, position (cargo), department (área), and work location (lugar de prestación de servicios). The worker's precise position and department are relevant for the employer's operational impact assessment and for applying any RIOHS provisions about advance notice requirements for specific positions.

Vacation Entitlement Calculation: An explicit statement of the worker's total accrued vacation entitlement, calculated as: (a) the base fifteen working days (días hábiles) per CT Article 67 for each complete year of service since the last vacation taken; (b) any progressive vacation days (días de feriado progresivo) under CT Article 67 inciso 3 for workers with ten or more total years of service; and (c) any accumulated vacation from prior years agreed under CT Article 70. Working days (días hábiles) for feriado purposes exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays (días festivos) under Chile's national holiday calendar. The total entitlement should be expressed in both working days (días hábiles) and calendar days (días corridos) for operational planning clarity.

Requested Leave Dates: The specific start date (fecha de inicio del feriado) and end date (fecha de retorno al trabajo) requested by the worker, expressed in DD/MM/YYYY format. The solicitud should specify the first day of absence and the day of return to work separately — a common source of calculation errors in Chilean HR practice.

Prior Employment Service (for Progressive Vacation): For workers claiming feriado progresivo under CT Article 67 inciso 3, the solicitud should include a summary of prior employment periods with other employers — verified through AFP cartola de cotizaciones issued by the Superintendencia de Pensiones — demonstrating total service exceeding ten years.

Coverage Arrangements: Some Chilean employers require workers to specify their coverage plan (plan de cobertura) — who will cover their responsibilities during the vacation period — as a condition of vacation authorization. While this is not a CT requirement, large organizations including major Chilean mining companies, banks, and public sector entities include coverage confirmation as part of their solicitud de feriado process.

Employer Authorization Section: A dedicated section for the employer (or authorized representative — jefe directo, jefe de personal, or gerente) to authorize (autorizar) or refuse (rechazar con fundamento) the requested leave dates. CT Article 70 requires the employer to schedule vacations by mutual agreement with the worker — a flat refusal without alternative dates offered may constitute a violation of CT Article 67 rights, subject to DT sanctions.

Signatures and Dates: Worker signature (firma del trabajador) with date of submission; employer authorized representative signature (firma del empleador o representante) with date of authorization; and — where company practice requires — direct supervisor signature (firma del jefe directo). Forms-legal.com provides this Solicitud de Feriado Anual Chile template as a reference for Chilean workers and employers managing annual vacation rights under the Código del Trabajo. Los usuarios de forms-legal.com pueden descargar este documento de forma gratuita en formato PDF o DOCX, completar los campos del formulario guiado y obtener un documento listo para firma.