anyone good with wrods? need helping with writing to my boss!..

[helsi]

I am dueto return to work after mat leave in November but have concluded that it is not worth my while financially after i would have paid out childcare.
I would like to apply for a carers leave of absence for about 3.5 years or so until my children are in school/nursery.
According to HR this is usually agreeable if the manager can sustain the absence for that length of time....if not i presume that my option is to resign although I need to clarify that.
I need to word this carefully to him..anyone any suggestions of how I can word my request?
I really cannot afford to return at the moment and would like to make use of this benefit that most people do not have. I have thinking about it and playing with numbers for a few weeks now and making myself stressed. This is the time i should be enjoying my new baby not worrying about this. Any help would be appreciated.

The Citizens Advice people will probably help you write it. Sorry I can't help - I'm no good at writing either

Thanks wriggle - IKWYM - I know what I want to say but just need to find the right way of doing it.

I don't think it needs to be too fancy. I would just write something like

"Dear boss

I am writing to request a carer's leave of absence until (date). Please let me know your decision as soon as you can.

Yours sincerely
Helsi"

However your relationship with your boss has a role to play. is it a good one? if so i would never just write that, but would phone to warn him that he'll be getting the letter first. if not, then maybe add a sentence about how much your enjoy your job and how you appreciate that 3 years is a long time, but you will of course endeavour to keep yourself abreast of developments in your sector yadda yadda.

I suppose it depends what line of work you are in, how highly paid you are etc. Is it unpaid leave you are asking for? If so, that should release enough money to pay a temp to cover the work. Assuming you do the kind of work that can be done by a temp. Or are you indispensible?

hi there
i did something similar and would write a bit more detail

Dear .....

After careful consideration with regards to my return from maternity leave I have regrettably come to the conclusion that financially it would not be beneficial for me to return to work at this time. I would therefore appreciate you looking into a carers leave of absence for me for approximately 3 1/2 years. I understand that this is quite a length of time but would endeavour to keep in touch and up to date with what is happening in the workplace.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and I look foward to hearing from you soon.

etc etc

or something similar! hope that helps a bit!

thanks all I have something to go on now.