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AIBU?

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Original poster

Would this be acceptable in your workplace?

187 replies

olderbutwiser · 06/05/2025 14:43

I’ve started to receive out of office emails saying “I am out of office until xxx. Please resend your email after that date”.

I may be a dinosaur, but to me it’s unacceptable to put the onus on the sender to resend their email on some random future date. Clearing piled-up emails when I get back to the office is just one of those things you have to factor into your working life.

Votes please:

Perfectly acceptable nowadays, you’re a dinosaur —> You Are Being Unreasonable
It’s completely unacceptable, time for a Meeting Without Coffee —> You Are Not Being Unreasonable

OP posts:
BarnacleBeasley · 06/05/2025 14:58

I think it would be okay in an internal e-mail where colleagues can see the out of office reply before they hit send - that way they can just not send it. I'd want a different version to external recipients though.

Meadowfinch · 06/05/2025 14:55

I can't think of a surer way to drive an enquiry away.

So if you are public sector and not reliant on making a profit to earn your pay, then it is ill mannered but not a disaster.

If you are a commercial organisation, it is tantamount to signing your own redundancy notice.

MrsPlantagenet · 06/05/2025 14:55

I think it’s fine and a very good idea. The recipient can delete everything that came in while they were off, in the knowledge anything important will be resent for their return.

CombatBarbie · 06/05/2025 14:54

Very common practise in alot of workplaces.

Paintsplatters · 06/05/2025 14:53

nothing worse than coming back to an inbox of several thousand emails, many of which may have been dealt with already and the sender doesn’t tell you it is no longer necessary to do.

I delete everything and if you still need it then you can follow up

TonerNeedsReplacing · 06/05/2025 14:51

This comes up periodically on the boards and feedback is surprisingly mixed. Never been acceptable anywhere I have worked and I would not accept one lf my team doing this.

Of course if off long term eg mat leave saying it won’t be monitored, please forward to X is completely different.

BigGra · 06/05/2025 14:50

So upon receipt of an out of office notification, the sender, is to take a note of the recipients return date and schedule to resend upon recipients return to office.

It would be completely laughed at and ignored where I work.

DoAWheelie · 06/05/2025 14:48

Just resend it right away but schedule it to arrive after the date.

LlynTegid · 06/05/2025 14:48

Unacceptable in mine. I'd also be expected to have someone to send anything to if it is something that should not wait.

We have a handover process for holidays, I have five people who do certain things in my absence.

FrenchandSaunders · 06/05/2025 14:47

That’s strange! I’ve never seen that and I don’t think my work would encourage it.

yeesh · 06/05/2025 14:47

Can’t you just send it to be delivered after the return date?

Betterdeals · 06/05/2025 14:45

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