To ask out of office etiquette

[Moomoomango]

I work from home but have scheduled two days a week where I work. My team and I have no central office - we all work from home. They are all aware of my working hours, some take a more fluid approach to work but I'm quite strict on my work days. On my days off I turn of all social media notifications relating to my job as it can get quite over whelming having messages ping through on my off days.

However, I frequently recieve e mails from people outside of the organisation - our partners and other professionals.

Should I have an out of office for the working days I do not work? Or should I just leave my working hours in my email sig?

Thanks

Depends on your job / work, but I'd say put an out-of-office on for the non-work days. It's a bit of a faff, but at least that way people will know why they don't get a 'faster' response.

If you don't put an out of office on, people e-mailing you may not realise that you're not working. You can set up out of office automatically if it's a regular thing.

I would do it - and do. It's normal office convention and who reads e-mail sigs? I don't.

Out of office reply is more useful. If someone is emailing you for the first time they won't have seen your email signature anyway.

I work 3 days a week. I have an out of office set up for the days I'm not working and I also have a note in my email footer stating the days I work.

I always put my out of office on otherwise I'll get an email from someone then another 3 chasing a response.

I work 4 days. On my nonworking day I always put the oof on. In mine it says if it's V urgent then to leave a voicemail on my mobile. I sporadically check my phone throughout the day for voicemails, but try not to check my emails.

I work F/T but have many colleagues who are P/T. Nearly all of them have out of office messages on the days they aren't working so whoever emails them knows not to expect a reply until a working day. Some of them do answer emails on non-work days but nobody expects them to, and they aren't being paid to work on those days, so I would definitely put a message on in your situation.

I work 3 days per week, OOO goes on when I am not in.

Perfect thank you mumsnetters!

I work three days a week in a team of 12 or so. My out of office says "my working days are x, x and x. In my absence please contact X (number and email.)"

If you like you could confirm emails won't be monitored outside of those hours. I think
It depends what the expectation is. My manager went on holiday for two weeks in the summer and I had so many calls demanding immediate action on my non-working days. I dealt with them on that occasion as there wasn't an alternative contact but usually I turn everything off and put out of office on.

I agree with PPs re having an out of office that explains your working pattern to manage expectations.

If you have an alternate contacts for urgent queries on non-working days I would also add this

I think you should definitely have an out of office. Where I've worked, even people who work every day but are part time have had them.

The last thing you want is potential customers or partners thinking they're being ignored for days on end.

I work four days a week but always have an out of office on on my day off (and Sat/Sun but it's rarely needed then).

We use Outlook so I have two different messages for internal staff and external clients - the internal one gives an alternative contact if it's something urgent, the external one just says I will reply on my return.

Agree with previous posters - I also work PT and have an OOO on on my non work days.

You might feel me this recent change in French law interesting: 'French employees can legally ignore work emails outside of office hours'.
www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/01/01/french-employees-can-legally-ignore-work-emails-outside-of-office-hours/

I suggest using the out of office, and say which two days you work. I even put it on for bank holidays.

If it was appropriate for your work culture/industry/situation I would also consider adding it on my email signature.

I manage a team which includes PT members. Their email signatures contain details of their normal working patterns and their OOO messages are active on their non-working days. It helps people - internally and externally - and manages their expectations in terms of when to expect a response, or whether they need to escalate the query elsewhere in your absence.

Agree with PP that it can be helpful to add your working times/hours to your email signature - I find it really helpful in knowing when to catch colleagues during their working hours. As well as out of office.

I'd like to nominate this thread for classics.

Should I have an out of office for the working days I do not work?

Yes, definitely. And your OOM should include an alternative contact for matters which could be dealt with by another colleague.

Better still, if you're in a team, you should have a collective email eg which you all can log into, so you can all see who's best placed to pick up & respond to emails & enquiries from outside the organisation.

It's a bit of a faff, but at least that way people will know why they don't get a 'faster' response.

Why is it a faff? I thought Outlooks lets you have an OOO message on certain days/times so it comes on autimatically.