What does your work email OOO say?

[YawnyMcdawny]

If you have a job that requires you to put an email Out Of Office reply on, what do you put?

I recently put something like 'I am on annual leave with no access to my emails and will respond when I return on date. If query is urgent please contact person x'

Some of my colleagues write 'leave me a message on my mobile and I will respond'.

I'm thinking it's annual leave and I am on holiday. The world won't fall apart if I don't answer, and neither will my colleagues btw.

Our general manager works whilst she's on holiday, replies to emails and messages very quickly within a few hours usually. it doesn't set a great example for the rest of the company who actually want to switch off. She gets a bit sarky if someone puts a proper ooo message and then doesn't actually check their emails whilst they are off.

AIBU to think I should be able to take time off without having to work?

what do you put as your ooo and do you respond to emails whilst away? If so why? If you're being honest, what would happen if you delegated your work to someone else?

Obviously if you run your own business or are self employed I know this will sit differently! I'm talking about being employed by a company where you get paid holidays.

I work 3 days per week so my OOO goes on every week. It says what date I am back, confirms when I am back and gives an alternative email to direct their query to.

I work with several other teams. Only the sales team leave their mobile on their OOO as they hate to lose commission. They tend to also check emails etc.

Other senior staff check emails whilst on leave but this tends to to be at their discretion and their OOO will usually say they are away and there will be a delay in replying (as opposed to the less senior who say they are away with no access to emails)

I'm OOO until [insert date here]

If your query is regarding [enter List of places on the intranet where they could find the answer to the question they're bugging me about by themselves but don't bother because it's easier to just ask me.]

If you have a question not answered by the resources above or that's urgent, please contact [insert colleagues name here].

If I wanted to do anything work related, even turning on my work phone, I would need to get pre-authorisation to work abroad and only allowed to work X number of days in that country (number of days varies per country but most European ones are 30)

Hangover from Covid where a number of people were working from abroad when lockdown hit and nobody was really clear where everyone was. For some people, depending on the country they were in it caused some tax issues apparently

So my ooo is similar to yours with a contact name (usually my boss) for urgent things.

Like a pp I have worked with people who delete all emails when they return and say that on their ooo. I have never been brave enough to do that

Mine is similar to yours. We don’t have work phones, just use teams. My manager and one colleague have my personal mobile but they’d never use it whilst I was on leave.

Similar to yours. I don’t look at my emails either when I’m off. I don’t get paid enough!

I don't put a date on mine so just say thank you for your email. I'm currently away from the office and will respond when I return. Please email team email address for any queries you may have.

We were told not to put a date for security reasons.

I just say - "I'm on vacation, back on 1st September". People can figure out for themselves what to do.

I'm on annual leave until xx/xx/xxxx. I will respond to emails on my return. Please contact "my line manager" on 01234 56789 with any urgent queries.

Don't be one of those people who is soooo vital that you can't take any time off.
One of my nephews said to BiL many years ago, "Dad, why do you bother coming on holiday cos you're always on your phone" 😭

Mine is similar to yours. There is absolutely no need for clients/colleagues to contact me on my personal phone when I’m on holiday. Nobody is going to die!

Where I work, we are specifically told NOT to tell people they can contact us while we’re on annual leave!

I put something like “I’m on annual leave until XX. If your query is urgent and can’t wait until then, please contact [whoever] and they’ll be happy to help. Otherwise I’ll pick up your message when I return.”

Mine says that I'm on leave and will respond on my return (gives date) but if it is urgent to please contact my manager (name and contact details )

I work in public service - nobody would be expected to work during their holidays, particularly if they are going away somewhere . I imagine those higher up the tree may check on their emails via their work mobiles - I don't get paid enough to do that (don't have a work mobile either).

Yeah, the point of annual leave is lost if you still look at emails/take calls about work.

If you're the boss/self-employed, or a workaholic, or are paid to be on call even on holiday - then knock yourself out answering work stuff.

But if you're an employee, put on your OOO and don't even think about work again until you're back in.

Thank you for your message. I am on leave until x date. If you have an urgent request, please contact [email protected].

I don't say I will reply on my return. Most likely I would, but don't want to make promises I can't keep.

Funny enough I've just had to send a note to my team advising them of what to write on their OOO when they are on annual leave as everyone was doing something different.

I just asked them to include basic details:

• when they are coming back
• whether they are contactable
• who people should contact in their absence

Mine says the same stuff.

Interesting a few points made about 'not being paid enough' to check emails when on leave, or 'not senior enough'

If you think that, then what is the annual salary you'd expect someone to check or respond to emails when on annual leave?

Hi

I'm on annual leave between [dates] and unavailable to respond to emails. Please contact [admin staff name and number] for routine enquiries or [team leader name and number] for urgent requests.

Kind regards.

Absolutely not responding to emails or texts on holiday and don't take my work phone with me. It's not a holiday if you're still having to focus on work.

Annual leave until xx. All emails during this time will be deleted.

My boss and his boss are very likely on more than £130k and £150k respectively and I have never received anything from either of them when they are on holiday

In fact thinking back to previous jobs and I have had no managers who worked while on holiday. And these have all been fairly senior people. Guess that’s a sign of a good company culture

I don't think k we could put our own message. Any one emailing me would have got an Auto reply re out if offi e and dates. We did have email buddies who Checked our mail daily for anything urgent. In nine years never had to pass anything on though probably different for the higher ups

Mine is similar to yours. However I don't have a separate work mobile any longer so everyone has my number & I receive emails on my mobile. So I do look at them & occasionally forward them to someone. But I very rarely reply.

Mine is similar to yours, with who to contact in my absence. Work phone goes off when I finish and I don't look at emails, check the phone or anything else. I used to and people took the piss, so now it's tough, I'm off, end of.

My manager can contact me if I'm genuinely needed but I know she won't unless the entire team has dropped dead.

Those people are so tedious. They're also the type to send emails at inappropriate times to show that they're always grinding 🙄 the presenteeism.

Nothing I, or you, or those people, do is so critical that it can't wait a few days or be dealt with by someone else.

I think it sets a really bad example for senior staff to reply to emails on holiday, as staff at lower levels then feel they have to do it too.

I get paid a lot of money for the role I do (Finance Director). I won't be checking any emails when I am on holiday for almost 3 weeks during the summer holidays.

If all the company bank accounts got emptied via a scamming fraud while I was away, my PA would probably call me, but other than that, no contact.

"I am away from work until x date. For any urgent matters, please contact x."

Mine states that I'll be OOO until X and if anything urgent to whatsapp me, otherwise to raise a ticket via our CRM system for my team to respond to the query (I include a hyperlink that takes them to the correct query category)