Send your email again when I get back

[FallOfSloths]

Aibu to think this isn't good enough as an auto reply?

Medium senior person in work, off until Easter.

Sent her an email, and the auto reply says : 'I'll be back after the Easter bank holidays. I won't be replying to anything during this time, so if you expect a response then resend your email when I am back.'

For info, she's just on a 2 week holiday, not very long term absence like sick leave or parental leave etc. My email is about something that needs her input, so I can't ask one of her team.

AIBU to think this is a bit bloody cheeky? I don't need an answer straight away, but would expect to send the email now and get it answered after she returns. I don't really have the time or headspace to diarise when she's in work so I can email her then. Imagine if everyone did this! Surely the whole point of email is to send when it's convenient and the person doesn't have to reply instantly?

There shouldn't be a need for her to say that really.
The ooo message should simply state she's away til X date and won't be checking emails.
I can't see why she wouldn't just check her inbox and clear it on her return. If something really was urgent then they would know to speak to her when she got back anyway.

She should just put 'if urgent pls contact xyz colleague' who's part of her team and has consented to take messages but not do the actual work.

No because then I wouldn’t be on holiday, and any company that has that expectation should be viewed with deep suspicion.

Very common in academia. Schedule send for the day she comes back (or the day after), it's no big deal.

In jobs where you get a lot of emails it takes literally days to get through everything after a two week holiday - better to just delete it all and start again with the stuff that actually needs answering now.

It’s not the world I live it, nor would I ever. And if you don’t want our country to go the way of South Korea or Japan, where couples just don’t bother having children anymore because of work attitudes like yours, you’d be as well not to promote it.

I’m going to a funeral of a man who’s ex-colleagues from the past all think the sun shone out of his bum, but whose own children have little to say about a man who checked out of family life beyond paying for the school fees.

I block out the first day after leave for going through my inbox from home and treat it as a slow acclimatisation to returning to work- generally that’s all I do and I’ll work 9-4 with a longer lunch.

My organisation fully closes over Christmas and one week in August and it is so lovely to know there won’t be emails piling up around then as most people tag leave on

Presumably a complaints department is a shared inbox monitored while you're away? The company can't possibly be leaving all the complaints until you're back 😬

Not at any university I've worked at it isn't!
There are so many emails which will be sent to groups of people and will need actioning by individuals. There's no way I'd expect people to take into account everyone's annual leave.

I don't actually work in the complaints department, but I do work in a large organisation where we get company wide emails explaining management reshuffles, training requirements etc. If I deleted all of my emails on my return I'd miss out on all that, then risk sending reports to the wrong head of department or falling behind in my professional knowledge.

This isn’t new. 20+ years ago I had a boss who would set up a rule in his inbox that auto deleted everything that came in while he was on holiday. His OOO message said clearly that was his policy and to contact him on his return if it was an issue that still needed his attention.

He also had a policy of ignoring/deleting CYA emails where he had been put in cc. He said if it was important enough for him to know about, then add him as a “to” recipient.

The other end of the scale I worked for someone else who never filed or deleted anything from their inbox and it had tens of thousands of emails in there. He was completely scatter brained (but lovely) and if I wanted his attention on anything I printed it out and put it on his desk.

This is exactly what I do - I haven't got time to trawl through a back log of emails when I'm back - they just all get auto deleted if I'm on leave. If it's important, they'll resend it or call me.

Schedule send. Done

It is an irritating message but if I get that sort of reply, I use the schedule function in my email to resend it for the morning of the day she will be back - Say around 10am or so.

Then I add it to my usual ' follow-up' list for about a few days after it has gone (if reasonably urgent) or just after any deadline for response that was listed in my email. I would do this anyway, regardless of when I sent the email

Then I move on

I respect her boldness.

I’d never do it myself but that’s because I’m absolutely expected to answer crititcal emails on vacation but I’m pleased for those whom this approach can work for.

i sincerely hope you’re taking the piss! No way am I checking emails when on holiday. The world doesn’t end because I’m off for two weeks 🙄 what a depressing comment. I check my emails when I return. On work’s time.

Oh don't be absurd. Where did I say we delete? A backup is communicated for things that cannot wait, it is for anything that needs your specific input, we wotk from new mails and catch up over time on the backlog. As I pointed out. Do you reply to your complaints with such lack of comprehension?

I typically have 500 -600 mails waiting. Most are handled already, many are info only. By the time I figure out what is needed my first morning back is gone. If a sensible response is needed then the mail is resent. It works for us.

I have done the same. If your email is important enough, send it again when I am in. Probably 80% of what I get can be ignored or is people unnecessarily replying to all. I also set up a rule that if I am in cc, it gets auto filed in a subfolder which I occasionally scroll through for information. If you need me to do something, don't put me in the cc line.

I take it you've not heard of a joke?

I don't work in one specific university, but with academics across many universities and countries. It's very common, especially in summer when they're on study leave. Generally the more senior ones who can afford to annoy people, admittedly.

Her wording is unprofessional. I think a standard out of office would suffice, to include signposting to another colleague if it’s an urgent matter. I’m on the fence about sending emails to a colleague who is on holiday.

Schedule send it? Emailing someone you know is away is irritating.

Just a guess - civil service, local government :) ? It is not acceptable to expect someone to resend the email just because she cannot be bothered to do her job (check emails) when she returns.

She’s an idiot, and is too lazy to read her backlog.

I tend to sift through when I get back but I am now liking the idea of deleting everything that comes in while I'm away.

I don't work in one specific university, but with academics across many universities and countries. It's very common, especially in summer when they're on study leave. Generally the more senior ones who can afford to annoy people, admittedly..

I've worked in a number of universities and work with dozens of others... genuinely have never come across staff saying this.

Also, the concept of study leave in the summer is pretty non existent in UK universities at the moment but if someone is away from the university their out of office will state that there will be a delay to their response.
I'm a HoD and would not accept any of my staff deleting emails this way. Just deal with them when you get back.