My boss wants me to write my out of office reply for while I'm out on maternity leave. We're a small company (seven people), so there's not really anyone taking over for my while I'm gone, most of my duties are just being distributed among everyone else. I don't really want to announce in the email that I'm on maternity leave, it feels too personal, and I think saying I'm out til January whatever will get the point across. Anyone have suggestions on how to phrase it?
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I would just say I was on leave until X date, and leave out the "maternity" part.
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I am currently out on extended leave returning January 2014.
Please contact xyz at xyz in my absence.
Or something like this. I would leave out anything saying calls, coffeemaker, emails will be returned because that often gives people the impression you are working even a little while you are out.
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While mine did say that I was on maternity leave (this way people knew i wasn't on travel or anything, so they left me alone), mine also said: "I am out of the office. I will be returning X. In my absence, you can contact the following people for assistance". And then i broke it down by subject and hyperlinked the contact info for the person so they could just click it and not have to search for them. At the bottom, it says, "you can also contact my manager, X. If he is unavailable, his manager is X".
Very simple and to the point.
I actually sent out an email to the teams I support about 6 weeks in advance saying who to talk to in my absence. It was a good heads up email in case I did go early, but may not be suitable for your situation. It was for mine, though
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Mine reads:
Thank-you for your email. I am out of the office, please contact our X at XXX-XXX-XXXX, or XXXXXXXXX@XXX.CC
Sorry for any inconvenience,
Beebug
I didn't put a date on mine because in my work people jump all over you the moment you are back, lol.
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I was in a similar situation! I work with my family and we are a very small business as well. I went out on bed rest for 3 months prior to being on maternity leave so I simply stated that I was going to be out indefinitely (because we didn't know when I would deliver/how long I'd be on bed rest) and that I would be returning sometime in the spring 2013.
I think the suggestions made my previous posters are perfect. Simple and to the point.
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I did put in mine that I was on parental leave, it didn't bother me but I totally understand not wanting to share that info. I would say something like:
I am on extended leave. Please contact xx on xxxxxxxxx for enquiries about (whatever is relevant to you). Please note I will not have access to emails while on leave.
That will let people know to contact someone else and not hope you're checking emails from afar!
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if it's possible, set it up so each person who emails you only gets the OOO email once, that way if you are cc'ed on things as a courtesy, the sender doesn't get the email each time they send something to you.
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I actually put that I would be out for an indeterminate amount of time, because when I went out I wasn't exactly sure when I'd be returning. So I think mine read, "Thank your for your email. I will be out of the office for an indeterminate amount of time. I will not be checking or responding to emails. In my absence, please contact so-and-so at such-and-such. Thank you, Littlebug."
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I would use either "extended leave" or "temporary leave of absence".
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A co worker used this:
Hello! I'm currently on maternity leave. Please contact xxxx for assistance at xxx@xxxxxxx.com or 123-456-7891
All the best! -
Mine was basically like Blackbirds
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