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September 2013 Moms
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Maternity leave out of office email message

LBibLBib member
in September 2013 Moms
This is a bit early for most of us, but my EDD is 9/1 and I have to write my auto-reply out of office email message next week and am hoping for wording suggestions. I have a client-facing management/director role so not everyone who emails me over the next 8-12 weeks will know I was even pregnant. What will your message say? Can you help ghost write my own?
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Re: Maternity leave out of office email message

  • Mrs.AllyHMrs.AllyH member
    I can have both internal and external, is that an option for you?

    For my internal, I say that I am out of the office until X Date and contact the following people for each individual projects.

    For my external, I state that I am currently out of the office and direct all e-mails to one person who knows where to send them from there.
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  • imakeeff0rtsimakeeff0rts member
    "Thank you for contacting me. Unfortunately, I will be out of the office until x date. Please direct all inquiries to (name) who can be contacted via e-mail or phone at (e-mail/phone number). 

    Thank you,
    LBib"
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  • puppyciao23puppyciao23 member
    Yeah, no need to mention that it's maternity leave. I am setting mine tomorrow (yay!) and will just be saying I am out of the office, or maybe out of the office on a leave of absence so they are likely to realize I'll be gone for a while :)
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  • SkalbrechtSkalbrecht member
    Plan to have mine say - thank you for your message. I am currently out of the office through X. For project Y please contact Z @hhh and all other matters contact AB at @jjj.

    Thank you - S
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  • olga1311olga1311 member
    I am actually gonna mention maternity leave. "Thank you for your email. I am currently out of the office on maternity leave (or say extended leave if you don't want to mention maternity). Please contact blah blah for further assistance"

    I also put in my signature about a week before my leave the following "Please note I will be out of office on maternity leave (or extended leave if you like it better) starting XX/XX."

    This way if your clients will not be blindsided by what would look to them your sudden leaving and will know to approach you earlier if they have to have your input on their problem.
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  • Cleo421Cleo421 member
    Yup, I say extended leave through date of return on my VM and email, and provide contact info for those covering for me. 
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  • llybeckllybeck member
    Mrs.AllyH said:
    I can have both internal and external, is that an option for you? For my internal, I say that I am out of the office until X Date and contact the following people for each individual projects. For my external, I state that I am currently out of the office and direct all e-mails to one person who knows where to send them from there.
    This is basically what I did for my internal/external messages.
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  • cjelkincjelkin
    Our firm has a policy on wording when we are out of the office, for whatever reason, that is basically the following:
    "Thank you for your email. I will be out of the office [from leave date to end date OR until return date], and will have limited access to email [OR will not have access to emails OR state periods of availability you will have access to email]. If you require the assistance of [a supervisor, superior, etc.] please contact [name] at [email.]  If you require administrative assistance, please contact my [assistant, secretary, etc.], [name], at [email and phone number.]"
    Of course, if you designate alternate contacts, get their permission first. 
    I will not mention maternity leave, but keep in mind people may not hesitate to speculate reasons for such a long absence, some of which you might not want (I certainly don't mean this as judgment for those who take time off for mental reasons, rehab, etc.) 
    We normally have quite a few people copied on all emails, but there are a few people who just never like to hit the "reply all" button. I am considering my last email to them in the regular course of business to mention my leave and to remind them to contact xxx and xxx if they need anything. Likewise, for clients, I plan on emailing them and letting them know who will be handling their case from now on, so that they don't feel like they are being passed around out of the blue. 
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