If you take a leave from work due to a family emergency, you would inform your employer about it. But you might not be able to inform each client and co-worker. So you would require an auto-reply out of office message if someone reaches out to you. Here, let’s know how to write Out Of Office Message For Family Emergency.
You can leave such a reply to inform the person that you would not be able to respond. It may be even more helpful if they are contacting you for an urgent task. So you can draft your message and send it if you receive an unexpected message if you’re tending to your family emergency.
What Is An Out Of Office Message?
An out-of-office message is a self-reply or even a regular reply to people who do not know you’re off work. Some people also send the message beforehand if they expect a message or mail from the client or worker to notify them of their leave from work.
So when the employee has to take a leave for some reason they draft an out-of-office message. Then they can just send it when a worker or client tries to contact them during their leave. It is an essential step to ensure that they can inform the person about their absence.
If left unattended, such mails would just pile up in the employee’s mailbox. They might even miss out on an essential mail that had required immediate attention. So it is usually why people draft such out-of-office messages well ahead of time.
What Is The Need For An Out Of Office Message?
Out-of-office messages might seem like a bother to the employee, but they are essential. They are necessary because they can help inform the people and ensure that their leave does not cause inconvenience to anyone.
Any inconvenience that might get caused if a worker or client is unaware of the leave might end up harming the employee themselves. So it becomes necessary for employees to draft such a message every time they’re taking some time off.
Especially in conditions like family emergencies, you might not have the time to even look at your phone. So you must remember to draft the out-of-office message beforehand to prepare for that. It will help you concentrate on your family for the time you’ve taken off and not get any disturbances.
What To Remember While Drafting An Out Of Office Message For A Family Emergency?
If you are drafting your out-of-office message but do not know what to write in it, don’t worry. The overall layout of most out-of-office messages remains the same no matter what the reason for the leave maybe. You can follow a template and write up a message in no time.
So if you‘re taking a leave for a family emergency, you need not necessarily mention it in the message itself. If you have notified your employer about the family emergency and your leave, you’re good to go.
If you want to, however, you could always mention that you are absent from the office due to a family emergency. All in all, the choice of putting in the reason for the leave is entirely up to you and not necessary.
What To Mention In An Out Of Office Message?
All out-of-office messages usually follow a set format for them to be easy to read and understand. You have to mention a couple of things in a certain order to draft an effective out-of-office message.
You must remember to surely add these features to make your out-of-office message comprehensible for the reader. Here are the points you must add in your out of office message for a family emergency:
- You must mention when your leave started in your out of office message. You could group the starting date and ending date together or separately, but do make sure to mention it.
- You must also mention the ending date of your leave to let the person know how much later they may contact you. If you do not do so, the person might contact you once again before your leave ends.
- Optionally, you could add why you’re absent from work and taking a leave. You could mention that you’re tending to a family emergency so you won’t be able to respond to such messages. And you can give out the contact of another employee who might assist them with the same task.
How To Write An Out Of Office Message?
You could draft your out-of-office message from previous experience, but if you’re new to it, you could follow the given instructions. Not everyone has written an out-of-office message so they might not know about it.
These elements are all equally essential to the overall out-of-office message. In the absence of one of these elements, you might fail to communicate something important to the other person. So you must ensure that you try and fit in all the elements while writing it.
By following a few steps, you can successfully make an impactful and crisp out-of-office message to leave if you’re out of the office. Here are the steps that you can follow for drafting the message:
- Greeting– You must begin your email or message with a greeting to the sender. You could use hi, hello, or any other such expression to greet the person. Try to stay formal and not be funny while writing the greeting.
- First Sentence– The first sentence or introductory sentence would probably be to acknowledge that you received an email from them. Since the out-of-office message is mostly an auto-sent message, your computer would send it out when you receive an email. So you can add in a small sentence or phrase acknowledging that you have received an email from them.
- Reason For Your Leave– Although this is an optional step, you could add why you’re taking a leave from the office to your out-of-office message. Clients won’t chase after you on your leave, but some employees might think that you would be able to reply even when you’re out of the office. If you mention why you are out of the office and tending to a family emergency, they would understand that you won’t be able to respond to the messages.
- Dates Of Your Leave– You must mention the dates that you will be gone for in your out of office message. You need to mention both the starting date and the ending date of your leave. It will help the client or employee understand the amount of time you will be unavailable. So they will refrain from sending further emails at the later time of your leave.
- Who To Contact In An Emergency– You can then mention a person or another employee whom the client or employee can contact. You could mention the name and email address of an employee who works with you or can do the same tasks you can in the meantime. This way, the person who contacted you can contact the other employee if their work is urgent.
- Regards– Finally, you can write a small ending part using phrases like “Regards”, “Sincerely” and more and end your email. This will wrap up everything and you can finish up with your name and designation beneath it.
Examples of Out Of Office Messages For Family Emergency
Now that you have seen why you need out-of-office messages and how you could write them, let’s get to some examples. If you see a couple of examples of the messages themselves, you might be able to draft your message better. Also, you might get an essence of what needs to be the contents and sequence of contents in your message.
Further, we will show you various out-of-office messages that you could use if you’re tending to a family emergency. Here are some of the best out-of-office messages which you could use or alter to fit your situation.
- “Hello!
I just received your email, but unfortunately, I may not be able to reply to you immediately. You see I am not in the office right now, I am on leave from *starting date* to *ending date*. So at that time, I won’t be able to assist you with work, and I apologize for the inconvenience. You can always contact my colleague *employee name* if you need immediate assistance.
Thanks for understanding,
*Name*”
- Hello there!
I see that you have left me an email regarding work, but I’m not going to be able to reply to it. I am out of the office since *starting date* and will not return to the office till *ending date*. If you have some urgent matter, you can contact *employee name*, here is their email address *email address*.
Regards,
*Name*”
- “Hi!
I have just received your email but I’m unable to respond to it right now. I’m out of the office right now at my mom’s house and have no internet connection here. I will be gone from *starting date* to *ending date* so I won’t be able to respond at this time. If you’re in a hurry, you might want to contact *employee name*, here is their email address *email address*
Thanks,
*Name*”
- “Greetings!
I received your email in my inbox, but I’m not in a situation to reply to it. I have been out of the office for *number of days* and won’t be back until *ending date* neither. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but you can still contact my colleague *employee name* through her email *email address* if you’re in a hurry.
Thanks for understanding,
*Name*”
- “Hey there!
I got your email, but unfortunately, I am out of the office for some time. My son is hospitalized and I have to stick by his side at all times. So I will stay out of the office from *starting date* to *ending date* and won’t be able to contact you then. Until then, if you have an urgent task, you can mail *employee name*
Sincerely,
*Name*”
- “Hello!
Thank you for reaching out to me through email. I am currently out of the office as I have to take care of my sick sister for a while. I will stay gone from *starting date* to *ending date* and won’t be able to contact you in the meantime. You could contact my colleague *employee name* at his email *email address* if you still need assistance.
Thank you,
*Name*”
- “Hi everyone!
I wanted to inform you that I will be out of the office from *starting date* to *ending date* due to a family emergency that I must tend to. Since I’ll be busy, I won’t be able to reply to your messages. If you still need assistance, you can contact *employee name* at *email address*.
Regards,
*Name*”
Conclusion
Out-of-office messages may become essential for employees who take a leave due to a family emergency or other reasons. They might need to inform people that they’re not available for work at the given time.
To do so, people usually draft such an out-of-office message and send it if they receive a message from a co-worker or client. You can tend to your family emergency without worrying about unread messages either.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Are out-of-office messages really necessary?
Yes, drafting out-of-office messages if you are leaving the office to tend to a family emergency. Your employer might be aware of your absence, but it might not be the case for your co-workers or clients.
- Do you need to draft an out-of-office message specifically for a family emergency?
No, you could use a general template for out-of-office messages for all reasons. You could mention the reason for your leave in the message, but it isn’t necessary to put it in the message whatsoever.
- What happens if you don’t leave an out-of-office message?
If you do not leave an out-of-office message, some client or worker might message you or mail you. Sometimes, they might need an urgent response for something, so they must get informed that you won’t be available for it.