If you know that you will be out of the office at any point during working hours (excluding lunch breaks), then you should activate an automatic out of office reply (both internally and externally) so that others are aware that their email has not been seen or actioned immediately upon receipt. The automatic reply should inform the sender when you will next be in the office and who they can contact about the matter in your absence.
To ensure consistency and uniformity across the firm, please adopt wording along the following lines, amending where appropriate:
Thank you for your e-mail. I am currently out of the office and will next be in the office on (insert date). If your email requires a response before this time, please forward it on to (insert email address of appropriate colleague) or call our main office line on +44 (0)1522 801111. Thank you for your patience.
Last Updated on 30 March 2022 by Keith