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I am always excited to turn on my “Out of Office” message on my email before I leave for vacation. But that message does not stop the emails from coming in or eliminate the need for my response when I am back in the office (or when I check in during my vacation). But, what if turning on the “Out of Office” message could mean an empty in-box upon my return and no need to check my email while I am out?
For the 100,000 employees who work for Daimler, the German vehicle manufacturer, that’s a reality. Under Daimler’s new “Mail on Holiday” program, employees have the option to have all incoming emails automatically deleted when they are on holiday. (As an aside, I think holiday sounds so much more fun than vacation!) The email sender receives an out of office message stating that the recipient did not receive the email and to contact another employee. According to Daimler, the purpose of the policy is for employees to relax, not read emails during their time out of the office, and then return to a clean desk.
Can such a policy be implemented in the United States? I guess I need to talk to my IT department as I plan for my next holiday. Of course, even if such a policy were implemented, I expect that all the senders of all the deleted emails will simply re-send their emails to me on the day I return to work. Nothing like reviewing a few thousand emails on the first day back.
As an aside, I will be presenting a “New Claim on the Horizon: Family Responsibilities Discrimination” at our Miami office on September 17th. If you have not already done so, please register here for the in-person session or here for the webinar. I look forward to seeing you there!
