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I have sent an email for my vacation to my Onsite Manager. Its been a week and he is yet to reply. My leave date is quickly approaching and I need to remind him about this.

The issue is that I have not had contact with him for around three months and I'm a bit reluctant to phone him and remind him and instead I wanted to send an email.

What would be the proper way to word a reminder email for my scenario.?

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    Sounds like the vacation isn't approved. The proper way to handle this is to call your manager and sort it out.
    – NotMe
    Nov 5, 2015 at 20:03
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    Nope, it is yet to be approved. Since he is onsite (US) and I'm in India, it is seemingly difficult to catch hold of him due to timing constraint and also probably he is busy with all the meetings.
    – Java_User
    Nov 5, 2015 at 20:06
  • Do you have vacation plans that would be inconvenient to cancel (plane tickets, etc)?
    – mcknz
    Nov 5, 2015 at 20:10
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    Yep, my sister's wedding. :)
    – Java_User
    Nov 5, 2015 at 20:11
  • Depends on how much you value your job, but sometimes it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission... could always follow up with an email saying, "I've already asked -- I'll assume my request is approved unless I hear differently."
    – mcknz
    Nov 5, 2015 at 20:14

3 Answers 3

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Phone them

Phone calls build relationships! I know you're uncomfortable with calling them because you haven't done so for so long but this is the perfect way to start re-forging a relationship with them.

... and then e-mail a follow up

Once you've called him and given him a gentle reminder about the leave approval be sure to follow up from your original e-mail with something like:

Hi x,

It was great chatting to you today. As discussed please find my pending leave application below.

This helps to hold them accountable for the conversation and also provides you with a record of the conversation happening. If you then don't receive an outcome in a week and your leave application is too close to wait you could forward this further up the management chain to help get things moving. This said - make sure you give you manager every possible opportunity to action this for you before escalating above them, the last thing you want to do is upset your direct manager.

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  • Thank you for the suggestion @Codingo. Probably the only way to get in touch is to call him up. I will try that today.
    – Java_User
    Nov 6, 2015 at 7:12
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    I would also take this phone call as an opportunity to fill your boss in on what you've been doing and generally catch up.
    – David K
    Nov 6, 2015 at 13:20
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Disclaimer: my advice could get you fired. :)

If you really want a definitive answer, I would call your boss like NotMe says. However, considering it's your sister's wedding and it seems like your boss doesn't care enough to respond, you don't really want the answer to be "No." In my experience if there's a problem with taking vacation, your boss lets you know immediately.

So I would forward your previous email along with a new message to the effect of:

"I have not yet received a response, so I assume that my leave request has been approved. Please let me know if you have any issues or concerns."

Include in that email with your contact information while you are away, and explain what plans/preparations you've made to have your tasks handled in your absence.

It's risky because you don't truly have an affirmative response from your boss, but hey, it's your sister's wedding we are talking about.

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  • True that! My presence is utmost required in the wedding.
    – Java_User
    Nov 6, 2015 at 7:19
  • Big +1 - it seems OP is going to wedding anyway, and it might be easier to pledge ignorance and ask for forgiveness than to get permission when boss didn't want to give one, or than keeping a job after going on vacation when it was explicitly denied.
    – Mołot
    Dec 13, 2017 at 16:40
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You need to contact your boss and work this out.

His lack of response to the email could mean one of several things. Such as:

  • Your request did NOT get approved.
  • He completely missed the email because it ended up in spam, accidentally deleted or somehow he just missed it.
  • He doesn't realize you expect a response.

A simple 5 minute phone call would resolve all of this.

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    Thanks for the reply, I guess I would first ping him about his free time and then give him a call.
    – Java_User
    Nov 5, 2015 at 20:13
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    @Java_User If you don't get a response about your leave, do you expect a response to your question about free time? I'd just call him. Is there any reason you are afraid to call?
    – Jane S
    Nov 6, 2015 at 3:59
  • Good question, even I was thinking about that. But I have other team members who are also put up onsite. Probably I could get help from them.
    – Java_User
    Nov 6, 2015 at 7:14

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