Out-of-office Messages
When is a request received by the University?
A freedom of information request is received when it is delivered to the University, or when it is delivered to the inbox of a member of staff. The date of receipt is not the date the request is passed to the Freedom of Information Officer for logging and processing.
In respect of emails, the 20 working day countdown begins the day after a freedom of information request is delivered to your inbox. An important implication of this is that requests that are emailed to staff whilst they are on holiday will either be picked up late or, in some cases, the deadline pass without anyone even being aware that a request has been received.
However, the Information Commissioner takes the view that where an automated out-of-office message provides instructions to an applicant on how to re-direct their message, the request will not have been received by the University until it is re-sent to the alternative contact. This will be helpful to the University in respect of holiday periods.
If absent from the University the first alternative contact that staff should use is that of their local Records Officer - though the University has published a designated email address for freedom of information requests which is rec-man@ncl.ac.uk. This address can now be used in an out of office auto reply message if it is required.
There are any number of forms that such an out-of-office message could take, but should nevertheless include the following information:
"I am currently absent from the University (usual message). If your enquiry is a Freedom of Information request please re-direct your enquiry to rec-man@ncl.ac.uk"
Where an alternative contact is provided in an out-of-office message, it is important that the contact advises the original recipient of any action taken in response to the request.