Employee puzzled as boss claims her fun out-of-office emails clash with corporate norms

People in nine-to-five jobs often seek creative outlets to express themselves or take their minds away from the grind. However, their attempts at fun may not always be well-received and can sometimes appear "unprofessional." One such case involved a woman repeatedly criticized by her boss for including playful stories in her out-of-office emails. Unable to understand what she was doing wrong, she turned to TikTok for advice. The woman, Theo Moise, who goes by @chefmoisehere on the platform, shared her dilemma in a video.

"So, I keep getting the same talking to from my boss about the exact same situation that I apparently am not just learning from," Moise shared in her video. Seeking clarity, she turned to the internet to determine if she was "overreacting or bugging." Explaining further, Moise said, "I don't really understand. I have been writing these out-of-office emails and they are super cute." She described them as “fun little stories” about adventures involving squirrels and sharks, meant to entertain readers during her absence. However, her boss disapproved, stating, “It’s not funny. It’s not professional. You can’t do silly stuff like that.”

"So I am like, alright, cool," Moise said, explaining how she adapted her approach. "So then I changed it and started making the stories a lot more serious and they had a historical context. They had fun facts and they were just great elaborate stories." But her boss still wasn’t pleased, insisting, "No, there can't be stories like that, they need to be professional." Determined, Moise revamped her out-of-office emails once again. "My most recent one is giving wellness tips. Like how to stretch at your desk, how to practice mindfulness, how to make sure that you get up and walk every 20 minutes if you spend a long time at your desk,” she shared. Yet, her efforts didn’t seem to land. "Tell me why I had another conversation with this man today about how unprofessional that is,” she said, expressing her frustration.

"How is an out-of-office email unprofessional? I am out of the office," Moise questioned, expressing her confusion. "It is literally just a fun, little quirky story and you are saying that's unprofessional. How is that unprofessional?" She added, "I just feel like my personality is being smothered by corporate America right now, so I am just crashing out. But giving you ten ways you can be healthier at your desk is unprofessional?" Viewers flocked to the comments section of her video, sharing their thoughts on why Moise might need to reconsider her approach to out-of-office emails.

@scented_pages wrote, "He gave you three warnings. Just leave it as a simple OOO email before you’re OOO permanently." @nytime98 commented, "Imagine you sent an urgent email to someone and their automated response was a story instead of letting you know who to contact while they’re out." @user3293076 remarked, "Is this worth losing your job? You’re clinging to an entrepreneur’s creative freedom mindset, but in a 9-5 corporate setting, that won’t work." @jbizz2005 shared, "If you want to give health and wellness tips, ask to write an office newsletter. An OOO is literally just to inform people when you're leaving and when you'll be back. Unfortunately, yes, you're wrong."

You can follow Theo Moise (@chefmoisehere) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.