It’s normal to ask for a few extra hours to supplement your take-home. There may also be cases where you may not have been paid for overtime.
If you fall into either of these categories and need to email your manager to bring this to your attention, we’ve got you covered.
We’ve created some templates that you can easily modify and forward to your boss. Additionally, we’ve also included some tips to help you whenever you need to email your manager.
Tips For Emailing Your Boss
While tools like Slack and Teams are leveraged for easier communication across organizations worldwide, emails continue to be used in these organizations, especially when communicating with a supervisor over formal correspondence.
But unlike sending emails to coworkers where you can be informal and not worry about mistakes, you should be careful when writing to your Boss. Let’s look at a few things to keep in mind.
Clear Reasons
Let your manager know exactly why you’re emailing them. They’re probably busy, so you should keep the email as short as possible while conveying the necessary information.
If you’re looking to pick up some extra hours, make sure you include this in your email. On the other hand, if you just want to bring to their attention that you haven’t been paid for the extra time you put in, make sure you covey this perfectly in the email.
Clear Subject Line
While you would not be able to include all relevant information in the subject line of the email, it should present the general purpose of the email within a few words.
This helps your boss or supervisor locate the email, understand the possible content even before reading the full message and finally ascertain the importance and urgency of the email.
After all, your boss would most likely have a busy schedule. A clear subject line would help them identify the urgency of the email especially when they have a boatload of work to get done.
Examples:
Request for Overtime Work
Use Proper Name
Coming down to the body of the email, you should identify the name your boss wishes for you or the general employee body to call them.
If they prefer to be addressed by their first names, you should address them as such. On the other hand, if you aren’t sure how they want to be addressed, you can either ask your colleagues or simply use your boss’ surname.
Keep in mind your workplace culture at this point. Some workplaces encourage informal communication between all members of the organization.
For informal workplaces, you start with:
Good {{morning/afternoon/evening}} {{Boss’ firstname}}
Hi {{Boss’ firstname}}
In the case of a very formal workplace where you aren’t sure of the best way to address your boss, you can simply start with:
Dear {{Mr. /Mrs /Ms. Surname}}
Hello {{Mr. /Mrs /Ms. Surname}}
Set Tone
Maybe something happened at the workplace that you didn’t like or there’s something you find annoying. You should always mind your tone in your professional emails.
It doesn’t matter whether the company’s doing something you’re unhappy with, you should always mind the tone of your communication. If you sound angry, your Boss is less likely to mind your request or even finish reading your email.
Use Work Email
Refrain from contacting your boss through your personal email. Most organizations implement some form of spam filter that may flag personal emails as spam.
The last thing anyone wants is to send an urgent message to their boss only to find out days later that they never got the email. Emails that come through the company emails are whitelisted ensuring that your boss receives them inside their inbox.
This is why most organizations provide their employees with company emails for communication within the company as well as correspondence with external companies.
Keep It Concise
Your boss probably receives loads of emails daily. The last thing they want to do is to spend precious time reading through a long email to determine its content.
No matter how important your email may be, your boss is not likely to spend 30 minutes trying to understand its content. It’s advisable to use short and clear wording to easily convey the content of your message.
Proofread
No one likes reading terrible grammar, especially in a professional setting. It’s advisable to proofread your email to identify any grammatical errors before sending it to your boss.
Tools like Grammarly are readily available to help identify errors in your writing. Keep in mind that these tools aren’t perfect. So manually proofreading your email can further enhance your message.
On the other hand, poor grammar could give your boss some laughs. But keep in mind that others are bound to join in.
Easy To Understand
Your boss most likely receives tens or even hundreds of emails daily, especially in the case of larger organizations. Ensure that your email is easy to understand within the shortest amount of time.
To determine this, you can ask a colleague or friend to skim through the email to test whether it’s easy to understand and adequately presents the necessary information.
End Formally
At this point, you can thank your boss for taking the time to review your request and then reiterate any relevant information before signing off.
Example:
Thank you for your time and understanding
Signature
Official emails to your boss should be signed off with your official signature which includes your full name, job title, department if applicable, and contact details when available.
This can be easy if you’ve already created your signature template for your company email. The system would automatically include your signature in every email.
If you haven’t created a signature template for your email, you should manually include this in your email to your boss.
It can be something like this:
Sincerely,
{{Fullname}}
{{Department if applicable}}
{{Job role/title}}
{{Contact details (optional)}}
Sample Email To Manager For Overtime
Template 1: Requesting Overtime
Email Subject
Request for Overtime
Body
Dear {{Surname}},
I hope this finds you well. I would like to request your approval to add {{Number Of Hours}} to my existing hours on {{Date}}. I {{State your reasons}}. I believe that the extra hours would {{How the extra hours will help}}.
I would greatly appreciate it if my request could be approved. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best regards,
{{Full name}}
{{Department name if applicable}}
{{Job tile}}Template 2: Delayed Overtime Payment
Email Subject
Request for Overtime
Body
Dear {{Surname}},
I hope this finds you well. I would like to bring to your attention a delay in payment for the {{Hours}} overtime work I completed on {{Dates}}. I was expecting payment to be included in my {{Salary/Wage}} for the {{month/week}} of {{Month/Week}}.
I’ve attached my {{Proof}} as proof and would appreciate it if you could kindly look into the matter, and update me if there’s any issue that’s causing the delay.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
{{Full name}}
{{Department name if applicable}}
{{Job tile}}Template 3: Error In Overtime Payment
Email Subject
Request for Overtime
Body
Dear {{Surname}},
I hope this finds you well. I received my overtime pay for the period of {{Period}} but I believe there’s been an error in the amount I received.
Upon reviewing my {{Time Card/Pay Stub}}, I noticed that I was paid {{Amount}} in overtime. But according to my time records for the pay period, I worked {{Duration}} of overtime. Calculating my overtime rate of {{Amount per hour}}, I believe I should have been paid {{Expected Amount}}.
I have attached my time record and {{Time Card/Pay Stub}} for your reference and would appreciate it if you could investigate this discrepancy at your earliest convenience.
Please let me know if you require any additional information or if there is anything else I can do to assist in resolving this matter.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this issue.
Best regards,
{{Full name}}
{{Department name if applicable}}
{{Job tile}}
