When you are ill, the last thing you want to do is draft an email. Type who you are telling and which days you are off, and Hemmingway writes the message: that you are unwell and not working, for how long, what needs covering, and how to reach you if it cannot wait. It is three to five sentences long.
It says no more than you do. Leave the box about what is wrong empty and the email says only that you are unwell. It will not add symptoms, a doctor's visit or a promise to log on later.
What makes it work
- Send it before your day starts. If your workplace wants a phone call or a message in a particular system, do that as well.
- Name the days. "Today, and probably tomorrow" lets people plan. "Not feeling great" does not.
- Keep the illness to a few words. "A stomach bug" or "a migraine" is plenty, and "unwell" is fine too. More detail helps no one.
- Hand over the one thing that cannot wait. A meeting, a deadline, a delivery, and who has what they need to pick it up.
An example
Asked for a sick day email to a manager called Anders, off today, Tuesday, and probably tomorrow, with a stomach bug, where Mirela has the notes for the 2pm supplier call and can take it, and with a check of the phone around midday for anything urgent, an email along these lines is what to expect:
Subject: Off sick today, Tuesday
Hi Anders,
I have a stomach bug and won't be working today. I'll probably be off tomorrow as well.
Mirela has the notes for the 2pm supplier call and can take it. I'll check my phone around midday in case anything urgent comes up.
Thanks,
Longer sick leave
For more than a day or two, put the dates you expect to be off, or "until my doctor says otherwise", and who is covering your work. The tool does not know your employer's rules on doctor's notes or sick pay, so check your contract or ask HR. Once you know the dates, the out of office message generator writes the auto-reply for your inbox. For a fuller email, such as asking for a phased return, the AI email writer works from your notes. How to call in sick covers doing it by phone and by text.
Common questions
Is the sick day email generator free?
Yes. Hemmingway has a free trial with no card needed, and this tool opens it with your answers filled in. You sign up once, and the email is written in the chat.
Will it say what is wrong with me?
Only if you fill in that box, and then in the words you used. Leave it empty and the email says you are unwell and not working.
Can it write a sick day text instead of an email?
Yes. Write "by text" after the name in the first box and it drops the subject line and gets it down to two or three sentences.
Can it write one for a mental health day?
Yes. You can name it, or leave the reason out and simply be off sick. Both are honest.
Will it sound like AI?
It is built not to. Hemmingway-1, the model behind it, came first on sounding like a person in our own blind test, Human-Likeness. It still helps to read it aloud and change any word you would not use.