Assignment #2: E-mail (5%)

COMM 2710 - Business Writing Strategies - Durham College - Spring/Summer 2020

DEADLINE: due Monday July 13 by midnight - in the appropriate folder on DC Connect

Sara Campbell (100428529)

SUMMER HOURS CASE STUDY

You are an administrative assistant at the regional office of a provincial agency. Normal working hours
for civil service employees in your province are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a lunch break from 12:00 –
12:30 p.m. During the summer, however, the hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with lunch unchanged.
Summer hours are in effect from July 1 to September 2. It is now mid-June, and the busy office
supervisor has asked you to remind employees of the summer schedule.

INSTRUCTIONS: Complete the following TWO activities.

1. Plan your message using PAIBOC. Fill in the chart below. The first row is done for you.

What does it
Letter Explain it for the case study.
stand for?

The purpose of my message to staff is to remind them of the change in

P Purpose
the summer hours.

A Audience The staff who work for the regional office of a provincial agency.

Mention about the set summer hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday
to Friday. Also include it is from July 1 to September 2 and lunch is still
I Information
12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Do not mention anything else.

Allow employees to leave 30 minutes sooner during summer hours.

B Benefits Promotes lower stress levels by not working that extra 2.5 hours a
week.

O Objections
Some employees may abuse the privilege and leave earlier than that.
Those employees that do not like change may protest this change.
You have to emphasize that you can not leave earlier unless
previously approved by management and that the set lunch hour is to

Page 1 of 4
 be unchanged.

C Context Hopefully, the reader should not have any issues with how the
message is contested.

Page 2 of 4
2. Write an e-mail to remind the employees about the change in hours, using your plan.

To: All Employees

CC: Very Busy Office Supervisor

Subject: Reminder - Summer Hours Schedule

Dear All Provincial Employees,

This is a reminder of the upcoming summer office hours. Starting July 1, the revised hours are 8:30
a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday. Please note that the set lunch time (12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.) is
unchanged. There are no exceptions to these hours. The summer hours’ schedule concludes
September 2.

Please speak with your manager if you have an questions or concerns.

Best regards,

Sara Campbell

Administrative Assistant- ABC Corporation

(905)-555-1234 ex: 4078

123 Best Street, Oshawa, ON, Canada L1H 7G1

This message is intended only for the named recipients. This message may contain information that is
confidential or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Any dissemination or copying of this message by
anyone other than a named recipient is strictly prohibited. If you are not a named recipient or an employee or
agent responsible for delivering this message to a named recipient, please notify us immediately, and
permanently destroy this message and any copies you may have. Warning: Email may not be secure unless
properly encrypted.

Page 3 of 4
3.

Rubric for Assignment #2

4 3
Clearly understands and can
apply the concept of PAIBOC
to plan a message.
Provides reasonable &
appropriate info for each
element of PAIBOC
E-mail is written in proper e-
mail format.
All information& benefits that
the employees need are
included,
Workplace ready: grammar,
spelling, punctuation &
mechanics are error-free
2 1
Somewhat effectively Does not understand or
applies the concept of apply PAIBOC to plan.
PAIBOC
Info is reasonable Info is neither
Info is reasonable &
& appropriate for a reasonable nor
appropriate for most
few elements of appropriate.
elements of PAIBOC
PAIBOC
Format is mostly Some errors in e- E-mail format has
correct with minor mail format several errors
errors
Most information is Some information Significant information
included is missing is missing.
1-2 errors 3 -4 errors More than 4 errors

TOTAL: /20

The documents must have a clean and professional appearance. No cover page is required.
Plagiarism Policy: If material too closely resembles another student’s work (as determined by the
professor), both assignments will receive a “0” and an Academic Alert will be placed on the both
students’ files.

*Late assignments will not be accepted unless you contact me 24 HOURS BEFORE the
assignment is due and provide documentation within 1 week. Please refer to your course outline
for further details

Page 4 of 4