Jury Duty and my job

byrner88

so i got a Summons in the post to attend Jury Duty on march the 4th . i currently work as Flexible part time Barman. but most weeks i do full time hours

My contract states i'm not guaranteed hours. so if i go for jury duty my job could easily roster me off for the days i miss as i'm part time.

I know my employer is supposed to roster me as if i was working. but he can easily roster me off as i'm part time.


Is there a way i can get out of this without losing out on wages?
what should i do?

i really cant afford to do jury duty and miss out on work

tatli_lokma

you would still be entitled to your minimum hours as stated by your contract. So whilst you would have no entitlement to the additional hours, your entitlement to your minimum contractual hours remains

citizensinformation.ie wrote:

Jury service
If you are called for jury service, generally you are obliged to attend. The Juries Act 1976 requires that an employee or an apprentice who is called for jury service be given time off to attend the court. Under the Act while you are absent from work to comply with a jury summons you are entitled to be paid and you should not lose any other employment entitlements or rights. So, for example, the time spent on jury service will not mean any loss of annual leave entitlement.

Also he needs to remember that although you were called for jury duty, that does not mean you will be chosen to sit on the jury. You could find yourself dismissed after 1 day, or you could end up on a jury that lasts 6 weeks. So if you get dismissed early, he has to then give you hours anyway.

Also, when you get called you will be given an opportunity to state any reason why you can't sit on the jury. You can always chance your arm and say that your hours in work will reduce as you will only get paid for the hours in your contract and that would put you under financial hardship.

byrner88

Little Ted wrote: »

you would still be entitled to your minimum hours as stated by your contract. So whilst you would have no entitlement to the additional hours, your entitlement to your minimum contractual hours remains




Also he needs to remember that although you were called for jury duty, that does not mean you will be chosen to sit on the jury. You could find yourself dismissed after 1 day, or you could end up on a jury that lasts 6 weeks. So if you get dismissed early, he has to then give you hours anyway.

Also, when you get called you will be given an opportunity to state any reason why you can't sit on the jury. You can always chance your arm and say that your hours in work will reduce as you will only get paid for the hours in your contract and that would put you under financial hardship.

Thanks for the advice. But as my contract states I'm not guaranteed hours and my contract doesn't state any minimum hours I'm entitled to, so basically I could be easily rostered off all week. As I'm flexible part time.

Could I go to the court before the 4th of march and show them my contract?

tatli_lokma

then your contract is illegal. Zero hours contracts are only permissable within certain circumstances.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/contracts_of_employment/contracts_without_specific_working_hours_zero_hours_contracts.html

A zero-hours contract of employment is a type of employment contract where the employee is available for work but does not have specified hours of work. If you have a zero-hours contract this means there is a formal arrangement that you are required to be available for a certain number of hours per week, or when required, or a combination of both. Employees on zero-hours contracts are protected by the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 but this does not apply to casual employment.

The Act requires that an employee under a zero-hours contract who works less than 25% of their hours in any week should be compensated. The level of compensation depends on whether the employee got any work or none at all. If the employee got no work, then the compensation should be either for 25% of the possible available hours or for 15 hours, whichever is less. If the employee got some work, they should be compensated to bring them up to 25% of the possible available hours.

For example, if you are required to be available for 20 hours per week, but you got no work, you would be entitled to be compensated for 15 hours or 25% of the 20 hours (that is, 4 hours), whichever is the less. In this case, 4 hours is the lesser amount. If, on the other hand, you got 3 hours work out of the 20, you would be entitled to be compensated by 1 hour to bring you up to 25% of the contract hours.

byrner88

Little Ted wrote: »

then your contract is illegal. Zero hours contracts are only permissable within certain circumstances.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/contracts_of_employment/contracts_without_specific_working_hours_zero_hours_contracts.html

See the thing is I might be on a contract that states I'm not guaranteed hours and don't have any minimum hours. But most weeks I do nearly a full week. So with my jury duty in mind I could be rostered off. This is what worries me

tatli_lokma

no you couldn't. If your contract does not give a specified number of hours, then it is a zero hours contract. As such it needs to advise you of how many hours you need to be available. If you then do not get any hours, you are entitled to 25% of the hours you are available for.

If your contract does not state a minimum number of hours you will get, nor a minimum number of hours you must be available for, then it is not a legally drafted contract. If either of these cases is true, then you need to contact Workplace Relations (formerly NERA).

donkey balls

Hi OP,

I was called for jury service last year now because your a bar man which would mean you work shift hours,I called the jury service number that would be on your summons sheet to explain that I work shift and the guy said that I could be exempt from having to do the jury service if I wanted to due to me working shift.

Mrs OBumble

OP, Little Ted's advice is legally correct (most probably .. we cannot give legal advice here).

But practically, I think that donkey balls is on the money. Call the jury duty people, and explain your shift-work situation. Maybe even take your contract in to show them (they won't be examining it for whether it's legal or not). If you're in a smaller town, play up how many people you know due to working in a bar (makes you less useful for jury duty).

Longer term, you really should be looking for a job that guarantees you some hours per week. In the current gig, if you cannot work for whatever reason, you could be up the financial creek without a paddle.

byrner88

thanks for the advice guys. i'll give them a ring tomorrow and explain my situation.

regards my work contract i'm 3 and half years working there and have been signing the same contract every year . as i said in my first post i'm flexible part time ,but i do full time hours every week .

tatli_lokma

same contract every year??? lots of things ringing bells with me here in relation to your contract. I think after all the jury duty stuff is sorted you need to speak with NERA about your contract as it doesn't sound kosher to me for several reasons.

compgeek

I am so glad someone brought up this topic. Thanks OP. Sorry for hijacking your thread.




I have also been summoned for jury duty and like the OP I work shift work.

I have informed my HR Manager and they have said I have to go, however, then they tell me that if I am called to a jury, I have to take Holiday Hours to cover not being available for work.


Since I would work different hours & different shifts each week. Where does this leave me?




Thanks, CompGeek.

TheChizler

compgeek wrote: »

I have informed my HR Manager and they have said I have to go, however, then they tell me that if I am called to a jury, I have to take Holiday Hours to cover not being available for work.

Sounds incredibly dodgy! You're essentially paying work to go to jury duty in that case. Should be the other way around!

Morph the Cat

I've been summoned 3 times since 2002, and got off every time.

You just write them a letter and tell them you run your own company, it's a 1-man show, and you have deadlines around that time that must be met - you have no option, or you don't get paid and you'll lose your only client.

"I'm being judged by 12 people too dumb to get out of jury duty!" —Old joke.

tatli_lokma

Hmmmm, dunno, I personally wouldn't recommend blatant lying. Perhaps do as donkey_balls says and ring up and tell them you are a shift worker.

Mrs OBumble

TheChizler wrote: »

Sounds incredibly dodgy! You're essentially paying work to go to jury duty in that case. Should be the other way around!

AFAIK, employers have to let you go to jury service, but they are not required to give you paid leave for it. Some do have paid jury leave (you sign over your jury service fees to the employer), some let you take annual leave (so you at least get paid), some just give you unpaid leave.

If you think this is wrong, then talk to your TD about getting the law changed.

tatli_lokma

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

AFAIK, employers have to let you go to jury service, but they are not required to give you paid leave for it.

No, they have to pay you and cannot make you take AL to cover it. As per my link above

Under the Act while you are absent from work to comply with a jury summons you are entitled to be paid and you should not lose any other employment entitlements or rights.