Jury Duty: Return to work once finished each day?

Textra_vision

I've been told by the jury information desk in the court that staying until after 12:30 on any day counts as a full day and I should go home afterwards, but if my working day is usually 8 hours and I'm at court from 10 to 4 (6hrs), wouldn't my employer be within their rights to expect me to work the remaining 2 hours that day? It would seem not, from what I've been told, but I can't find anything clearly stated anywhere to back this up.

I'm anticipating HR getting on my case about this I wanted to find some written rule/regulation/anything to cite. I checked the relevant section in the Juries Act 1976 but it's frustratingly vague.

If anyone has any info or clarification on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

ALS

I done jury service last year for 4 months and the jury officer stamped the court issued form each day to say I was present , there is nowhere on the form to say which hours though ..
Some days we were sent home at 10:30 but the form was always stamped ... I never went back to work and was never questioned about it.

wench

The jury office will give you a phone number when you start that your employer can call if they have any questions.
They will soon be set straight if they give you any hassle.

Stephen Gawking

Having been on jury service more than once i have some experience on this, my employer wanted me to call them everyday when i left the courts as i work shift work so hence according to them i was available for work. This was causing me no end of hassle until it came up in conversation in the canteen in the courts. I was issued with a letter from the clerk of the courts stating that whilst on jury duty a juror is considered to be in the employ of the court for the duration of their time in the courts.

Also, as i work shift & the courts are monday to friday i had to have a day off legally so got a few saturdays off which aren't easy to come by in my job. Also, you cannot be penalised financially by an employer whilst on jury service so they had to pay me as well. When i sent a copy of this letter to the HR dept they took it upon themselves to contact the office of the clerk who issued it, the matter was swiftly ended there.

The high horse brigade

I've done jury duty, the court pays your employer for your day so you do not work for your employer

Phoebas

The high horse brigade wrote: »

I've done jury duty, the court pays your employer for your day so you do not work for your employer

I'm not sure that's correct.

The high horse brigade

Phoebas wrote: »

I'm not sure that's correct.

Should I say the court reimburses your employer so you get paid for the day as norma

Edit, actually I'm not sure now after reading this: http://www.courts.ie/Courts.ie/Library3.nsf/pagecurrent/1BDDD3C2B245A774802580100053D0C2?opendocument&l=en

Phoebas

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Should I say the court reimburses your employer so you get paid for the day as normal

I served a number of times and there was no employer reimbursement.


This from the Courts Service:

Courts Service wrote:

There is no payment for jury service. Travelling expenses are not allowed. If you are actually serving as a juror, lunch will be provided on the day or days that the trial is at hearing.

If you are self-employed and your attendance at jury service may mean you cannot earn a living, you may qualify for excusal from jury service, at the discretion of the County Registrar.

If you are in employment, section 29 of the Juries Act, 1976 places a duty on your employer to allow you attend for jury service. The law also states that the time spent on jury service is to be treated as if the employee were actually employed. In other words, if you are in employment and are attending for jury service, you are entitled to be paid while you are away from work. There should be no loss of any other employment rights while you serve on a jury. The County Registrar will provide a certificate of attendance on request

Textra_vision

Stephen Gawking wrote: »

Having been on jury service more than once i have some experience on this, my employer wanted me to call them everyday when i left the courts as i work shift work so hence according to them i was available for work. This was causing me no end of hassle until it came up in conversation in the canteen in the courts. I was issued with a letter from the clerk of the courts stating that whilst on jury duty a juror is considered to be in the employ of the court for the duration of their time in the courts.

Thanks for the detailed reply Stephen! What throws me off is the part in bold - when we're dismissed at the end of a day I'm technically no longer in the courts and am in theory available for work. It sounds similar to this section in the juries act:

Section 29:..a person shall be treated as employed or apprenticed during any period when he is absent from his employment or apprenticeship in order to comply with a jury summons

Again, it doesn't explicitly say anything about whether I should return to work after I'm finished jury duty on any day, or give any justification for why I should be paid for 8 hours by my employer when I was only in the courts for 6 or less.

Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to reply.

marko99

The high horse brigade wrote:

I've done jury duty, the court pays your employer for your day so you do not work for your employer

It amazes me that people post so much rubbish on here stating it as if it were fact.

Mod
Let us all be nice and polite to each other, OK?

Peregrinus

Textra_vision wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply Stephen! What throws me off is the part in bold - when we're dismissed at the end of a day I'm technically no longer in the courts and am in theory available for work. It sounds similar to this section in the juries act:



Again, it doesn't explicitly say anything about whether I should return to work after I'm finished jury duty on any day, or give any justification for why I should be paid for 8 hours by my employer when I was only in the courts for 6 or less.

Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to reply.

You have quoted the legislation, which says that your employer has to treat you as employed (i.e. he has to pay you) "during any period when he is absent from his employment or apprenticeship in order to comply with a jury summons". That includes not just the time you are in court, but the time taken to travel to and from court.

If there is any period during your normal working hours when you don't have to be absent in order to satisfy your obligations as a juror then, yeah, your employer can require you to attend at work in that period, or he can decline to pay you for it. But very few employers take this view, partly because it's a pan to have somebody come into work for, say, 90 minutes, and partly because it is difficult to police or enforce - how is the employer to know exactly when you were discharged each day? The practical approach to this is to give a day's unpaid leave for each day on which you are required to attend for jury service, and this is what the great bulk of employers do.

ohnonotgmail

Peregrinus wrote: »

You have quoted the legislation, which says that your employer has to treat you as employed (i.e. he has to pay you) "during any period when he is absent from his employment or apprenticeship in order to comply with a jury summons". That includes not just the time you are in court, but the time taken to travel to and from court.

If there is any period during your normal working hours when you don't have to be absent in order to satisfy your obligations as a juror then, yeah, your employer can require you to attend at work in that period, or he can decline to pay you for it. But very few employers take this view, partly because it's a pan to have somebody come into work for, say, 90 minutes, and partly because it is difficult to police or enforce - how is the employer to know exactly when you were discharged each day? The practical approach to this is to give a day's unpaid leave for each day on which you are required to attend for jury service, and this is what the great bulk of employers do.

Unpaid leave? Your employer has to pay you while you are on jury duty

Peregrinus

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Unpaid leave? Your employer has to pay you while you are on jury duty

Quite right; I meant to say paid leave.

ZeroThreat

I'm pretty sure your employer is NOT paid for the time employees are absent on jury service.

I was called for jury duty over 10 years ago and this wasn't the case then.

Peregrinus

ZeroThreat wrote: »

I'm pretty sure your employer is NOT paid for the time employees are absent on jury service.

I was called for jury duty over 10 years ago and this wasn't the case then.

No, employers are not reimbursed by the State. They never have been. They just have to carry the cost of "jury service leave" like they carry sick leave or any other kind of paid leave.

skooterblue2

The real issue is do you want to do Jury duty?
My wife would love to do it, she gets summoned but never gets to the court room.
I have been called 4 times and gotten off every time all for different reasons.
they call about a pool of 300 for 12 positions.
I got off for being a serving member of the defence forces, being on a university course, being depressed with medical note and finally being on the autism spectrum. If you want to get off there are loads of reason. Its not that I dont want to do it but I have been doing more important things at the time. MAybe you might like a break from the 9 to 5?
Psychiatric Nurse, Pharmacist, serving member of the Defence Forces, knowing one of the individuals involved........ the answer is out there.
I have never been called back since.
My grandfather used to love to be called for a day away from the farm (only land owners could be on juries back in his day) and used to love a day and his dinner in the hotel but not during the summer when there was work to be done on the farm.