work and jury duty

stroodes

hi,

wondering if anyone can advise me, i have recieved a letter stating that i have been selected for jury duty, if picked to serve then is possible that may last a week or more (high court), my current employment is 2 days a week , 8 hours sat, 8 hours sun, my employer states that i will still have to work weekend even after possibly being in court all week, is this right? I have 2 children who will be on school holidays at this time so as well as not spending time with them at the weekend im now also not going to spend time during the week.

thanks in advance for any help regarding this.

scheming_gypsy

yes. your work hours are 8 hours Saturday and 8 hours Sunday; so jury duty has nothing at all to do with it.

stroodes

most people in full time jobs wouldnt work 9 days in a row without a break so fail to understand why im expected to work 2 days, court 5 days, work 2 days and with bad luck possible another week jury duty, followed by another 2 days work so in all possibly 16 days without a break.

scheming_gypsy

you're not working 9 days in a row. You're doing jury duty, it isn't work it's jury duty.

kingfisherblue

Could you book some annual leave for one of the weekends?

RuthnJasper

If it is going to cause a genuine problem for you, then you could ask for your jury duty to be deferred. A former colleague of mine was able to do this for work reasons (she was my assistant in a school exams office and had been summoned for the period when GCSE and A-Level results came out, which was our busiest, most important, time of year). Here's the relevant info from Direct.gov:

Asking to do jury service at a later date

In some circumstances, you may be able to delay ('defer') your jury service - for example, you have a holiday booked.
You must state the reason on the jury summons form.
You must also state when you’re available for jury service during the next 12 months.
You can only defer jury service once in the next 12 months.

Asking to be excused from jury service

If you can't do jury service at any time during the next 12 months you must state the reason on the form. You’re normally asked to give evidence - like a letter from your doctor about a medical condition you have.
If you have served on a jury within the previous two years you have a right to be excused.

You could try for a deferral, stating the school holidays and parenting needs as an excuse. But, otherwise, I don't think you'll be able to do anything about your employment. As others have posted, the jury duty covers the working week and weekends are not accounted for. Unless you can take holiday leave for your weekend days during the jury duty period (and just because you have been summoned, it doesn't mean you will actually be selected, you may be released if not randomly chosen - though no-one knows who will be picked until the moment their name is called - it's safest to assume that you will be picked), I think your employer has a right to expect you to cover the weekend hours.

Good luck with it. x

stroodes

cant book any anual leave is all pre booked in january, if i was working mon-fri i would be expected to do jury duty and work, oh and am not expecting any payment for the days on jury duty just incase you think i am i just cant see how if courts close for a weekend break then why i am not entitled to one also.

vax2002

You could get sent to a hotel for the weekend if the trial ends Friday.
Relax you will enjoy watching the "Actors" in Wigs,

stroodes

dont think i can get out of it as got out of it last year as i had already served on a jury within last 5 years, is now 5 and a half, seems to be same people getting called all the time hubby has also served twice.

Errata

Probably because you don't work for the courts.

Joannag_2

I do feel for you. sadly it is one of those things, our duty etc. I have never been called for jury service, nor my husband. I would hate it in the school holidays, as I work full time term time and I spend the hols with my kids. Will you need childcare if you do jury service then?