Not paid for jury service?

t_a_2

Hi

I hope someone can help.
I get paid by my employer on the 25th of the month.
I am currently one month into jury service on a very long trial (we're talking a number of months).

My employer is paying me for the days that I am not paid by the court (for example, the odd 'day off' court). This month, it works out to be about four days.

My HR department at work took almost a month to complete the Loss of Earnings Forms, which the court received MOnday just gone, and with payday officially being tomorrow, I am not going to be paid the full amount.

I have no buffer (and I don't need comments on that), my issue is that my mortgage comes out on 27th and I have £1500 of bills to be paid by the end of the month...yet no money, through no fault of my own.

Is there any action I can take?

I am person non-gratia in my absence and have not been able to get my calls or emails returned by my boss, so not sure what to do, aside from to report this issue to a board member....any advice?

Thanks

Uncertain

Whilst it is unfortunate that your firm took so long to complete the court forms I suspect there is no action you can realistically take.

Did you keep a close eye on the process remind them regularly or did you just assume it would all happen until the last moment?

If you did remind them then there may be a case for explaining the position and asking the boss nicely to see if they will make an advance.

I'm afraid otherwise your tight financial position is not really their problem.

As you have evidence to prove that the money is in the pipeline I can only suggest you ask your bank for a temporary overdraft or loan.

t_a_2

Hi Uncertain

Thanks for your reply. I did chase with around five phone calls and numerous emails.

It's meant to be 'payday' from work today and they have not paid me for the time I worked leading up to the trial either. It's a large corporate firm, so I must say I'm surprised at their ignorance when dealing with jury service (I can't be the first out of 250 people in the London office).

Thanks again, I'll give the bank a call.

Kind regards
Terri

Edinburgh65

I had the misfortune to end up on a 6 month long trial a few years back.

Luckily my employer took the line that they would pay me in full throughout (although that brought its own problems, feeling obligated to go to work after court some days to cover essential tasks, having to go to work on days when the court was adjourned and everyone else went home etc...).

I thought that most employers made up the difference between what the court will pay for your time and your normal salary. i thought that it was a legal obligation for employer to release employees for jury service and make up any salary shortfall, but I am maybe wrong. I certainly do not see why any jurors should need to suffer in any way, when they are being press-ganged into service. The loss of time is bad enough in itself, and having to adjust your life to fit in with court attendance for a lengthy period of time has a long term effect on people. You should not have to be worrying about how you are going to be able to pay your mortgage on top of everything else.

Takeaway_Addict

Edinburgh65 wrote: »

I had the misfortune to end up on a 6 month long trial a few years back.

Luckily my employer took the line that they would pay me in full throughout (although that brought its own problems, feeling obligated to go to work after court some days to cover essential tasks, having to go to work on days when the court was adjourned and everyone else went home etc...).

I thought that most employers made up the difference between what the court will pay for your time and your normal salary. i thought that it was a legal obligation for employer to release employees for jury service and make up any salary shortfall, but I am maybe wrong. I certainly do not see why any jurors should need to suffer in any way, when they are being press-ganged into service. The loss of time is bad enough in itself, and having to adjust your life to fit in with court attendance for a lengthy period of time has a long term effect on people. You should not have to be worrying about how you are going to be able to pay your mortgage on top of everything else.

You are extremely lucky hat your employer paid you because as far as I was aware they didn't have to (https://www.gov.uk/jury-service/taking-time-off-work confirms my thoughts).

Why should employers pay you as normal for no work? Its equally not their fault you get 'press ganged' into jury service.

Edinburgh65

At the time when I was called, my employers took the line that it was their civic duty to release employees for jury service on full pay, and I was advised not to make a salary claim via the court (which I would have been entitled to do). That said, they had not previously had an employee disappear for six and a half months, and I believe that they changed their approach in light of the fact that they threw £9k down the pan paying me, when the court would have reimbursed me.

If I remember correctly, because I was not overly highly paid, in addition to the court reimbursing me for my salary, they would have also paid my employer to hire a temp to cover my role, but the trial was such a moveable feast that I simply had to catch up on work post court and upon my return to work.

It is not something that I will be doing again in a hurry! We were excused for double the length of time that jurors would be normally, but sorry, six and a half months out of anyone's time at short notice is going to be a once in a lifetime experience.

Takeaway_Addict

I quite enjoyed my jury service but then in two weeks that I had to do it I did it for 4 days lol!

And fair play to them for paying you but as you say they most likely will change this next time

Torry_Quine

Edinburgh65 wrote: »

I had the misfortune to end up on a 6 month long trial a few years back.

Luckily my employer took the line that they would pay me in full throughout (although that brought its own problems, feeling obligated to go to work after court some days to cover essential tasks, having to go to work on days when the court was adjourned and everyone else went home etc...).

I thought that most employers made up the difference between what the court will pay for your time and your normal salary. i thought that it was a legal obligation for employer to release employees for jury service and make up any salary shortfall, but I am maybe wrong. I certainly do not see why any jurors should need to suffer in any way, when they are being press-ganged into service. The loss of time is bad enough in itself, and having to adjust your life to fit in with court attendance for a lengthy period of time has a long term effect on people. You should not have to be worrying about how you are going to be able to pay your mortgage on top of everything else.

An employer has to release you for jury duty but is under no such requirement to pay you anything, although many do. If your employer doesn't then you claim the allowance set down by the courts, also allowances for meals and child-care. For most people this is a satisfactory amount.

Edinburgh65

Yes, to a point it is very interesting to see how the British legal system works, but it is also a real eye opener and not necessarily in a good way. I think most people do enjoy it to a degree (so long as it is not a gory or emotionally distressing case), and it is something that everyone should experience at some point in their life.

It does get pretty wearying having to (for example) waken up to two alarms for a long time just in case you sleep in, not being allowed to leave the court building for lunch, not being able to have a day's leave or a holiday, and not being able to go out much during the week even when there are birthdays etc because you need to be fresh in court. You start to feel like a prisoner yourself!

t_a_2

Hi All

Thanks for your thoughts.
My experience of late shows that jury service is an opportunity for everyone to share their anecdotes, and this forum is no exception!

I wish it was summer - I get home earlier than I do when I'm at work and could enjoy the garden. Instead I click the 'decline' option permanently when it comes to Christmas lunches and frivolity. I even went to 'wine tasting' on Wednesday where I had one sip of each for fear of turning up hungover and losing concentration! Such responsibility when you're a juror! The good news is, I can go back to normal in January....when everyone's broke and no one can share my glee of being able to relax with a glass of wine!

Thanks again for your help. It's a bum that I've not been paid by work for the days I have done, or for the jury service, owing to the delay. Suffice to say my BlackBerry has been off for the last few days.

Have a good weekend!

pinkshoes

I did 3.5 week jury service (murder trial!), and at the same time, a case was just finishing which had been going on for over 9 months! They took just 1 hour to find them not guilty!