jury duty

Bmarrs

I'm trying to find Kansas law on the employer's requirements for honoring jury duty. Are any of you from Kansas?

We are trying to update our policies to cover outselves if someone were ever called into a very lengthy trial. We want to set limits on what we will cover.

I've found a regulation that says basically that you have to give them their job back - same conditions, seniority, pay, etc. But it doesn't say much else.

I'm not real clear if it means that you have to provide benefits during the jury duty. Also, it doesn't address pay. It appears that you do not ever have to pay them for the time they are gone. Does anyone know?

And is there ever a time limit when you don't have to take them back (i.e. they've been on a jury for six months)?

Thanks!

Brad Forrister

I'd say you can't take their job away to begin with.

This is available in the HR Answer Engine in the subscribers area.

KS 43-173

(a) No employer shall discharge or threaten to discharge any permanent employee by reason of such employee's jury service, or the attendance or scheduled attendance in connection with such service, in any court of Kansas.

...

(c) Any individual who is reinstated to a position of employment in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be considered as having been on furlough or leave of absence during such period of jury service, shall be reinstated to employee's position of employment without loss of seniority, and shall be entitled to participate in insurance or other benefits offered by the employer pursuant to established rules and practices relating to employees on furlough or leave of absence in effect with the employer at the time such individual entered upon jury service.

You're liable for retaliatory discharge if you fire/lay off an employee for serving on a jury in Kansas.

Brad Forrister
VP/Content
M. Lee Smith Publishers

POPEYE

Why would you not want to pay an EE for fulfilling their civic obligation? Think how it would reflect on your company not to mention the morale issue of your EEs.

If one of our EEs were to be on a lengthly trial, we would pay the difference between what the daily rate of the court was and their normal wages. We have almost 300 EEs and very rarely have one that serves more than a week or two at a time.

marc

The lengthy trial is the one that concerns me. We pay the differential between the jury fees and normal pay, except for the mileage reimbursement. But as a little bitty ole non-profit, we cannot afford to carry that differential for the long haul, accordingly, we limit the pay for two weeks. The EE is welcome to use vacation and well time until it expires - thereafter, they are on a leave of absence. That means they must pay their optional benefits and once the leave banks and paid portion of their leave expires, they must pay their own health insurance.

So far, knock on wood, we have yet to have a jury leave that last more than 6 days, but if we get an OJ trial or a federal grand jury situation, we have our limits set.

lorrie

We do not pay non-exempt employees for jury duty time. We have about 150 employees.

Their benefits continue as if they were on any other LOA. Our policy does not address any limits on time, so accordingly, they would be guaranteed a job according to law, but that's about all.