Jury Duty

KCHR

We have an Exempt employee looking at a possible long-term jury duty situation. I know if he is gone for an entire week, we do not have to pay him. My question is, if he works partial weeks, can we use his remaining PTO if the case drags on for a while? What if the jury gets sequested? What are the companies responsibilities then? We are a small firm and this has not come up since before I was here.

POPEYE

We pay all employees, exempt and hourly the difference betweeen what the court pays and their normal weekly income. Why would you punish someone by not paying them to perform their civic duties? IMHO, that sends a pretty pitiful message about your companies attitude toward the community.

KCHR

I guess what I am trying to figure out is what the law requires vs. what companies typically do. I also want to know what happens in a worst-case scenario, i.e, a management level employee is tabbed to serve on a case like the Michael Jackson or the CIA Leak that drags on for months, with the jury or grand jury sequested the whole time.

marc

I think this is determined by State Law. In Nevada, you cannot fire a person for doing jury duty, but you do not have to pay them, nor even return them to the same job. You can replace them - you do not have to suffer as a company.

We limit the paid time to 7 Business Days, thereafter, they must use vacation time if they want a paycheck. In our case, as a little bitty non-profit, we cannot afford to pay the EE and pay a temporary replacement too.

Gillian3

As far as what is normally done, this is all across the board. Employers will provide time off because they have to, but some provide limited pay. Some pay nothing. If there are any trends, I would think that the smaller the company, the less the pay, and government agencies have the most liberal policies.

atrimble

>I would think that the smaller the
>company, the less the pay, and government
>agencies have the most liberal policies.

If we're typical of a government agency, I'd completely agree (though we're very small)! Not only do the employees get to keep their jury pay, but we pay them as if they were at work (including paying overtime, if they work outside their schedule). We do have a provision that employees must compromise on this if they're to be involved in a long term trial or jury duty situation. The E.D. is prepared to allow employees to use paid time off OR to elect unpaid leave (since some of that federal duty pays at about the same rate per day that we pay...).

atainc

KCHR

I ran into this situation recently with a $40 an hour Engineer and our state law (TN) requires employers to pay for time spent on Jury Duty minus any fees (employer's discretion) they are paid. Fortunately I was able to get them excused due to them being the only Engineer on this particular job. Check your state law and see what is required. We too are a small firm and I know that this type of absence (even though it is a civic duty) can be a financial hardship.