- What notice and evidence is required for leave taken in regard to jury duty?
- Employees must advise their employers of the period or expected period of leave as soon as possible. If an employee requests leave they need to provide evidence showing they attended jury selection or jury duty.
- How do we treat payment for jury duty?
- Under the NES, an employee, other than a casual employee, has to be paid ‘make-up pay’ for the first 10 days of jury selection and jury duty.
Make-up pay is the difference between any jury duty payment the employee receives (excluding any expense-related allowances) from the court and the employee’s base pay rate for the ordinary hours they would have worked.
There are two ways you might choose to manage this payment.
Option 1 – Simone was required to attend jury duty. She provided her employer with evidence that she had been paid $60 per day by the court. Simone’s base pay rate is $140 per day. Her employer paid her ‘make-up pay’ of $80.00 per day.
Option 2 – Ross was required to attend jury duty. Rather than being paid “make-up pay”, Ross entered into an agreement with his employer to be paid his base pay as per normal. Any payment Ross receives from the court (excluding any expense-related allowances) he will pass on to his employer.
- Are the rules the same in every State?
Jury Duty obligations are covered in the National Employment Standard. However, State and Territory laws continue to apply to employees where they provide more beneficial entitlements.
In Victoria for example, you must pay your employee the difference between the amount they receive for jury service and the amount they would reasonably expect to have earned had they been at work that day, and for the duration of the trial (even if it lasts longer than 10 days). This applies to permanent, part-time and casual employees, but not to independent contractors.