Jury Duty-Help quick!! :)

jmpmo · June 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-03-03 AT 02:28PM (CST)[/font][p]If an employee is called for jury duty and we do not pay them for that, can we make them take any vacation or sick time they have or do they have the option of taking it unpaid? I am in Kansas if anyone can help or tell me where to look. Thanks

safety · June 2003

I would suggest searching the Kansas DOL web site.

jmpmo · June 2003

Thanks! I have been there and can't find anything and we don't have a current policy on it. I will keep checking.

lnelson · June 2003

If your policy is that it would be unpaid leave then I would give the employee the option to take it as vacation. If they do not want to do that then it is unpaid. But I am not in Kansas.

System · June 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-04-03 AT 07:37AM (CST)[/font][p]You don't mention whether your employee is exempt or non-exempt. If exempt, you can't deduct from pay or you could be in violation of the salary basis test...although I believe you could have a policy about extended (more than a week) jury service and not paying an exempt employee.

If your policy is not to pay for jury duty, then I think on non-exempt you give them a choice of using vacation time, but forcing it I think would be a morale issue for you ("I had no choice - doing my civic duty, etc").

We have a policy that pays for up to 10 days jury duty a year - with employee keeping what the court gives them. Anything exceeding 10 days would be reviewed by management.

Balloonman · June 2003

I agree forcing them to take vacation while on jury duty? That will go over like a lead balloon.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

jmpmo · June 2003

Thanks everyone for your help. The person is non-exempt and this is what I thought, but needed to hear it from someone else.

Thanks again.

lorrie · June 2003

We are in Kansas also. Our hourly employees are not paid for time off for jury duty, but we do no count the time against them on our attendance point system. We let them choose if the time is unpaid or if they wish to use their vacation time (if they have any available.)

SMace · June 2003

Am I the only one that is shocked that you don't pay for time off for jury duty. It is a civil duty that you cannot get out of. It happens infrequently. You can prove that they did serve on a jury. I know times are tight but doing that seems out of whack. What am I missing?

Also you pay salaried but not hourly? Let the hourly ee's figure that one out and your dead. They will not care about exempt/non-exempt rules.

jmpmo · June 2003

No we do not pay for jury duty, but believe me, with all our other perks and our company atmosphere, no one minds. We have a ton of other benefits and this is probably the best company I have ever worked for. No, we do not pay salaried employee's for jury duty either.

kcovalt · June 2003

According to the Employer's Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act exempt employees must be paid for jury duty unless they miss an entire week of work. It says "Employers may not deduct wages from employees who miss work while they are serving on a jury. However, employers may offset the money workers receive from the courts by only paying workers the difference between their jury stipend and their usual wages." If you don't pay exempt employees for jury duty time, you will be liable for overtime for them as they will lose their exempt status.

lorrie · June 2003

I agree that paying ALL employees for jury duty is a perk that would not cost the company a lot of money, but would go a long way toward good morale and employee loyalty.

I have this listed in my mental notes under 'Things I will change when I own the company.' x:D

2445428 · June 2003

I am not sure about Kansas, but in the state of Louisiana, employers may not deduct from a leave bank for any employee serving on jury duty. Also, an employer is required to pay for 1 day of work missed due to jury duty. Most employers within our jurisdiction pay the employee for every day of work missed and the employee reimburses the employer from payment received after serving on jury duty.

rad · June 2003

Check this out: its from the Kansans state website:

[url]http://www.hr.state.ks.us/home/html/cfaq.htm[/url]

rad · June 2003

sorry, can't spell today, I meant Kansas :-)

jmpmo · June 2003

Thanks

LFernandes · June 2003

In New York employers are required to pay hourly employees $40 for the first three days of jury duty. If it's longer than three days, they are paid by the court system.

LFernandes

Jury Duty-Help quick!! :)

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