Jury service questions

[EmmaStone]

Hi Everyone, for the first time, I've just received jury summons, to commence 19 December.

How does this work with Xmas holidays and bank holidays? Do the Crown Courts shut between Xmas and New Year? Will it drag into the New Year to cover the 10 working days?

I've just asked my line manager and HR manager how this works, I don't think I can afford to not be paid, is that grounds to be excused? I'm happy enough to do it, but will be miffed to 'lose' holidays already booked (albeit at least I know those days will be paid...).

Oh, and also, what happens if you're sent home on a day, do you then go into work? Do you try and work remotely while waiting around?

I’ve done jury service twice, so this is based on my experience.
The court will pay a daily allowance, up to a ceiling. If you earn above the ceiling, it depends on your employer as to whether you will lose out financially. With my first time, my employer told me to claim the daily maximum and then paid me the difference so I wasn’t out of pocket. Second time around, with a different employer, they just paid my full salary. I was pleasantly surprised! The court also pays travel expenses. Obviously keep tickets, receipts etc, but the Court will give you detailed instructions for all of this.

For the days when you get sent home, whether you then go into work would depend on what’s practical and what you can agree with your manager.
My last time was during lockdown so when the court was not sitting, I just worked from home as usual. If you try to work remotely from the Court building, it might be quite disjointed or distracting as you come in and out of Court, or sit in a crowded room waiting to be called. So it depends on what type of work you do as to whether this would be feasible.

My first time included a bank holiday Monday, so it was just a 9-day stint. Not sure how this would work for Christmas though.

Some people are exempt because of their jobs. Otherwise you can ask for a deferral, but only once and then I think you have to do it.

Your HR will probably have dealt with this before so they’ll be able to advise. Good luck!

When I did it:

Flat rate per day for food - about £6 I think. No receipts needed.

They paid for extra childcare needed - I sent an invoice from my mum 🤣

Could have claimed loss of earnings but I got paid full salary.

Could have worked on a laptop if not callled to a case but you're not reliable enough to have meetings etc - you are at the whim of the courts time frames and just have to sit and wait around a lot.

Things I didn't know - your full name gets read out when selecting the jury, in front of the defendant. I changed my name on Facebook immediately afterwards. There's no separate entrance for jurors - you queue for security along with defendant & their families. It felt a bit intimidating at times. Court systems are slow and police / solicitors make mistakes. Obvious questions were not asked in my case. We have some prerecorded evidence to watch and no one could work the DVD player. There was lots of time sitting around waiting for others - take a book every day!