Jury duty

[ThatsBullshirt]

A couple of weeks ago I got a jury duty citation and whilst it was a pain, I was fine doing it. Until there were school strikes scheduled for the same week and now I have zero childcare for my two young kids. DH cannot get off work as it is only him and one other person running the entire business and we have no family nearby that are available for full day childcare. I asked for an excusal and was told no and essentially told that as I hadn't actually been picked yet (won't even know if I'm needed until the night before) that they couldn't give me an excusal.

I honestly don't have any other option than to take my kids with me if they insist I go in. What will they do if I do that?

It hasn't changed, you do call the automated number the night before, but if all things are going ahead you will juts be told to wait for a call the next day.

Just to add, it's the clerk of court who will call but if they have already refused to excuse you it is unlikely they will do it on the call. They will expect you to have sorted out the issue by then. The call isn't for you to plead your case, it's for them to ensure everyone is available or when they should be.

I know that I call he automated number but in the past there was no second call the next day. You just got told to report for jury duty the next day at the time on your letter.

Also I was told in the email about my request that I would be able to speak to the clerk about my situation and if the had adequate numbers then they may be able to take my situation into consideration but it wasn't made clear when. Which is what I mean about pleading my case.

You don't go to court anymore for the ballot to be done, it's don't in your absence which is why you get a call in the moring of day 1, which is what the automated call the night before will tell you. It's basically the clerk of court counting heads remotely.

Fair enough if you were told you can plead your case but that isn't ordinarily how it works. By the day of the case you are usually expected to have your situation sorted or have been excused.

Like @LubaLuca I'd like to do jury duty but have never been called. What's more, I don't know anyone in my family who has ever done it.

My husband hasn't, our parents didn't, none of our siblings have, and nor have any of our adult children, nephews and nieces.

They always seem to pick people for whom it is inconvenient!

Your children must have school friends - have you asked any of their parents?
I often looked after children from my daughter's class in these types of cases.

Obviously you can't do jury duty with children in tow, but if you really haven't got any childcare, I'd take them with me - that way you've turned up!

DH wasn't needed for jury duty - they let him know four days before. Unfortunately, he'd cancelled all his meetings by then (couldn't be left to last minute) and briefed colleagues on covering certain things. He had an easy two weeks in the office!

You clearly haven't heard of Health and Safety at Work...

What are you talking about? He runs his own business

My dad runs his own business. But it's still not appropriate or safe to take children onto some of the sites. OP's dh delivers things. We don't know what or where to.

We get stuff delivered to prisons, hospitals, building sites, warehouses. Children strictly not allowed.

I often have delivery drivers with kids in the front seat, it's not ideal but clearly they had childcare issues. But as someone said schools will be open for key workers and other vulnerable kids so I'm sure they will take yours too.

You won’t get through the security gates with anyone under 18 at some of our sites.

and not all schools will be open for children of key workers. Only where possible.

@Doggymummar

I often have delivery drivers with kids in the front seat, it's not ideal but clearly they had childcare issues.

Often happens doesn't mean remotely acceptable

The whole jury service system needs an overall, it can leave people badly out of pocket, and that's before you get to all the child care issues it causes

What are you talking about? He doesn't run his own business.

After a lot of changing of other people's plans and reorganising to help me out I have fortunately managed to sort childcare should I be called up. I've done it before (pre-kids) and it was far less hassle then with only myself, my husband and the dog to think of back then!

But for a variety of reasons I wasn't able to ask school mums, friends, many of my family members and work colleagues. Our school building will be shut so that wasn't an option either. Not everyone has a large network of people who are willing and able to take care of children, especially at short notice, so it was a difficult situation for me.

Thank you to everyone who was genuinely helpful.

It depends on where you live. I'm pretty sure the whole adult population of Edinburgh has been called up at some point. People were forever having to take time off work there for it. Living elsewhere, I only know two people total who've ever been called.

@LubaLuca I was called up twice within about 5 years. My first one was a double murder, with pictures and audio.

16 years ago my dad was called for jury duty for the first time. 4 months later my husband was called, 2 months after that I was called. 3 months after me my mum was called. My sister was most put out that she never got called up.😂