To think jury duty is going to ruin my summer plans

[sulkingaboutjuryduty]

Got my jury duty summons which I was fairly gutted about, having recently returned from mat leave, I'm a part time accountant and I love my job.

Asked to defer and was declined, so it starts on 16th August. I have a 15 month old and a 3.5year old, the 3.5 year old has 30 free hours which I use on my 3 working days and then the baby is with my mum. In six week holidays I was planning to take a mixture of annual leave, pay for holiday clubs and mum will help out a bit. Now there will be at least 2 weeks of their "school holidays" where I can't do anything with them, I've got to fork out for childcare over and above my working pattern and reading the leaflet, it doesn't qualify for claiming back?

My work have been great and said they will pay my normal salary so I won't need to claim loss of earnings but if I've got to put them in childcare it's going to cost me a fortune! My mum can't have them on my non working weekdays as she works, the baby will need a settling in period and the childcare setting I use require a months' notice to terminate so I'm looking at possibly six weeks nursery fee for her.
I'm just feeling like I will be significantly impacted by this.

[Spudlet]

When my stepdad did it, the one person who managed to get out of it was a farmer who had no one to do the milking. Could you use harvest time as your reason to defer - all hands on deck, working all hours, someone needs to be holding the fort and that someone is you?

Utter nightmare, I dread being called to do it.

[baxterstockman]

My friend was excused for childcare reasons about 6 or 7 years ago. She searched mumsnet for advice on how to get out of it!

[MrsFin]

I would love to do jury duty!

[wombat1a]

Can't you use the farm as a way out? We have managed to defer before when it was over harvest on the grounds that the harvest is a time/weather dependent event whereas there are juty cases all year round.

[Zzelda]

Somewhat absurdly my BIL is a lawyer and automatically barred from jury service despite not having been near a criminal court in nearly 20 years (I'm not saying he should, just absurd that I'm not when my whole working week is in a court room)

If he's in England, he isn't barred from jury duty.

[Posieandpip]

I'd 100% lie and say I was breastfeeding

[timeisnotaline]

I don’t see how they can make a parent enroll their child in childcare to attend jury duty?

[Xenia]

I think you should be excused but it sounds like that has been refused. They are assuming settling little children into a new childcare setting is just a practical matter. It is not. It is psychological and emotional. Once they are 5 and at school it is totally different. So even though it sounds like you will get £64 a day back from childcare (which is less than London nurseries by the day and plenty of nannies charge at least £10 an hour before tax so with travel into London and 12 hour days doing the service is more like £120 a day cost) it still probably could not cover the cost.

What about asking to do it in term time when the childcare is simpler?

It sounds like from what people say above they just don't turn up or claim to be ill on the day. I would not do that as it is dishonest, so may be there is a further appeals process you can use instead?

I have never once been called and yes lawyers (which I am) used in England to be excused but that rule went at least 10 years ago and I have never had the call (thankfully).

[Moonlaserbearwolf]

There must be a way you can defer (assuming you haven’t asked to defer before?). What reason did you use?
I’d also love to do jury duty and never been asked.

[RunningAlong]

If it helps I was called up for the beginning of June and got a phone call on the Sunday telling me I was no longer required.

[Patup5]

Surely they can’t force you to abandon your baby to childcare if you’d rather not do that, we’re not in a communist state.

Just keep writing back at them. Give all your reasons, ad nauseum. At some point it becomes easier for the pen pusher to give in rather than keep arguing.

[MagicSummer]

Notwithstanding OP's problem, it does concern me that people seem to be cheering people who have 'got out' of doing Jury Service. It is a public duty (and there aren't many opportunities to do those) and actually is a very interesting and rewarding experience. I have done two stints and found it a great opportunity to learn about the judicial process.

[junebirthdaygirl]

When you arrive there you may not be selected. Lots arrive and many have to leave as they are not needed. Also the case you are chosen for may be settled quickly so things may not be as bad as you fear.

[Patup5]

Oh and make clear you’d be happy to do your duty when circumstances allow.

[Sloth169]

You can definitely claim for extra childcare costs, I did in 2019 anyway!

[sparemonitor]

the standard advice is to carry a copy of the Daily Mail and when you arrive tell them how pleased you are to have been chosen because you're delighted to contribute to sending scumbags to jail - you know that anyone who ends up in front of a jury is clearly guilty.....

(tongue slightly in cheek, but you could answer the questions in a way to make it less likely that you get chosen.....)

[jessycake]

I can't believe that after all these years the courts don't offer a creche service , or dedicated childminders that live near the courts, or special arrangements with other providers. Its hardly condusive to a fair trial when parents of young children are so stressed about finding suitable cover .

[Sloth169]

And then I was selected for a 4 week trial, cited childcare reasons but that wasnt sufficient ‘excuse’ as pretty much everyone gave one reason or another as to why they should be excused, so ended up on the jury.

Really enjoyed it though, despite the ballache!

[sulkingaboutjuryduty]

I requested to defer due to childcare issues and due to timing clashing with harvest and I received a notification to say my deferral was refused and that I was required to attend on 16th August - there was no advice on further recourse?

So I think I will go on 16th and try to plead with them on the day - is that the next option available to me? MIL has said this morning I could leave baby with her but she will be driving backwards and forwards from the yard to the fields with diesel/lunch/repairs for the boys and so it won't be the best option for her.

I'm one of those people who likes planning and routine and so it's stressing me out that everything will be thrown up into the air for this.

I really support the concept of jury duty but it seems frustrating that there are so many people who would LOVE to do it, and so many of us forced to do it at a particular time which will make life a logistical nightmare.

[IamnotSethRogan]

If it makes you feel better, it's likely you may get dismissed after a week. My DH was summoned recently and him along with most of the others were.

They days were also very short. He was home by 1/2 pm most days

[lalalapurple]

I would appeal and say you can't get childcare for such a short period of time.

[Jellybabiesforbreakfast]

It doesn't sound very practical. Surely for the 15 month old, the nursery aren't just going to let you drop them there for full days...you'll need to do settling-in sessions and you might get called while during jury duty to pick them up from nursery if they're upset. I think I'd try writing again and explain this.

[CrimsonImp]

I think there really needs to be a way to modernise and improve how people are called up. About half the people I know who've been called up never actually sit on a jury after rushing around sorting the time off/childcare etc. and the amount you are given is derisory.

[sulkingaboutjuryduty]

@MagicSummer I think it also depends on what sort of case you get? We have a friend who had to go through counselling after her stint on a jury. Obviously she didn't divulge details of the case but it involved children and as a mother she found the whole process utterly harrowing and in no way interesting or rewarding.

[Nofruitta]

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