Been called for jury duty - what if I have holiday booked?

[cokezero26]

Hi all. Been called in July for jury duty. I don’t have an actual holiday booked but wanted to book in annual leave for the week after the jury duty.
My question is, if it does go on for longer than that week then can I be excused with having annual leave booked? I know I’m not going anywhere but I certainly don’t want to spend annual leave as a juror!

I don't think you would be excused in those circumstances, no.

When I served recently we were asked if there was any reason that we couldn’t serve longer then the 2 weeks, and if so what that reason was.

I think you can only be excused if you have booked the holiday? Does the letter not give any info?

I think you’d be silly to knowingly book something for the week after. I know someone who got called up, allocated to a terrorism trial, and was off work for four months…

No. You have no evidence to show.

When I got called for jury duty I did have an actual holiday booked. There was an option on the form to say I couldn’t do due to holiday etc but I had to send a list of dates I couldn’t do over the next 6 months or a year (can’t remember exact period) and it said when I was called again I couldn’t be able to defer, I was called again within the time frame

You can only be excused from jury service once if you can prove that you had a holiday booked before the date of the jury service letter.

A friend of mine got called to do Jury Service straight after her holiday meaning she could’ve been off work for 4 weeks. She rang them and they asked for other dates she would be available in the next 6 months. In fact it worked out better as she was originally asked to go to The Old Bailey in London, but has now been given a Court nearer to where she lives. She didn’t have to provide evidence of holiday

Just ask for a deferred date. Pick one after your leave. I deferred because I didn't want to travel in the winter and that was accepted.

DH was called for jury duty in May last year - we did have a holiday booked , and stated this on the form , but weren’t asked for any proof .
As Morph22010 said above , he was called a second time exactly 6 months later , and this couldn’t be deferred.

In my experience (England not Scotland if that makes a difference) almost any reason seems to be accepted if you ask to defer. It can become a problem if it looks like you’re trying to wiggle out of jury service, though.

Jury service was one of the most interesting experiences I’ve had.. just do it.

When they initially select you but before you have exact dates you are supposed to declare any booked holiday so presumably that stage has already happened. It would be quite silly to book something now that could be disrupted though.

Can you speak to your employer, who will be having to deal with your absence anyway, and say that however long the actual trial is you will want a few days of leave afterwards before returning to work, there should be the flexibility to make that happen.

Don't book any travel/hotel though, you can see what last minute deals are available once you are released.

Taking part in this is a really important part of democracy. Yes it is inconvenient but having this inconvenience is intrinsic to being a free people, where ordinary people like you and me make these important decisions rather than the decisions being the privilege of an elite.

I did jury service and when we were called into court the judge stated that the trial would last three weeks and he wouldn’t excuse anyone unless they could show they had a holiday booked.