Jury Duty

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networkn

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Topic # 229199 12-Feb-2018 13:57

Hi.

So a staff member from our very small team has been selected for a 2 weekmanslaughterr trial as part of jury duty. The timing for this couldn't be worse and having him out for 2 weeks seems pretty tough going.

Is there someone I can contact to talk to about that situation?

I assume not, but just in case.

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Reply # 1955722 12-Feb-2018 14:01

I know in the past when I came up I claimed hardship - as self employed I would not be able to pay mortgage, feed family etc if I lost 6 weeks income. They said no probs and cancelled it. I would hope a small business that had critical need for a staff member would also get a fair listen.

vexxxboy

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Reply # 1955727 12-Feb-2018 14:09

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it sounds like he/she has been selected to be on a jury, so in that case you need a really good excuse to get off and yours doesn't sound like one. you need to apply to be excused before the jury is chosen.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

KrazyKid

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Reply # 1955728 12-Feb-2018 14:09

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They seem to gave clamped down, but I know you can at least postpone it to a time that suits you better.

Think you (as an employer) have to just write a letter and they contact them (contact details on his letter).

they may be able to get out of it entirely even.

MikeAqua

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Reply # 1955755 12-Feb-2018 14:16

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Just say: "I'd make an excellent juror your honour. I can spot guilty people [snap fingers] like that - just by looking at them!".

Mike

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Reply # 1955756 12-Feb-2018 14:17

"And by the way, is the death penalty available?"

Andib

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Reply # 1955758 12-Feb-2018 14:21

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I'm assuming they have already been selected for the trial as they known what the case is about. As they have been selected to site on a trial the only person that can relieve them is the judge and doing so would require re-selection of the jury and a restart of the trial (if it started today).

The chances of getting off for something non serious would be pretty low due to the disruption of the trial.

xpd

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Reply # 1955760 12-Feb-2018 14:24

Last time (and this was prob 10 years ago now), I was in similar situation, I got called into Jury Duty, but we were a tiny (2 of us) company with a large number of clients - my being unavailable would have caused major issues. Boss wrote in and explained situation and they let me off.

Think Ive been called up 3x and yet to set foot in a court room.

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wellygary

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Reply # 1955761 12-Feb-2018 14:25

KrazyKid:

Think you (as an employer) have to just write a letter and they contact them (contact details on his letter).

This, The Employee who is selected needs to make contact with the court via the details they have been provided,

Here's a copy of what they have to fill in

https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Forms/jury-response-to-jury-summons-form.pdf

You can write them a letter to go back with it, ( and yip post appears the only way to reply)

sbiddle

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Reply # 1955776 12-Feb-2018 14:50

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The old days of people being let off simply by the boss writing a letter are long gone.

It's now incredibly rare to be let off in advance of the date and you'll typically need to make an application to the judge of the day where he/she will assess the situation and grant an exemption if they feel it will cause undue hardship to a person or company.

dryburn

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Reply # 1955779 12-Feb-2018 14:54

look like you should be able to get it deferred

"The law says you must let your employee do jury service. If there’s too much work on now, your employee can ask the court to put off (defer) their service until a later date within the next year. You’ll need to write a letter that your employee can show the court when they ask to put off their service."

https://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/jury-service/employers/

Geektastic

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Reply # 1955786 12-Feb-2018 15:03

From the MoJ website

A summons can only be deferred once. It can't be deferred again the next time the employee is summoned."

networkn

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Reply # 1955787 12-Feb-2018 15:05

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Yeah, so we defferred it, but it was set again for the same time I have another staff member away for 5 weeks and we can't defer again. I don't mind people completing their civil duty, I support that, but 2 weeks?

MikeB4

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Reply # 1955798 12-Feb-2018 15:18

when I was an employer it was a pain but the notice period is reasonable and allows time to plan around it. I did on occasion get a key project team member deferred and the process was uncomplicated. On a personal note I was permanently excused service due to my medical condition a few years back.

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kryptonjohn

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Reply # 1955800 12-Feb-2018 15:19

Imagine if you caught a long complex trial - a murder or corporate fraud case - it could run for months.

Beccara

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Reply # 1955801 12-Feb-2018 15:22

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What would you do if the employee fell ill or was involved in a car accident? I'd be thankful it's only 2 weeks and wasn't a larger and/or more complex case.

A few companies I worked for in Wellington had staff called into 6+ week trials, We always used it as a good test run for the business continuity plan to see how well we could cope and what we could improve if something less predictable occured

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