I.                   Jury Duty

a.       State regulations

                                                               i.      Your employer must allow you time off to serve on a jury.

1.      law. Section 230 of the California Labor Code

2.      The California Education Code (§§ 44037 and 8 7036) and Rule of Court 5.5(d)(7) protect teachers, other school employees, and students as well.

3.      If  harassed or fired, contact your local jury office or the judge assigned to your trial.

a.        If your employer has harassed you because of your service on a jury, contact the Department of Industrial Relation's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

                                                                                                                                       i.      You must complete a complaint form and turn it in to the Labor Board within six months from when the harassment happened

 

b.      Federal regulations

                                                               i.      Federal laws require employers to give employees time off to serve on a jury.

1.      employers may not discipline employees who properly take time off for jury or witness duty and should assume that they may be on jury leave for an indefinite time.

                                                             ii.      Federal law and most state laws do not require employees to be paid for time spent away from work because of jury or witness obligations.

1.      Employers should note that employees who are exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act must be paid for the whole week for any workweek in which they serve as a juror or witness and also perform actual work

2.      Employees do not have to be paid for any workweek in which they serve as a juror or witness and do not perform any work

 

C. Statistics

i.  70% of all employees have access to paid jury duty leave according to a 2003 Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey

ii. 87 % of employers offer paid leave for jury duty service.

D.     Controversial Issue

i. In July 2000 jurors began receiving $15 per day for jury service on the second day and every day of service thereafter. This–the first increase in 43 years–was the Judicial Council’s first step toward its goal of increasing juror fees to $40 per day.