paulr

Hi,
Got called up for Jury service (again). Hope i'm on the "David Cameron impersonating a potential Prime Minister case".

Seriously,I work 4 on-4 off.When i'm on jury service my shifts are wed-Sat. I'll miss the Wed-Fri ones as i'm in court,but should i also miss the Saturday shift. I'll be doing the mon+tue on my days off so thats 5 days done already. I know my boss will want me to do saturday, but i need time off.
Anyone else been in the same situation?

totalllama

I work shifts too and generally get ****ed over in that kinda situation. If i have a hospital appointment they make me go there then come in for an 8+ hour shift. You shouldnt but you probably will get sucked in.

Jamie

Tell the court you have just got an asbo

Sgt_Pepper

You can generally get out of it pretty easily if you write them your reasons.

jods

Just don't turn up wearing a Hijab and listen to an MP3 Player.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Difficult to get out of due to changes in the law.........I used to be exempt but now can be called up

Midlife.....

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

i thought you could only be called once

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Nope... once you've done it, you're exempt for two years, then your name goes back into the lottery.

They say it typically lasts two weeks, so if you work the Saturday shift then you're still only talking about a couple of short weekends.

How do you know you'll be available to work shifts on Mon and Tues though? Jury service is a full working week (Mon-Fri), they only promise to let you know the day before whether you'll be needed in Court on a particular day.

StickyMicky

i`m exempt forever as i have been naughty in the past

paulr

Two weeks, i thought it was one week?

As for doing it i dont mind. Its your duty as a citizen.

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

i wondered why i was never called

StickyMicky

we must have been naughty together

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

the mind boggles

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I got called up myself a couple of months ago, so I've read all the blurb in the information pack they send out. (Thankfully they called me the week before to say they had more than enough people and that I wasn't needed after all).

You should expect to serve two weeks. If it's going to be any longer, you'll be invited to submit your case if there's any reason why you can't stay on.

If you suffer loss of earnings through not being able to work while on the jury, you can claim for them - but there's a cap on the amount you can claim and, frankly, it's a pittance. How they expect any professional person to remain objective and unbiased whey they're losing money hand over fist every day escapes me - but the best bit is that you can claim a higher rate if the trial goes on for more than 200 days. Yes, that's right, two hundred.

Here's hoping you get a nice, straightforward armed robbery and not something more likely to drag on... good luck.

B9GLY

i dont think you should have to do it! there should be people employed to do it.

Leslie

The whole point is that they are not professional jury personnel and not liable to any particular from of bias. It is indeed a public duty too.

I think it is very bad if they don't give fair compensation for loss of earnings. All the members of the authorities get heavily compensated for any thing else such as travel and subsistence allowances.

Les

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I've been twice, the first time I only got into court the once and was not selected, (it's done by drawing numbers out of a hat). The second time I WAS in court, for three days, and it was quite interesting. Rest of the time you are sat twiddling your thumbs. Take a good book

BOTH weeks I only did Mon-Thurs though as Fridays were reserved for sentencing etc. We also reckoned the judge wanted away for an early weekend start

Alcazar

paulr

Thanks for the replies. Reading the notes it is two weeks.