Handling an Employee Jury Duty Summons

Helping your employees through the process of receiving a jury duty summons
By Emily Lugg So one of your employees came home to find a jury duty summons, and you have yet to complete that portion of your policies. Although jury duty doesn't happen every day, it is something that you need to have a company policy for when the time comes.

There are many things to consider when writing your jury duty summons information. Here are a few tips to help you develop your policy:

1. Research the law requirements in your state for jury duty summons.

2. Remember that jury duty can be difficult for you and your employee.

3. There are reasons that your employee can be excused from jury duty, but if they do not qualify for any of them they are required by law to attend.

Keep in mind that every state has different requirements for jury duty summons

First and foremost it is important that you meet your state's requirements as an employer of someone who has received a state jury duty summons. Each state, as the jury duty summons provider, has its own set of rules that employers must follow. For example, some states require you to pay your employees for the time they are at jury duty, while others don't. This is important information to have while writing your jury duty summons list of procedures.
Try:  A good place to start would be by visiting your local Department of Labor to find out what your minimum requirements are as an employer in your state. The Employment Law Information Network has sample policies for you to look at to get started once you have all the information on your state's requirements.

Remember when writing your policy on jury duty summons, your employee did not volunteer

Although it may present an inconvenience to your business, jury duty is a civic duty. Sometimes the summons does not always come at the best time, but consider how you could cope without the employee for a short period of time so they can serve the judicial system.
Try:  Personnel Policy Service offers a tool to help you develop not only your policy on jury duty but also your entire employee manual. The HR Specialist also offers ready-made sample policies that you can use to save yourself time developing them yourself.

Research what reasons will excuse your employee from his or her jury duty summons

Sometimes there are valid reasons that your employee cannot serve on jury duty. These, too, are important to know when developing your policy. Depending on the business that you are in, there may be a standing reason that your business cannot accommodate jury duty leave. There are also several person reasons, state by state, that disqualify people from serving.
Try:  U.S. Legal Forms provides letters that just require you to fill in the information stating why you would like to have your employee excused from jury duty. Another good resource for jury duty excuse sample letters is iSampleLetter.com.

• Consider the personal hardships that serving jury duty can provide for your employees. Help them through the process of either serving or being excused from their jury duty summons by looking at all of the policies with them -- not just how it affects you as their employer.