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EMPLOYEE OUT ON JURY DUTY FOR THREE WEEKS AND COUNTING, WHAT CAN EMPLOYER DO?

QUESTION: One of our workers was called to jury duty in a federal case. He’s been out for three weeks, and the case is still going. Meanwhile, work is not being done, we’re getting far behind, and we’re out his salary while he’s sitting in court. What are our obligations to a worker serving on a jury?

ANSWER: Michigan Law does not require employers to pay employees while they are on jury duty. However, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, salaried workers must be paid if they are absent from work for less than a week. No pay is required for hourly workers summoned to jury duty. Many employers – like you — recognize the importance of jury duty, however, and choose to pay workers called to serve. But employers often limit paid leave for jury duty to one or two weeks, after which it is unpaid.

Employers may ask for verification of jury duty and may even ask employees to sign over to the employer the amount they receive from the court for their jury service, if the employer allows paid time for jury duty.

What you absolutely cannot do is threaten to discharge or discipline or to discharge or discipline an employee who is “summoned for jury duty, serves on a jury, or has served on a jury.” To do so is a crime under MCL 600.1348(1), and may also be punished as contempt of court.

In addition, if your employee spends part of the day on jury duty, he or she cannot be asked to work more than their usual and customary number of hours for that day, when combined with the time spent on jury duty – unless the employee voluntarily agrees to work the extra hours or the arrangement is sanctioned in a collective bargaining agreement. Without voluntary consent or a collective bargaining agreement, asking the employee to work the extra hours on top of jury duty is a misdemeanor and may be punished as contempt of court.

If your company has an established policy of paying its workers who serve on juries, you should continue to follow that policy, although you are free to revise it – prospectively! Changing the rules now, to avoid paying the salary for one employee, could result in a lot of bad feeling and, at worst, litigation.

The lawyers at GWINN TAURIAINEN PLLC are experienced attorneys and are happy to answer your questions. Give us a call for a free initial telephone consultation about your legal needs. For consideration of your questions in our web column, please submit your inquiry on the “Contact Us” page of our website at www.gwinntauriainenlaw.com.

Information provided on “Ask the Lawyer” is current as of the date of publication. Laws and their interpretation are subject to change. The material provided through “Ask the Lawyer” is informational only; it should not be considered legal advice. Submitting a question to “Ask the Lawyer” does not create an attorney-client relationship between the person submitting the question and GWINN TAURIAINEN PLLC. To view previous columns, please visit our website.

GWINN TAURIAINEN PLLC, is a Troy based law firm representing clients from Warren, Sterling Heights, Ferndale, Royal Oak, Oak Park, Oakland and Wayne Counties and all of Southeast Michigan

ASK THE LAWYER
By: Daniel A. Gwinn, Esq.
Attorney and Counselor at Law
GWINN TAURIAINEN PLLC
901 Wilshire Drive, Suite 550
Troy, MI 48084
(248) 247-3300
(248) 247-3310 facsimile
[email protected]
http://www.gwinntauriainenlaw.com/