Leave for witness duty
Policy
For full details on this leave type please refer to the special leave policy.
Members of staff who receive a summons to attend court as a witness for up to four weeks will be entitled to paid leave to attend court. As they will be paid their full salary, there will be no requirement for members of staff to claim loss of earnings from the Court.
If the witness duty extends to four weeks or more, the individual will be required to claim for loss of earnings.
Inform your line manager as soon as you are notified that you are required to attend court.
Your line manager will update your absence records on your behalf.
Attending work during witness duty
You will be expected to attend work on any full day when you are not required in court. If you are not required to attend court for part of a day, you will be expected to attend work if it is reasonably practicable to do so, e.g. if travel time from court to work allows it.
Witness duty process
Staff guidance
You must notify your line manager as soon as you have been requested to attend court.
Your line manager will update your absence records on your behalf.
Pay
You will be paid for periods up to 4 weeks to attend court.
Witness duty of more than 4 weeks
You will be paid as normal while serving as a witness.
You will need to claim for loss of earnings if the case is expected to extend beyond 4 weeks. See "Pay arrangements during Jury / Witness Service of four weeks or more" within the Special Leave [pdf] policy.
Attending work during witness duty
You will be expected to attend work on any full day when you are not required in court. If you are not required to attend court for part of a day, you will be expected to attend work if it is reasonably practicable to do so, e.g. if travel time from court to work allows it.
Manager guidance
You may need to arrange for cover during your member of staff's witness service.
Update the Staff Hub and the TeamSeer absence management records to reflect the witness service period.
Witness duty of more than 4 weeks
Your staff member will need to claim for loss of earnings if the case is expected to extend beyond 4 weeks. See "Pay arrangements during Jury / Witness Service of four weeks or more" within the Special Leave [pdf] policy.
Attending work during witness duty
Staff are expected to attend work on any full day when not required in court. If staff are not required to attend court for part of a day, they will be expected to attend work if it is reasonably practicable to do so, e.g. if travel time from court to work allows it.