Time Off For Public Duties

As I have probably made too plain in previous articles, one of the worries I have is that with employees having the right to more and more time off work for perfectly legitimate purposes, one day there will be nobody left to turn the lights out, let alone make anything.

We have a stark reminder with the tragedy at Rover of what happens to companies who fail to compete effectively. That being said, many people voluntarily give up their time to carry out public duties that benefit society as a whole and employers are quite rightly legally required to allow employees who hold certain public positions reasonable time off to perform their duties.

Not all public duties are included in this right; there is a list of those that are. You would think that jury service would be one of the public duties included on the list, but it is not. However, employees summoned for jury service are normally required to attend court. An employer who refuses to allow an employee to serve as a juror could find himself in contempt of court. As from 6 April 2005 if an employee is dismissed for being absent for jury service, the dismissal will be automatically unfair. This might have massive repercussions for companies with employees summoned to serve in fraud trials – which can last for months.

Although most employers pay employees on jury service, there is no legal requirement to do so. An employee whose employer does not pay him can claim fairly modest allowances from the state.

If you are called for jury service and your employer tells you that he will not pay you, you can ask the court to let you off or defer sitting on a jury if it would cause you financial hardship.

So what functions are included on the list which entitles an employee to reasonable time off work for public duties? The key ones are magistrates; members of a local authority; police authority or health authority; members of the governing body of an educational establishment maintained by a local education authority; members of the General Teaching Councils or the Environment Agency; and members of the boards of prison visitors.

Essentially, the right is to reasonable time off to carry out your public duties, for example, to attend meetings.

How much time off is “reasonable” depends on how much time off has already been taken by the employee to carry out his public duties or for trade union duties, the circumstances of the employer’s business and the effect the employee’s absence will have on it.

Perhaps the saving grace for some employers and the difficulty for employees who are public spirited is that there is no obligation to pay an employee when he takes time off.

An employee who is refused time off for legitimate public duties can make a complaint to an Employment Tribunal within 3 months. If the Tribunal finds against the employer, it will make a declaration to that effect and may award the employee compensation.

Also, as I mentioned, it may be automatically unfair for an employer to dismiss an employee for having time off for jury service. However, there is a defence for the employer if it can show that the employee’s absence would have a substantial effect on its business.

Published 27/09/2006.