Jury Service / Community Service Leave Policy
Policy Statement
Jury Service/Community Service Leave is an entitlement prescribed by the National Employment Standards of the Fair Work Act 2009.
Jury Service
Uniting Church SA personnel (excluding volunteers) who receive a summons for jury service, pursuant to the Juries Act 1927, will continue to receive their normal salary in respect of the ordinary time they would have worked had they not been on jury service.
Make-up pay is the difference between:
- any jury service pay the personnel receives (excluding any expense-related allowances), and
- the employee’s base rate of pay for each hour (or part hour) they would have worked, excluding separate entitlements such as incentive-based payments and bonuses, loadings, monetary allowances, overtime and penalty rates.
Personnel will notify their manager/supervisor as soon as they are aware of the date they are required for jury service. Personnel will also be required to collect a “Certificate of Juror” form from the Office of the Sheriff of South Australia as proof of attendance.
Before paying make-up pay, Uniting Church SA may ask the personnel to provide the following reasonable evidence, such as:
- The time they claim jury service pay.
- Of the total amount of jury service pay that has been paid.
- Of the total amount of jury service pay that is payable, for the period.
Personnel who are required for jury service at a time when they would have been on annual leave or long service leave may either:
- change the dates of their leave where appropriate, or
- apply to the relevant Court Authority for jury service to be deferred.
Personnel who need to make an application to the relevant Court Authority for deferral of their jury service will be expected to avoid suggesting times that are likely to cause undue hardship to the workplace such as in times of peak workload.
Personnel attend work when not required for jury service on the notified day(s), except where personnel have less than one hour of work remaining for that day, or as otherwise agreed with their manager/supervisor.
Leave granted for jury service will not constitute a break in employment service.
Casual Personnel
During the duration of jury service, casual personnel will be paid on a weekly average hourly basis, based on the previous three (3) months average hours worked. This entitlement reflects the view of Uniting Church SA that jury service is a civic responsibility and Uniting Church SA is committed to adequately compensate personnel for lost time at work to fulfill this responsibility.
Community Service Leave
Uniting Church SA personnel (including casuals and volunteers) are entitled to take leave to carry out certain community service activities. A ‘voluntary emergency management activity’ is where all of the following apply:
- The activity deals with an emergency or natural disaster.
- The employee engages in the activity on a voluntary basis.
- The employee is a member of, or has a member-like association with a ‘recognised emergency management body’.
- The body requests the employee to engage in the activity, or it would be reasonable to expect that such a request would have been made.
The service must be with a recognised emergency management body, such as the State Emergency Service, Country Fire Service or RSPCA (in respect of animal rescue during emergencies or natural disasters).
There is no set limit on the amount of community service leave personnel are entitled to. Personnel are entitled to take leave for an amount of time reasonable in the circumstances while engaged in the activity, including travelling time associated with the activity and rest time immediately following the activity.
Personnel must provide the following to their manager/supervisor:
- Notice of the leave.
- The period or expected period of leave.
- If requested, reasonable evidence that the personnel is entitled to the leave.
Community service leave is unpaid except for jury service.
Executive Officer, Resources Board