Can An Employer Refuse Jury Service Leave?

Can an employer refuse jury service in NZ? No - if your employee has been summoned for jury service, you generally can't refuse to let them attend.

That can feel stressful when you're already short staffed, especially if the employee is in a key role or the summons falls during a busy trading period. The good news is that you do have practical options. You can ask for evidence, plan temporary cover, and in some cases support the employee to apply for a deferral.

The key is to remember that the court decides whether jury service is deferred or excused. Your role is to respond reasonably, keep clear records, and make sure your business doesn't penalise the employee for doing something the law requires them to do.

Can An Employer Refuse Jury Service In New Zealand?

No, you can't simply refuse jury service or tell an employee to ignore a jury summons.

Jury service is governed by the Juries Act 1981. If someone is summoned, they're legally required to attend unless the court or the Ministry of Justice excuses them or defers their service. That obligation sits with the employee, not with your business.

From an employer's perspective, the safest approach is to treat jury service as a lawful absence. You shouldn't:

• tell the employee they aren't allowed to attend
• require them to use sick leave
• threaten dismissal or reduced hours because they have been summoned
• pressure them to resign or swap to contractor status
• discipline them for being unavailable during the time they're required at court

You can still manage your workplace. For example, you can ask the employee to give you a copy of the summons, update you on the likely dates, and let you know if they're released early on any day. What you can't do is make attendance conditional on your approval.

The Employment Relations Act 2000 also matters here. You and your employee need to deal with each other in good faith. That means being communicative, responsive and fair, even when the timing is inconvenient.

Can You Ask An Employee To Defer Jury Service?

Yes, you can ask an employee to consider applying for a deferral, but you can't force the outcome.

A deferral means the employee may serve at a later jury sitting, rather than on the dates in the summons. In New Zealand, the employee usually needs to make the request through the process set out in their jury summons. They may be able to ask for jury service to be moved to a later date, commonly within the next 12 months.

Your business can help by giving the employee a short support letter explaining why their absence would cause serious operational difficulty. For example, you might explain that:

• the employee is the only person qualified to operate a particular machine
• the summons falls during a critical stocktake, launch or audit
• you need time to train a temporary replacement for safety reasons
• there are already multiple staff absences on the same dates
• the employee's absence would leave a vulnerable client or essential service without cover

Keep the tone respectful. The letter should support the request, not suggest the employee is doing something wrong by attending.

Say Mike runs a small cleaning business in Hamilton. One of his supervisors, Ana, is summoned for jury service from Monday to Friday. Ana is rostered for 38 hours that week and supervises a team cleaning a childcare centre that requires a vetted site lead. Mike can't just refuse her leave. Instead, he asks Ana for a copy of the summons, gives her a support letter explaining he needs 10 business days to train another vetted supervisor, and asks whether she is comfortable applying for a deferral to a date eight weeks later. If the deferral is granted, Mike can plan cover properly. If it isn't, Ana still needs to attend, and Mike needs to cover the shifts another way.

Do You Have To Pay An Employee While They're On Jury Service?

No, New Zealand law doesn't generally require you to pay normal wages while an employee is away on jury service, unless their employment agreement or workplace policy, such as an employee handbook, says otherwise.

Jury service isn't the same as sick leave, bereavement leave or annual holidays under the Holidays Act 2003. Many businesses treat it as unpaid special leave. Others choose to pay ordinary wages, or top up the difference between the employee's normal pay and any juror payment they receive from the Ministry of Justice.

Your options usually include:

• Unpaid special leave: the employee is approved to be absent, but you don't pay wages for the hours they would otherwise have worked.
• Paid jury service leave: you keep paying ordinary wages for some or all of the period.
• Top-up pay: you pay the difference between the employee's ordinary pay and the juror attendance payment, if your policy allows for this.
• Annual holidays by agreement: the employee can choose to use annual holidays, but you shouldn't force this as the default response to a summons.

Whatever approach you choose, write it down clearly. If your employment agreements are silent, check whether you have a staff handbook, employee privacy handbook, past practice or manager emails that might have created an expectation of paid leave.

Also think about payroll treatment. If an employee is on unpaid leave for an extended period, it can affect annual holiday calculations under the Holidays Act 2003. A short period of jury service may not create much payroll complexity, but a long trial can. If the absence stretches beyond the first week, get payroll and employment advice before making assumptions.

What Evidence And Notice Can You Ask For?

You can ask for reasonable evidence and prompt notice, as long as you don't use the process to discourage the employee from attending.

A sensible approach is to ask the employee to tell you as soon as they receive the summons. The summons should state what they need to do and when they need to respond. You don't need to memorise the Ministry of Justice process, but your policy should ask staff to act promptly so you can plan cover.

You can usually ask for:

• a copy or photo of the jury summons
• the dates and court location listed on the summons
• confirmation of whether the employee is required for the full day or has been released early
• updates if the employee is selected for a trial that may run longer than expected
• confirmation of attendance, if you need it for payroll or leave records

Be careful not to ask for more information than you need. The Privacy Act 2020 requires you to collect personal information for a lawful purpose, keep it secure, and use it fairly. A copy of the summons may be enough. You usually don't need to know details about the case, the accused person, the parties, or what happens in the jury room.

Your policy should also tell managers where to save the document and who can access it. For example, payroll may need the dates for leave coding, but the wider team doesn't need a copy of the summons.

Can You Ask The Employee To Keep Working During Jury Service?

Sometimes, but only where it's practical, lawful and not inconsistent with the employee's court obligations.

If the employee is required at court, they need to be at court. You shouldn't ask them to take calls from the jury assembly area, answer customer emails during proceedings, or stay available in a way that could interfere with jury service.

That said, there may be limited situations where work is reasonable. For example:

• the employee is released by the court at lunchtime and can return to work for an afternoon shift
• the employee works a short evening shift after court, where that's safe and agreed
• the employee completes a handover before jury service starts
• the employee checks in with their manager at the end of each day to confirm whether they're needed at court the next day

Use common sense around fatigue and fairness. If someone has spent a full day at court, asking them to work a full night shift may create health and safety issues, especially in hospitality, construction, driving, healthcare or any role involving machinery.

A Practical Cover Plan

When you receive notice of jury service, work through these steps:

1. Confirm the dates: ask for the summons and likely attendance period.
2. Identify critical duties: list what only this employee can do, and what can wait.
3. Nominate a temporary lead: choose who will make decisions while the employee is away.
4. Move deadlines where possible: tell customers or suppliers early if timing may shift.
5. Prepare a handover: get passwords, client notes, open tasks and key contacts sorted before the first court date.
6. Set a check-in method: agree how the employee will update you if they're released early or selected for a longer trial.

This kind of process protects your business without putting unfair pressure on the employee.

What Should Your Jury Service Leave Policy Say?

Your policy should explain what staff need to do, what evidence you need, and how pay and cover will work.

This doesn't have to be a long document. In fact, a clear one-page policy is often better than a complicated clause nobody reads. The main goal is to avoid managers making inconsistent calls when someone is summoned.

Here is a useful outline you can adapt before getting it tailored to your business:

1. Purpose: state that the policy explains how your business manages jury service absences.
2. Who It Applies To: say whether it covers permanent, fixed-term, part-time and casual employees.
3. Notice Requirements: ask employees to notify their manager as soon as they receive a summons.
4. Evidence: list the documents you may request, such as the summons and attendance confirmation.
5. Pay During Jury Service: explain whether leave is unpaid, paid, topped up, or handled another way.
6. Deferral Requests: explain that the employee may apply to defer and the business may provide a support letter where appropriate.
7. Returning To Work: set out what happens if the employee is released early or not selected for a trial.
8. Longer Trials: require the employee to keep you updated if service may extend beyond the expected period.
9. Privacy: explain how summons and attendance records will be stored and used.
10. No Disadvantage: confirm the employee won't be penalised for attending jury service as required by law.

A template can be a helpful starting point, but it can easily miss the way your rosters, payroll and employment agreements actually work. Have the wording tailored before you roll it out, especially if you operate across multiple locations or rely heavily on casual staff.

What If Jury Service Causes A Serious Problem For Your Business?

If jury service creates a serious operational problem, start by gathering the facts and supporting a deferral request where appropriate.

Don't start with pressure, threats or disciplinary language. That can turn a manageable staffing issue into an employment problem. Instead, work through the issue calmly and keep records of your decision-making.

What To Do First

1. Ask for the summons: confirm the dates, court and expected service period.
2. Assess the impact: write down what work will be affected and why it matters.
3. Look for alternatives: consider shift swaps, temporary staff, overtime, contractor support, employee or contractor arrangements, or moving non-urgent work.
4. Talk to the employee: explain the issue and ask whether they're willing to apply for a deferral.
5. Provide a support letter: keep it factual and specific, with dates and operational details.
6. Plan for both outcomes: assume the deferral might be refused and prepare cover anyway.

If the employee is selected for a longer trial, update your plan. You may need to reallocate clients, pause lower-priority work, or bring in temporary cover for longer than expected. Keep paying the employee for any hours they actually work, and apply your policy consistently to the jury service absence.

If the situation involves a key employee, sensitive client commitments or a disagreement about pay, get tailored employment law advice early. It's much easier to fix the wording and process before decisions are made than after trust has broken down.

Key Takeaways

• You generally can't refuse jury service in New Zealand or tell an employee to ignore a jury summons.
• You can ask for reasonable evidence, including the summons, and you can ask for prompt updates so you can plan cover.
• You can support a deferral request, but the court or Ministry of Justice decides whether the employee is excused or moved to another date.
• New Zealand law doesn't generally require paid jury service leave, but your employment agreement, policy or past practice may create an obligation.
• A clear jury service leave policy helps managers handle evidence, payroll, privacy and temporary cover consistently.
• If the absence creates serious business disruption, focus on records, alternatives and a respectful support letter rather than pressure or threats.

If you'd like help with your jury service leave policy, employment agreement wording, temporary cover process, or employer obligations when staff are summoned, you can reach us at 0800 002 184 or team@sprintlaw.co.nz for a free, no-obligations chat.