Jury Service Leave In New Zealand: Employer Obligations And Employee Rights

Getting a jury summons can throw a small business roster into chaos, especially if you run a lean team, operate on shifts, or rely on one key person to keep things moving day to day.

The good news is that jury service leave doesn’t have to become a messy workplace issue. With a clear understanding of your obligations (and a simple policy you can apply consistently), you can support your employee, protect your business, and avoid legal risk.

In this guide, we’ll walk through how jury service leave generally works in New Zealand, what you can and can’t do as an employer, and what a sensible “best practice” policy looks like for SMEs.

What Is Jury Service Leave (And Why It Matters For Small Businesses)?

Jury service leave is the time an employee needs off work to attend court as a juror after being summoned for jury service.

From a business owner’s perspective, jury duty is a bit different from other types of leave because:

• It’s not optional for the employee (unless they’re excused or have their service deferred).
• It often arrives with limited notice, which can make coverage difficult.
• The length is uncertain (it could be a day, a week, or longer depending on the trial schedule).
• It’s governed by specific legal protections around how you treat the employee while they’re serving (including protections against dismissal or disadvantage because of jury service).

Like many workplace issues, the biggest risk isn’t the jury duty itself - it’s what happens around it: misunderstandings about pay, pressure to use annual leave, or accidental “punishment” (like reducing shifts) that could create an employee relations problem.

Quick Note: This Article Is General Information

Employment obligations can vary depending on the employee’s role, hours, and what you’ve agreed in writing. It’s always worth getting tailored advice (especially if the absence will materially impact operations or you’re considering changes to duties/hours).

Do You Have To Give Employees Time Off For Jury Service Leave?

Generally, yes: if an employee is required to attend jury service, you should treat this as a legitimate absence and accommodate their attendance.

The key point for employers is this: you generally shouldn’t prevent an employee from attending jury service if they’re legally required to attend. Jury service is a civic obligation, and New Zealand law also protects employees from being dismissed or disadvantaged because they’ve been called up or are serving.

While your business can experience real disruption, the obligation to attend comes from the court system, not from the employee “choosing” time off.

What Should You Ask The Employee To Provide?

It’s reasonable (and common) to ask your employee for basic documentation so you can manage rostering and payroll properly, such as:

• a copy of their jury summons letter; and
• any updates from the court about attendance days/times or excusal/deferral.

Keep your request simple and consistent. You’re not trying to interrogate the employee - you just need enough information to plan.

Can You Ask The Employee To Seek A Deferral Or Excusal?

You can have a conversation with your employee about the operational impact and ask them to consider applying for a deferral (for example, if they’re the only qualified staff member for a critical function).

However, it’s important to keep this genuinely optional. The decision sits with the courts, and employees are protected from being pressured, punished, or treated unfavourably because they’ve been summoned or are serving.

A good approach is:

• Explain the dates that would be most manageable for the business (if relevant).
• Ask whether they’re open to requesting a deferral.
• Support them with any information the court requires (for example, a letter confirming staffing constraints).

Pay And Entitlements: Do You Have To Pay Employees During Jury Service Leave?

This is where small businesses often get stuck, because jury service leave isn’t automatically treated the same way as sick leave or annual leave.

In New Zealand, jurors may be paid an allowance/fee (commonly through the Ministry of Justice process). Whether you must pay your employee while they’re on jury service leave is not automatic and often depends on:

• what their employment agreement says;
• any workplace policy or past practice you’ve established; and
• how you handle similar civic obligations in your business.

If you haven’t addressed it in writing before, it’s worth doing so going forward in an Employment Contract or a clear policy (more on that below).

Common Pay Approaches NZ Employers Use

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for SMEs. What we commonly see is one of the following models:

• Unpaid leave from the employer (the employee relies on juror payments from the court system).
• Employer pays normal wages, employee keeps juror payments (simple for payroll, generous for retention).
• Employer “tops up” wages (employee receives juror payments, employer pays the difference so they’re not out of pocket).

From a best practice perspective, the “top up” model is often seen as a fair compromise - but it needs to be documented clearly so everyone understands how it works.

What About Part Days Or Shift Work?

Jury duty doesn’t always take a full day. Sometimes jurors are released early or not required every day.

A practical policy usually covers questions like:

• If the employee finishes jury duty by midday, do they return to work?
• If they’re on a night shift, does jury duty during the day make it unsafe/unreasonable for them to work that night?
• If they’re not selected for a jury that day, should they return to work?

These details matter because inconsistent decisions can quickly feel “unfair”, even when you’re trying to be reasonable.

Also keep in mind your wider health and safety obligations - fatigue management isn’t just a “nice to have” if your employee drives, operates machinery, works with the public, or performs safety-critical tasks. (This overlaps with your general duty of care as an employer.)

What You Can’t Do: Managing Jury Service Leave Without Creating Legal Risk

When you’re under staffing pressure, it can be tempting to “solve” jury duty by pushing the absence into another leave bucket or making roster changes that reduce disruption.

That’s exactly where employers can accidentally create exposure.

Can You Force Employees To Use Annual Leave For Jury Service Leave?

In most situations, you should not treat jury duty as annual leave by default or pressure an employee to “use annual leave” so they still get paid.

Annual leave has its own rules around when it can be required, notice periods, and agreement. If you’re considering directing annual leave (or dealing with an employee request to use annual leave), make sure you understand the rules first - Can An Employee Be Forced To Take Annual Leave?

A safer approach is to have a specific jury duty clause/policy that spells out:

• whether the leave is paid or unpaid;
• whether “top up” pay applies; and
• what happens when the employee is not required at court on a particular day.

Can You Reduce Shifts Or Change Hours Because They’ve Been Summoned?

Be careful here. If the employee’s hours are reduced (or their role is changed) because they have jury service obligations, it can look like the employee is being disadvantaged for fulfilling a legal duty (which is specifically risky given the protections around jury service).

If your operational needs genuinely require you to adjust coverage, do it transparently and fairly, and document the business reason. If you’re considering any longer-term changes to hours due to staffing gaps, it’s worth reading up on the correct process for reducing staff hours.

Can You Ask Them To Work Extra Hours To “Make Up” The Time?

You can discuss operational needs and ask for help where reasonable, but avoid framing it as a penalty.

If you do agree on extra hours, be mindful of overtime expectations and what your agreements/policies allow. Some businesses use Time Off In Lieu arrangements to balance workloads, but these need to be handled carefully and consistently.

Best Practice: How To Create A Jury Service Leave Policy That Works In Real Life

If you employ staff, a simple written policy can save you a lot of back-and-forth when the next summons comes in.

You can include this in your staff handbook or broader Workplace Policy suite, and cross-reference it in your employment agreements so expectations are clear from day one.

1) Set Out The Notification Process

Your policy should state:

• how soon the employee must tell you once they receive a summons;
• what documents they must provide (eg summons notice); and
• how they should keep you updated if the court schedule changes.

This is especially useful if you run rosters weeks in advance.

2) Decide Your Pay Position (And Keep It Consistent)

Choose one approach and apply it consistently across your team. For example:

• Unpaid jury service leave (with the employee receiving juror payments); or
• Paid jury service leave (full pay); or
• Top up pay (employee keeps juror payments and you pay the gap up to ordinary wages).

Whichever model you choose, define:

• whether it applies to casuals/part-timers the same way as full-timers;
• how you calculate “ordinary wages” (especially for employees with variable hours); and
• what evidence you need to confirm days attended.

From a practical perspective, consistency is your best protection against “why do they get that and I don’t?” disputes later.

3) Cover Partial Attendance And Return-To-Work Expectations

Spell out what you expect if the employee is not required at court on a day, or is released early. A common (and workable) approach is something like:

• If the employee is released early enough to reasonably attend work, they should contact their manager to confirm whether they should return.
• If returning to work isn’t practical (eg travel time, fatigue, shift timing), the employee should confirm their next rostered shift and any coverage plan.

This keeps it flexible, without leaving it vague.

4) Address Confidentiality And Workplace Conduct

Employees should understand that jury service involves confidentiality and appropriate conduct. You don’t need to go overboard, but your policy can remind them that:

• they must comply with court directions; and
• they shouldn’t discuss sensitive trial details at work or on social media.

This is also a good time to ensure your wider workplace conduct expectations are clear.

5) Plan For Business Continuity (So You’re Not Scrambling)

Jury duty is unpredictable, so it’s worth having a lightweight contingency plan ready. Depending on your business, that might include:

• training a second staff member on key tasks (“single point of failure” risk is real in small teams);
• keeping contractor or temp options in mind for short-term coverage;
• cross-training for customer-facing roles (so your service doesn’t drop); and
• reviewing handover processes and access to systems (passwords, approvals, etc.).

Even if you don’t implement all of this, having a plan reduces stress and helps you respond fairly when an employee needs jury service leave.

Key Takeaways

• Jury service leave is a legitimate absence tied to a legal obligation, and employers should accommodate the employee’s required attendance (with protections in place against dismissal or disadvantage because of jury service).
• Whether you must pay an employee during jury duty often depends on your employment agreement, policies, and what you’ve communicated and applied consistently in the past.
• Be cautious about forcing annual leave, reducing shifts, or “penalising” an employee because they’ve been summoned - even unintentionally.
• A clear jury service leave policy should cover notification, documentation, pay approach (unpaid/paid/top up), partial days, and return-to-work expectations.
• Building your jury duty approach into your employment documents and policies helps you stay consistent, reduce disputes, and keep operations steady.

If you’d like help reviewing your employment agreements or putting a clear jury service leave policy in place (that suits the way your business actually runs), you can reach us at 0800 002 184 or team@sprintlaw.co.nz for a free, no-obligations chat.