Jury duty
Jury duty, also known as jury service, is a type of community service leave. Employees, including casual employees, can take leave to attend jury selection and jury duty.
On this page:
- Notice and evidence
- Payment for jury duty
- Do casuals get paid for jury duty?
- State and territory laws
- Related information
Notice and evidence
Employees must advise their employers of the period or expected period of leave as soon as possible. If an employee requests leave they need to provide evidence showing they attended jury selection or jury duty.
Payment for jury duty
Full-time and part-time employees have to be paid 'make-up pay' for the first 10 days of jury selection and jury duty. Make-up pay is the difference between any jury duty payment the employee receives (excluding any expense-related allowances) from the court and the employee's base pay rate for the ordinary hours they would have worked.
Before paying make-up pay, an employer may request evidence from the employee to show:
- that the employee has taken all necessary steps to obtain jury duty pay
- the total amount of jury duty pay that has been paid or will be payable to the employee for the period.
If the employee can't provide evidence, they won't be entitled to make-up pay.
Example: Payment for jury duty
Julie was required to attend jury selection and was chosen for the jury. The jury service lasted 12 days. She provided her employer with evidence that she had been paid $60 per day by the court. Julie's base pay rate is $140 per day. Her employer paid her 'make- up pay' of $80 per day for 10 days. For the remaining 2 days she did not receive payment from her employer.
Do casuals get paid for jury duty?
Casuals don't get paid for jury duty under the National Employment Standards but they may be entitled to payment under state or territory laws.
State and territory laws
State and territory laws continue to apply to employees where they provide more beneficial entitlements (for example, payment for casual employees during jury duty).
Find out more about jury duty in your state or territory:
| State or territory | State or territory department | Contact number |
|---|---|---|
| ACT | ACT Supreme Court | 02 6205 0000 |
| NSW | NSW Justice | 1300 679 272 |
| NT | Supreme Court of the Northern Territory | Darwin 08 8999 7930 Alice Springs 08 8951 5711 |
| Qld | Queensland Government | 13 74 68 |
| SA | Courts Administration Authority of South Australia | 08 8204 0154 |
| Tas | Supreme Court of Tasmania | 1300 664 608 |
| WA | Western Australian Government | 08 9425 2481 |
| Vic | Juries Victoria | 03 8636 6800 |
Source reference: Fair Work Act 2009 s.111
