Conference 7.286::digital

Before any ratholes start:

Massachusetts (or any other local) law overrides whatever is in the P&P manual.

The "Juror's handbook" you quote applies only in Massachusetts.

Digital will provide either what the policy says, or what local law requires,
whichever is most advantageous to the employee.

/john

    also, any money you receive as a juror belongs to DIGITAL.  You
    simply sign over the check to DEC at the petty cash window...
    
    Marge
    

    re: .2
    
    Does that mean one can claim travel mileage to/from the court house?

    If DEC receives all of the money I'm paid for performing jury duty
    it would seem fair that DEC should reimburse me for travel mileage
    to the jury site, at least up to the amount I turn in to DEC.

>    Does that mean one can claim travel mileage to/from the court house?

Of course not.

The only money you have to turn over to DEC is payment for performing jury
duty.  If you're able to bamboozle the court out of travel money, then that's
yours to keep.

Also, I think signing the check over to petty cash is the wrong procedure.
According to the policy, you should submit the report from the court which
indicates how much you were paid to payroll, so that it can be deducted
from a future paycheck.  Otherwise you end up being doubly taxed on the
income.

/john

    re: .4, .5
    
    Contrary to appearance, .4 is actually a reply to .5, which used
    to be .4 before .4 was .4.  Got it?  8-)
    

>    If DEC receives all of the money I'm paid for performing jury duty
>    it would seem fair that DEC should reimburse me for travel mileage
>    to the jury site, at least up to the amount I turn in to DEC.

If the court doesn't think you should be paid travel mileage, then why should
DEC pay you?  In fact, it's actually a benefit that DEC pays you anything at
all beyond the three-day state requirement in Massachusetts -- not every
company continues salary while employees are on jury duty!

/john

    In NH, the state or county pays you travel mileage (not much, though),
    but not if you live in the same town as the courthouse.
    				Steve

    I was paid mileage by the courthouse but it was in the same check
    for my time which petty cash asked me to sign over to DIGITAL.  
    
    I suspect the same rules as other travel applies... if the courthouse
    is further from your home than your workplace is from your home,
    you would submit to DIGITAL a mileage voucher for the *difference*.
    The courthouse was closer for me and the parking was paid by the
    court so it was moot.
    
    Marge
    
    

Marge, you should go read the policy.  You should not have signed the check
over to petty cash.  The money paid to you for mileage was yours to keep.
The only money that belongs to DEC is the salary you were paid.

You also need to be sure that your taxes come out right.  If the court didn't
withold any federal income tax from the check, then there probably isn't a
problem; they may also not file a W2 form with the government.  But unless
your paycheck is actually reduced by the amount you were paid by the court,
at the end of the year the government isn't going to know that you gave the
money back to DEC and is going to expect to be paid tax for your total DEC
salary plus your salary as a juror.

/john

INTERNAL USE ONLY
4.19 Jury Duty                                           12-AUG-83

Time off for jury duty is granted to any permanent full-time  
employee.

NOTIFICATION TO DIGITAL

Any employee who must serve on a jury should notify his or her 
Supervisor in writing as soon as he or she learns of being 
selected.  The Supervisor should then forward a copy of the 
notification to the Personnel Representative.

PAY DURING JURY DUTY

If an employee's jury duty pay is less than the regular base pay 
(including shift premiums) would be for the same period of time, 
Digital will make up the difference between the jury duty pay and 
the regular base pay.  This calculation will include regularly 
scheduled hours including overtime for permanent full-time 
employees on special work weeks.  In practice an employee will 
receive their regular base pay (including shift premiums) while on 
jury duty.  Upon return to work the employee will submit a copy of 
a voucher check or other evidence showing the amount of 
compensation while on jury duty to the Payroll Department with an 
approved request from their Supervisor.  This amount will then be 
deducted from a subsequent check.

WITNESS PAY

Employees who are required to appear in court as a witness are also 
paid the difference between their court pay and their regular base 
pay (including shift premiums).

JURY DUTY POSTPONEMENT

Normally Digital does not assist employees who wish to postpone 
serving on a jury.  In unusual situations, where the absence of an 
employee could be critical to a work project, the Personnel Repre
sentative should be contacted to assist in rescheduling the jury 
duty assignment.

reply to .1

Yes, you're right, I was quoting the MA trial jurors handbook.  I should
have said that.

<Digital will provide either what the policy says, or what local law requires,
whichever is most advantageous to the employee.>
 
That's true, but, when my supervisor called personnel, they said I was
not qualified to receive jury duty pay because I was Permanent Part 
Time, not Full Time.  If I hadn't checked the 86 benefits book and read my
trial jurors handbook, I may very well have gone without pay. 

They really should be more specific in the Policies and Procedures.

- Linda

It would be very difficult for the policy to list the laws in every state.  In
some states, they may even vary from county to county!

And what your supervisor was told is technically correct:  You aren't eligible
for jury duty pay.  But in Massachusetts, the law (which is your responsibility
to know!) says your employer has to pay you your REGULAR pay for three days.

After that you wouldn't be paid, under existing policy.

/john

<And what your supervisor was told is technically correct:  You aren't eligible
for jury duty pay.>

According to the 86 Benefits book and I quote (emphasis mine):

"If you are called for jury duty or as a court witness:

Who is eligible.  If you are a regular, full-time or *PART-TIME* employee,
                  Digital allows you time off if you are called for jury 
                  duty or as a court witness.

How you are paid. The company pays the difference between jury duty pay
                  and your daily base salary - provided you receive your
                  supervisor's permission.  Here's how it works:

                  You         1. Before you go, notify your supervisor 
                                 in writing.

                  The Payroll 2. Continues to pay your regular base 
                  department     salary in your weekly paycheck.

                  You         3. Upon returning to work, submit to the
                                 Payroll department a copy of your jury
                                 duty or witness pay voucher, along with
                                 a copy of your supervisor's notice.

                  Payroll     4. Deducts the amount on your voucher from
                                 a subsequent paycheck.

End quote.

This was written in 86.  The Personnel Policies and Procedures you
quoted is 83.

- Linda

>This was written in 86.  The Personnel Policies and Procedures you
>quoted is 83.

But the Personnel Policies and Procedures I quoted is the current one.  DEC
has apparently obligated itself to pay both full and part-time employees by
what it wrote in the benefits handbook, even though that's more than what
the policy says.

And no matter what the policy says, DEC has to obey Massachusetts Law and
pay even TEMPORARY employees during the first three days.

/john

    
    The last 3 times I was called ( thats right 3) I was paid by DEC
    as normal simply by letting my manager know before hand that I had
    been called and turning in the jurors statement from the court when
    I got back. Also --- MOST courts in MA. don't start paying you until
    after the day of jury duty ( and that means actually sitting on
    a trial.) In MA they now use the one day/one trial system.