Human Resource Blog

JSIA South Carolina

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Who is covered by the JSIA in South Carolina?

The Jury Systems Improvement Act is a federal Act that is in place to cover all employees in the state of South Carolina that have been summoned to serve on a jury. When an employee is called for jury duty service, the Act prohibits the employer from discriminating against the employee for reasons that are related to the jury duty service.

Employees need to notify the employer immediately once they become aware of the upcoming jury duty service. The employer must not discriminate against or terminate an employee that has been called to serve on a jury. Also, the employee should be able to take the time away from work to serve on the jury, but return to work at the end of the jury duty period to have the same job, or an equivalent job, as well as the same salary and benefits as the employee had prior to taking the time away from work.

Employees can sometimes postpone jury duty service for covered reasons. For example, if the employee had a planned vacation or illness, the employee can postpone the service, in most cases. However, the employer must not coerce or attempt to coerce the employee to postpone the jury duty service.

Employers may be fined up to $1,000 per instance, per employee if they discriminate against an employee that serves on a jury. Also, employers could have to pay for lost wages and benefits if they fire an employee for serving on a jury.

Employers may also require that employees provide proof of the jury duty service. This proof can be a copy of the original jury duty summons. Also, employees can obtain proof of service for each day that they serve from the clerk of the court. Employees should return to work whenever they are not serving on a jury, even if the trial is ongoing. Therefore, if an employee serves in the morning, the employee should be at work in the afternoon. CB