Human Resource Blog

JSIA in Alaska and Vacation Time

	Attendance Management
Vacation Request / Response Form Weekly Time Sheets Attendance Calendar for 2008, 2009, or 2010 Annual Attendance Tracker Vacation Request Form for 2008, 2009, 2010 (Calendar) Detailed Absence Report

Are employees in Alaska covered by the JSIA even if they have used up all of their vacation time?

Yes. The Jury Systems Improvement Act has nothing to do with vacation time. In fact, the JSIA helps to ensure that employees can take time off of work in order to serve on a jury regardless of many situations at work, such as work load, sick leave time, vacation time, and more. The Act is a federal Act that applies to employees in Alaska in the same way that it applies to employees in states across the country.

When an employee receives a jury duty summons, the employee should notify the employer at once of the upcoming jury duty service so that the employer can make accommodations for the employee during the time off. However, the employer may not use the jury duty service as a reason to discriminate against the employee.

The employer also cannot terminate the employee for taking time off to serve on a jury. However, if the employee has a covered reason for postponing the jury duty service, the employee may be able to postpone the service. For example, the employee may be able to postpone service for an illness or a vacation. However, the reason must have nothing to do with coercion or attempted coercion from the employer.

If an employer does discriminate against an employee for taking time off for jury duty service, the employer could be fined up to $1,000 per instance, per employee. The employer may also have to pay for lost wage and benefits to the employee if the employee was terminated.

The employer should continue to provide the employee with normal benefits, such as health care, during the period of jury duty service though. Employees could be required to prove their jury duty service by showing a copy of the jury duty summons and a letter from the clerk of the court.

When the employee returns to work at the end of the period of service, the employee should have the same job or equivalent job to the one that he or she left. CB