Jury service
What you can claim if you’re an employee
You will not be paid for doing jury service, but you can claim some money back if your earnings are affected. For each day you’re at court, you can usually claim:
- up to £64.95 to help cover your loss of earnings and the cost of any care or childcare outside of your usual arrangements
- £5.71 for food and drink
- the cost of travel to and from court
You’ll be told how to claim expenses after your jury service has ended.
Taking time off work
Give a copy of your jury summons to your employer.
Your employer must let you have time off work, but can ask you to delay your jury service if your absence will have a serious effect on their business.
Problems with your employer
If you’re not allowed to take time off work for jury service, you can complain to an employment tribunal.
If you’re sacked because you do jury service you may be able to claim unfair dismissal.
Getting paid during jury service
Your employer can choose whether or not to pay you during your service.
If they do not pay you, you can claim for loss of earnings from the court.
If you get benefits or financial support
Show your jury summons to your benefit office or work coach as soon as you get it.
You’ll continue to get financial support and benefits (such as Universal Credit) for the first 8 weeks. After that, the court will give you a loss of earnings form to give to your benefit office or work coach.
What you can claim
There’s a limit to how much you can claim for each day you’re at court.
Loss of earnings, childcare and other care costs
How much you can claim to cover loss of earnings and care costs depends on the length of your jury service and how many hours you spend at court each day.
For the first 10 days of jury service, you can claim up to:
- £64.95 a day if you spend more than 4 hours at court
- £32.47 a day if you spend 4 hours or less at court
If your jury service lasts longer than 10 working days, the amount you can claim increases. You’ll be able to claim up to:
- £129.91 a day if you spend more than 4 hours at court
- £64.95 a day if you spend 4 hours or less at court
Travel and parking costs
How much you can claim depends on how you travel to court.
| How you travel to court | The court will pay |
|---|---|
| Bus or underground | Cost of the ticket |
| Train | Cost of the ticket (standard class return fare) |
| Bicycle | 9.6p per mile |
| Motorcycle | 31.4p per mile |
| Car | 31.4p per mile - check if the court will pay for parking |
| Car - for one other juror as a passenger | 4.2p per mile |
| Car - for each additional passenger | 3.2p per mile |
| Taxi | The fare - ask the court for permission before using a taxi |
Food and drink
How much you can claim depends on how many hours you spend in court each day.
| Time spent each day | The court will pay up to |
|---|---|
| Up to and including 10 hours a day | £5.71 per day |
| Over 10 hours a day | £12.17 per day |