Unlawful dismissal of or prejudice to employees summoned for jury service
69 Unlawful dismissal of or prejudice to employees summoned for jury service
An employer shall not dismiss a person in his or her employment or injure the person in his or her employment or alter his or her position to his or her prejudice by reason of the fact that the person is summoned to serve as a juror.
In proceedings for an offence under subsection (1), if all the facts constituting the offence other than the reason for the defendant’s action are proved, the onus of proving that the dismissal, injury or alteration was not actuated by the reason alleged in the charge shall lie on the defendant.
Where an employer is convicted by a court of an offence under subsection (1), the court may order—
the employer to pay the employee a specified sum by way of reimbursement for the salary or wages lost by the employee, and
that the employee be reinstated in his or her old or a similar position.
An order under subsection (3) (a) shall operate as an order against the employer for the payment of money under the Civil Procedure Act 2005 and shall be enforceable as such an order under that Act.
An employer shall give effect to an order of the court under subsection (3) (b).
The amount of salary or wages that would have been payable to an employee in respect of any period that his or her employer fails to give effect to an order under subsection (3) (b) shall be recoverable, as a debt due to the employee by the employer, in any court of competent jurisdiction.
An employer shall not threaten a person employed by the employer with—
dismissal, or
injury in his or her employment, or
alteration of his or her position to his or her prejudice,
by reason of the fact that the person is summoned to serve as a juror.
In proceedings for an offence under subsection (7), if all the facts constituting the offence other than the reason for the defendant’s action are proved, the onus of proving that the threat was not actuated by the reason alleged in the charge lies on the defendant.
A person can be prosecuted for and convicted of offences under both subsections (1) and (7) in relation to the same circumstances.
In this section—
employee means—
a full-time employee, or
a part-time employee, or
an employee who, as a regular casual employee (or partly as a regular casual employee and partly as a full-time or part-time employee), has worked with the employer for at least 12 months on an unbroken, regular and systematic basis (including any period of authorised leave or absence).
employer includes a person acting on behalf of the employer.
Maximum penalty—200 penalty units (in the case of a corporation) or 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months, or both (in the case of an individual).
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