Q: We have a staff member who has been called for jury service. While I appreciate this is a civic duty, we are understaffed and struggling. She has delayed it previously, so I’m worried that she won’t be allowed to do that again. What have other managers done in this situation?
Vanessa Slatcher, nursery manager, Finkley Nursery & Pre-school
‘We have never had this problem and are fairly fortunate because we have five nurseries. This means we are able to pull on staff from those other nurseries to cover if someone needs to be off. My deputy and I are also normally out of ratio, so we can step in to cover if needed.
‘I understand from discussions I’ve seen in online groups that it is possible to reply to the jury summons to ask to change the date of your jury service, or to be excused. But according to the information on Gov.uk, as you say, you are only allowed to change the date once.
‘You can only be excused from jury service under exceptional circumstances, including having a serious illness or disability, being a full-time carer of someone with an illness or disability, or if you are a new parent; or if you have already done it in the last two years.
‘But maybe your colleague could try and explain the situation and see? If they told the jury manager about the impact it has on a setting to have a member of staff out for a long time, and the wider problems we’re facing with hiring staff, perhaps they might listen?
‘The real challenge with jury service is the uncertainty of how long the person may be off work. In our job, we have to plan constantly. You could hire agency staff. Or perhaps you could use bank staff members – these are members of staff who do not work scheduled hours but are available to come in and help out now and then.’
Tanya Wood, director, Whickham Parochial Preschool
‘We have not experienced anything like this before. But I think the only option you have is to agree. In this situation we would probably ask our part-time staff to work extra hours, or hire supply workers.
‘We currently run ona 1:8 ratio. But because we have a couple of Early Years Teachers, we would probably have to revert to a 1:13 ratio. That would depend upon the cohort of children and levels of special educational needs.
‘The alternative would be to cut back on what we offer, such as reducing the amount of observations we do, having fewer adult-led activities, and cancelling meetings or training sessions planned while that staff member was away.
‘All in all, the impact would probably be massive on the children, and it would be them who suffered. Over that time, we would not be able to provide extra sessions, so families would also suffer. And the staff team would be even more exhausted.
‘Ideally, the current jury system should be updated. There should be an option for people in roles like nursery practitioners to be able to decline.
‘Some small businesses rely on the experience of their team and one person down can have a massive impact. A staff member on jury service could potentially lead to temporary closure, especially with all the staff shortages we are currently experiencing.’
Victoria East, nursery manager, Smallville Nursery
‘It is a bit of a nightmare, but your options for cover include bank staff, moving the ratios or swapping children’s sessions. Obviously children’s safety has to be your priority.
‘Remember to support that staff member and keep in mind it is not their fault.
‘You will have to consider the financial aspects. We use a couple of agencies, so if I were in this position, I would call them. They are not cheap and costs are something nurseries struggle with anyway. But ultimately, if we did not have enough staff, we would have to close, so you may have to make that investment.
‘With regards to paying staff who go on jury service, according to Gov.uk, employers do not have to pay employees during this time, but many employers do. If you do not pay your staff, they can claim loss of earnings allowance. For the first ten days, this is worth £64.95 a day if they are in court for more than four hours, or £32.47 a day for less than four hours. The rate rises if they do the service for more than four days. They can also claim for travel and parking, and food and drink. The website suggests employers could top up this allowance. But employers cannot claim money back they have paid to the employee on jury service.
‘I am unsure how we would manage this. It is pretty unfair for an employee to lose earnings for up to ten days. And it could go on for longer. Finances are tricky for most nurseries at the moment.’
