|
The Employment Rights Act 1996 (s.50(1)) requires employers to permit employees who are justices of the peace (magistrates) to take time off during their working hours in order to perform "any duties" of the office. There is no statutory requirement for the time off to be with pay.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) says that the legislation on time off for work for magistrates is unclear and could be misunderstood by employers. It has evidence that, in a significant number of instances, magistrates are refused sufficient time off due generally to employers misunderstanding their obligations rather that deliberately refusing the time off.
A new DCA White Paper, Supporting Magistrates' Courts to Provide Justice, explores a range of measures that could be introduced to help magistrates perform their duties more effectively and efficiently. Among the proposals are:
- amendments to the law so that the way in which employees should request time off should be made and determined, and
- a reduction in the number of mandatory sittings from 26 to 24 half days each year.
The criteria that employers should use are currently set out in section 50(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It says
|
"The amount of time off which an employee is to be permitted to take under this section, and the occasions on which and any condition subject to which time off may be so taken, are those that are reasonable in all the circumstances having regard, in particular, to-
- how much time off is required for the performance of the duties of the office or as a member of the body in question, and how much time off is required for the performance of the particular duty,
- how much time off the employee has already been permitted under this section or sections 168 and 170 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (time off trade union duties and activities), and
- the circumstances of the employer's business and the effect of the employee's absence on the running of that business."
|
The DCA's view is that determining what constitutes "reasonable" using these criteria is very difficult for employers to determine. In the place of the current rules, the DCA would like the far more detailed and complex arrangements that apply to the flexible working provisions to be used. (Employment Rights Act 1996, ss. 80F-80I) These arrangements, which apply when an employee seeks a contract variation in order to care for a child under the age of 6 or a disabled child, involve a formal written request, followed by a series of meetings and appeals and a written reason for refusal.
Magistrates are currently required to attend for at least 26 half-day sittings during a year but the courts encourage them to exceed the minimum and the number of magistrates required for each bench is based on an average attendance of 35 sittings. To reduce the pressure on magistrates in employment to attend that frequently, the DCA proposes to reduce the minimum requirement to 24 half-day sittings and to remove the requirement for each court to achieve the average 35 sittings.
...back to 24 November 2005
Sources:
Law on Time Off for Magistrates should be clearer
Supporting magistrates' courts to provide justice
|
For Payroll and Human Resource Professionals
