HUMAN RESOURCES at MIT

4.10 Jury or Witness Duty

The Institute recognizes the duty of employees as citizens to serve on juries or as court witnesses. Employees summoned to serve on a jury, or required by subpoena to appear as a witness in court, are paid by the Institute the difference between any fee received from the court and the employee's normal base pay for the time period involved. In order to receive this pay differential, the employee must have been hired prior to receiving notice to appear in court, must inform the supervisor of his or her intention to be absent from work, and must present a certified statement of earnings from the court for the period of service. As court duty often does not require a full time commitment, employees are expected to report to work on days or reasonable portions of days when attendance in court is not required.

An employee is not paid for witness duty when he or she is a party to the action.

In a case in which the work of a group or the work of a specific project would be seriously hampered by the absence of an employee on jury or witness day, the supervisor may request, through the Human Resources Department, that the Institute petition the appropriate officers of the court for deferment of jury or witness duty.