Voting and Jury Duty
- Employees who apply must be granted an unpaid leave of absence to vote during the two hours after the polls open in their districts. (M.G.L.c. 149, s.178)
- An employer may not threaten, discharge, discriminate against or discriminate in favor of an employee in an attempt to influence his/her vote. (M.G.L.c. 56, s. 33)
- An employee cannot be discharged, harassed or otherwise discriminated against because he/she has received a jury summons or served as a juror. (M.G.L.c. 234A, s. 61;M.G.L.c.268, s. 14A)
- An employer must pay regular wages for the first three days, or parts thereof, of trial or grand jury duty. This includes part-time, temporary and casual employees as long as the employment hours of a juror reasonably may be determined by a schedule or by custom and practice established during the three-month period preceding the term of service of such juror. Self-employed jurors are to compensate themselves.(M.G.L. c. 234A, s. 48)
- A person who is a victim of a crime upon which a criminal charge is based or who is subpoenaed to attend a criminal action as a witness cannot be discharged or penalized if he/she notifies his/her employer of his/her absence prior to the day of his/her attendance in court. (M.G.L.c. 268, s. 14B)
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