Civil & Work Related Leave

Civil & Work Related Leave Policy 4.05

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Leave with pay granted during work hours to: serve on a jury; appear in court as a crime victim or a witness under subpoena; interview for positions in other state agencies; participate in resolution of work-related conflicts/employment discrimination; attend work-related administrative hearings, etc.

Granted for

Civil and Work-Related Leave is granted to the employee to fulfill the civic duties and functions listed below. Agencies must permit employees to be away from work for these purposes:

As required by a summons to jury duty.
To appear as a crime victim or as a witness in a court proceeding or deposition as compelled by a subpoena or summons.
To accompany the employee's minor child when the child is legally required to appear in court.
To serve as an officer of election.
To serve as a member of a state council or board.
To attend his or her own naturalization ceremony.
To interview for other positions with the state.
To participate in resolution of work-related conflicts or of complaints of employment discrimination.
To attend work-related administrative hearings as a party or witness.
To attend one initial session at DHRM's Career Center and one subsequent visit per leave year thereafter.
To attend one initial session with the Employee Assistance Program per qualifying incident.
To prepare as a grievant for the grievance procedure. (Agencies may establish reasonable limits for this use of Civil and Work-Related Leave to prevent abuse of state time.)
To meet with agency Human Resource representatives and/or with the Department of Employment Dispute Resolution in accordance with the Grievance Procedure or related to a work matter affecting the employee for which a grievance has not been filed
To meet with the Office of Equal Employment Services of the Department of Human Resource Management for the purpose of discussing work problems related to violations of the state Equal Employment Opportunity Policy (Policy 2.05)
To participate in activities and proceedings of the mediation program.

NOT granted for

Civil and Work-Related Leave is NOT granted for use by an employee:

Who is a defendant in a criminal matter, where criminal matter means either an alleged misdemeanor or felony;
Who has received a summons to appear in traffic court (except as a witness); or
Who is a party to a civil case, either as plaintiff or defendant, or who has any personal or familial interest in the proceedings.

Civil and Work-Related Leave is not available for employees to meet with attorneys.

Other information:

Employees may charge to Civil and Work-Related Leave only the time away from work that is necessary to perform the appropriate duties plus reasonable travel time. Agencies may require documentation of the event to verify that it qualifies the employee to use Civil and Work-Related Leave.
Employees whose duties under Civil and Work-Related Leave conclude in time to complete a work shift should either return to work or request approval to charge the remainder of the shift for an appropriate leave type such as annual or family and personal leave.
Whenever possible, agencies should reschedule employees who regularly work the evening or night shift to a day shift schedule during the periods when they are required to appear in court proceedings to facilitate compliance with legal and policy provisions.
Employees are responsible for giving as much notice as possible to their supervisors in advance of the occasion for using paid or unpaid Civil and Work-Related Leave.
Employees are responsible for returning to work as appropriate when the approved activity ends and for notifying their supervisors if they are unable to return to work as expected.
Employees are responsible for providing appropriate documentation as directed by their agencies concerning events and travel time needed, and for completing appropriate leave requests. Employees should provide a copy of subpoena to their supervisor with their leave request and must have proof from the court of length of time at the trial.