Section 6-B1263. COURT LEAVE

 

1263.1Court leave shall be the authorized absence from work status without loss of or reduction in pay, leave to which otherwise entitled, or credit for time or service, of an employee other than an employee on a when-actually-employed (WAE) or intermittent basis, whenever the employee is performing jury service as set forth in section 1264 of this chapter, witness service, as provided in section 1265 of this chapter, or on a substituted basis, as specified in sections 1263.5, 1263.6, or 1263.15 of this section.

 

1263.2Court leave shall only be granted to an employee who, except for the performance of jury or witness service, would have been on duty, or on leave with pay or compensatory time, and shall not be granted to an employee in a nonpay status when summoned to perform such service.

 

1263.3A night-shift employee who performs jury or witness service during the day shall be granted court leave for his or her regularly scheduled night tour of duty.

 

1263.4While the word “summoned” as used in this section and in sections 1264 and 1265 of this chapter includes a subpoena, the word does not connote any necessity for a subpoena, but does intend that the summons be an official request, invitation, or call, evidenced by an official writing from the court or authority responsible for the conduct of the proceeding, thus ruling out strictly voluntary appearances from court leave coverage, as well as a “summons” for any purpose other than those set forth in sections 1264 and 1265 of this chapter.

 

1263.5If an employee is on annual leave when summoned to perform jury or witness service, court leave shall be substituted, and any annual leave forfeited as a result of the substitution shall be restored as provided in section 1241 of this chapter.

 

1263.6An employee on annual leave under advance notice of separation due to reduction in force pursuant to Chapter 24 of these regulations, and who is summoned to perform jury or witness service, shall be entitled to have court leave substituted for annual leave, but not to extend beyond the date administratively fixed for his or her separation.

 

1263.7Court leave shall only be granted for the period actually spent in jury or witness service, plus reasonable travel time.

 

1263.8When no hardship would result, it shall be within the administrative discretion of the agency head to require an employee on court leave to return to duty or suffer a charge against his or her annual leave or compensatory time, or to be placed on leave without pay if the employee does not elect to use annual leave or compensatory time (or if there is no available annual leave or compensatory time), if the employee is excused from jury or witness service for half or more of a workday. A hardship would be deemed to occur if the employee was unable to perform a substantial part of a day's duty, or if the employee was assigned to a night shift.

 

1263.9Upon return to duty, the agency head may require the employee to certify to, or submit written evidence of, the dates and, if possible, the hours of the jury or witness service performed.

 

1263.10An employee who performed jury or witness service while on court leave shall not be entitled to also retain jury or witness fees paid by the court, a party, or other body for the same period of service, except as follows:

 

(a)If a court’s rules define its fees as payment for travel and meals, or otherwise as reimbursement for expenses, then these fees may be retained by an employee; and

 

(b)An employee shall be permitted to retain fees received for jury or witness service performed on a holiday falling within the employee’s basic tour of duty if, had the employee not been performing such service, he or she would have been excused from regular duties on that holiday.

 

1263.11The employee shall turn over to his or her agency any fees for jury or witness service that are not authorized to be retained.

 

1263.12The employee shall be permitted to keep any excess of the jury or witness fees over the amount of compensation due him or her for the same period.

 

1263.13An employee who is in a leave-without-pay status as specified in section 1267 of this chapter when summoned for jury or witness service, and consequently not entitled to court leave, shall be entitled to retain all fees for services while in a leave-without-pay status.

 

1263.14An employee who is a party in any civil action, or a defendant in a criminal action, shall not be entitled to court leave, but shall be required to take annual leave, compensatory time, or leave without pay, as appropriate.

 

1263.15An employee who is a successful plaintiff in an action against the District government brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and who used annual leave, compensatory time, or leave without pay, shall be made whole as follows:

 

(a)Any annual leave used by the employee for that period shall have court leave substituted therefore, and any annual leave forfeited as a result of the substitution shall be restored as provided in section 1241 of this chapter;

 

(b)Any compensatory time used by the employee for that period shall have court leave substituted therefore; and

 

(c)Any leave without pay used by the employee for that period shall have court leave substituted therefore, and the employee given back pay.

 

source

Final Rulemaking published at 54 DCR 11538 (November 30, 2007).