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Time off for public duties

URN No: 07/958

Outline of provisions

If you are a magistrate, local councillor, school governor, or carry out one of the other public duties listed below, you are entitled to time off from work to carry out your role. Section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires employers to permit employees who hold certain public positions reasonable time off to perform the duties associated with them.

We recommend that:

• Employees who are thinking of taking on public duties should think through the time off that will be required. This will vary depending on the nature of the role and any minimum requirements laid down. It will aid the discussion with their employer if they think through the implications for their job and consider some possible solutions before making an application for time off work.
  
  
• Employers should then discuss with the employee how the time off can best be accommodated. The scope for flexibility will vary but many organisations are finding that there can be benefits in adopting different work patterns. In addition to the requirement to allow reasonable time off, it is worth considering the benefits to the business from having staff engaging with the wider community and the additional skills and experience that they will gain as a result.

Those who are covered by the provision justice of the peace;member of a local authority;

• member of a police authority;
  
  
• member of any statutory tribunal;
  
  
• member of a relevant health body;
  
  
• member of the managing or governing body of an educational establishment;
  
  
• member of the governing body of a further or higher education corporation;
  
  
• member of a school council or board in Scotland;
  
  
• member of the General Teaching Councils for England and Wales;
  
  
• member of the Environment Agency or the Scottish Environment Protection Agency;
  
  
• in England and Wales, prison independent monitoring boards, and in Scotland, prison visiting committees;
  
  
• member of Scottish Water or a Water Customer Consultation Panel.

What is reasonable time off?

The amount of time which an employee should be permitted to take off to perform these public duties, is defined as that which is reasonable in all the circumstances, having particular regard to:

• how much time off is required overall to perform the duties and how much time off is required to perform the particular duty in question;
  
  
• how much time off the employee has already been permitted for this purpose or for trade union duties and/or activities; and
  
  
• the circumstances of the employer's business and the effect of the employee's absence upon it.

Payment for time off

While there is nothing to prevent an employer from making payment to an employee for time off for public duties, there is no obligation for payment to be made.

Making a complaint to an employment tribunal

An employee who considers that his employer has not agreed to allow him to take time off he is entitled to, may seek a remedy by complaining to an employment tribunal. However, it is in the interest of both employer and employee to try and reach agreement before a tribunal claim is brought.

This document outlines the provisions relating to time off for public duties contained in employment legislation. It gives general guidance only and should not be regarded as a complete or authoritative statement of the law.

Further information can be obtained from any regional office of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas).

For further information about:

Magistrates - see Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA)

School governors - see Information for school governors