Total and Partial Unemployment TPU 370.1

Jury Duty or Appearance as Witness

A. Jury Duty or Appearance as Witness

Section 1279 provides, in part, that: "For the purpose of this section only ‘wages’ includes any and all compensation for personal services whether performed as an employee or as an independent contractor or as a juror or as a witness . . ."

Accordingly, compensation for services performed as a juror, or a witness constitute wages under Section 1279. Therefore, if a claimant serves as a witness or juror and receives fees that are XE, the claimant is ineligible under Section 1279.

By the same token, if such a claimant is in receipt of fees which are not XE, the claimant may be paid reduced benefits under Section 1279.

This would be true even where a claimant spends the full week as a witness or juror but receives fees which are not XE. This is because Section 1252(a)(4) provides that an individual is "unemployed" in: