Do You Have to Pay Employees for Jury Duty?
Do you have to pay employees for jury duty? Under federal law, no. No federal statute requires a private employer to pay wages during jury service, though federal law does protect the employee's job while they serve. About ten jurisdictions require some employer-paid wages, and salaried exempt employees are covered by a separate rule that catches most employers by surprise. This guide covers who has to pay, how much, what you may not do, and how to write a policy that avoids the common errors.
Disclaimer: This article is general information for employers and employees, not legal advice. Jury duty pay and leave rules are set by state statute and vary considerably, and the figures cited here change. Confirm current requirements with your state labor agency and the court that issued the summons, and consult an employment attorney before setting policy. General wage questions can also go to the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
The Short Answer
- Federal law does not require jury duty pay. The FLSA requires payment for hours worked, and jury service is not hours worked.
- Federal law does protect the job. Under 28 U.S.C. 1875, no employer may discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce a permanent employee because of federal jury service. Violators face damages, reinstatement, a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per employee per violation, and possible community service. Every state has its own equivalent protection.
- About ten jurisdictions require pay. Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Tennessee, and the District of Columbia require employers to cover some portion of wages, with details differing in every one.
- Exempt employees are different. Docking a salaried exempt employee for a partial-week jury absence is an improper deduction.
Free Jury Duty Pay Calculator
What Does Jury Service Cost Each Side?
Estimate employer wages owed, the court stipend, and what the employee actually ends up with.
The States That Require Employer Pay
These are the jurisdictions that impose a pay obligation on private employers. The details differ enough that the label "requires pay" is almost misleading on its own:
- Alabama: full-time employees receive their usual compensation, and employers are barred from requiring the use of vacation, sick, or annual leave for jury service.
- Colorado: regular wages for the first three days of trial service, capped at $50 per day unless the employer's policy promises more, and the law reaches part-time, temporary, and casual employees.
- Connecticut: full-time employees receive regular wages for the first five days of service.
- Louisiana: one day of regular wages per jury term.
- Massachusetts: regular wages for the first three days.
- Nebraska: regular wages, with the employer generally permitted to offset the court stipend.
- New York: employers above a small headcount threshold must cover the statutory juror fee for the first three days of service. That fee was increased in 2025, so confirm the current figure before coding payroll.
- Tennessee: employers with five or more employees pay regular wages, subject to a minimum length of service.
- District of Columbia: full wages for the first five days.
Treat that list as a starting point rather than a payroll instruction. Published summaries of these statutes disagree on details, particularly on how many days must be paid, which employer headcount thresholds apply, and whether the court stipend may be offset, and several of the dollar figures have been revised in recent years. Confirm the current text with the state agency or the court before coding wages.
Everywhere else, employer pay is voluntary unless a contract, collective bargaining agreement, or your own handbook promises it. A handbook promise is binding, so read your own policy before assuming you are in a no-pay state.
Salaried Exempt Employees: The Rule Most Employers Miss
Whatever your state says, the salary basis rule applies on top of it. Under the Part 541 regulations, an exempt employee's predetermined salary generally cannot be reduced because of variations in the quantity of work, and deductions for absences caused by jury duty are not among the permitted exceptions when the employee performs any work that week.
So if an exempt employee works Monday and sits on a jury Tuesday through Friday, the full weekly salary is owed. The regulations do permit the employer to offset any jury fees the employee receives against the salary for that week, which is the mechanism most employers should be using rather than a deduction.
A week in which the exempt employee performs no work at all is a different situation, and salary is generally not required for that week. Because jury service that long is rare, the safest default for exempt staff is to continue the salary and offset the fees.
Non-Exempt Employees
For hourly staff in a state with no pay mandate, the employer owes pay only for hours actually worked. That means an employee released from the courthouse at noon who returns to finish a shift is paid for the hours worked that afternoon, and the morning is unpaid unless policy says otherwise.
Two traps here. Requiring an employee to work a full shift after a full day of jury service can create an overtime problem and, in some states, a retaliation claim. And scheduling someone for a shift that conflicts with their summons is close to coercion under the anti-retaliation statutes.
Can You Require Employees to Use PTO?
Sometimes, and it is jurisdiction-specific. Roughly fifteen states specifically prohibit employers from requiring employees to use vacation, sick, personal, or other paid leave for jury service. Alabama is explicit about it. In states without such a prohibition, requiring PTO use is generally lawful for non-exempt employees if the policy is written and consistently applied.
For exempt employees, charging accrued leave is generally permitted as long as the full salary is still paid for the week. But given that the salary is owed anyway, many employers simply continue pay and skip the leave deduction, which is simpler and generates fewer complaints.
What You May Not Do, Anywhere
- Fire, threaten, demote, or discipline an employee for serving
- Pressure an employee to seek an excuse or postponement they do not want
- Count jury absences against an attendance policy or a points system
- Reduce seniority, benefits, or status because of service
- Retaliate after the fact through scheduling, assignments, or reviews
Federal penalties for violating the juror employment protection statute include liability for lost wages and benefits, reinstatement, and a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation per employee. State analogues frequently add their own penalties, and in some states interfering with jury service is a criminal contempt matter rather than a civil one.
Writing a Jury Duty Policy
- State whether the company pays, for how many days, and at what rate
- Apply it consistently to exempt and non-exempt staff, with the salary basis rule built in
- Say whether the court stipend is offset against pay, where your state allows it
- Require a copy of the summons and proof of attendance
- Confirm whether your states prohibit requiring the use of PTO
- State that jury absences do not count against attendance policies
- Address partial days: when an employee released early is expected to return
- Note that longer trials may be handled case by case
- Check each state where you have employees, since this is entirely state-driven
For Employees
Give your employer the summons as soon as you receive it, since some state pay requirements are conditioned on prompt notice. Keep the proof of attendance the court provides. Ask in writing what the company's policy is before your service starts rather than after.
If you are salaried and exempt, your full salary is generally owed for any week in which you do any work, regardless of how many days you spent at the courthouse. If your employer deducted for those days, that is likely an improper deduction. If you were fired, threatened, or penalized for serving, the federal statute covers federal service and your state has its own protection for state court service.
Where a System Helps
Jury duty is administratively small and easy to get wrong: a shift to cover, hours to code correctly, and a document to keep.
In Updoot, the absence goes on the shared schedule so coverage is arranged before the day arrives rather than the morning of, and the time clock keeps hours worked separate from hours absent so the payroll coding is clean. The summons and proof of attendance sit in the employee record, which matters if the pay is ever questioned.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not under federal law. The FLSA requires pay for hours worked, and jury service is not hours worked. About ten jurisdictions require employer-paid wages for at least part of the service: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Tennessee, and the District of Columbia. Everywhere else it is voluntary unless your handbook, contract, or collective bargaining agreement promises it.
Not for a week in which the employee performs any work. The salary basis rule prohibits reducing an exempt employee's predetermined salary for absences caused by jury duty in those weeks, and doing so can jeopardize the exemption. The regulations do allow the employer to offset any jury fees the employee receives against the salary for that week, which is the correct mechanism.
No. Under 28 U.S.C. 1875, no employer may discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce a permanent employee because of federal jury service. Violators are liable for lost wages and benefits, may be ordered to reinstate the employee, face a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation per employee, and may be ordered to perform community service. Every state has an equivalent protection for state court service.
It depends on the state. Roughly fifteen states prohibit employers from requiring employees to use vacation, sick, personal, or other leave for jury service, and Alabama states it explicitly. Elsewhere it is generally permitted for non-exempt employees under a written, consistently applied policy. For exempt employees the salary is owed regardless, so charging leave usually creates friction without saving anything.
Federal jurors receive $50 per day, increasing after an extended period of service, plus mileage and certain parking costs. State court stipends vary widely, from a few dollars a day to roughly $50. The stipend is paid by the court rather than the employer, and in some states an employer required to pay wages may offset the stipend against what it owes.
No. Counting jury absences against an attendance or points system is a form of penalizing the employee for service and can support a retaliation claim under the federal statute or its state equivalent. Jury service should be excluded from attendance tracking entirely, and the policy should say so in writing.
Final Takeaway
Pay is a state question and job protection is a federal one. Check whether you are in one of the roughly ten jurisdictions that require wages, continue the salary for exempt employees in any week they work and offset the jury fees instead of deducting, confirm whether your state bars forcing PTO use, and keep jury absences out of your attendance system entirely. For most employers the cheaper policy is to pay the difference for a few days and move on, since the administrative cost of getting it wrong exceeds the wages at stake.