Jury Duty Pay: Do Employers Have to Pay Employees on Jury Service?

9/8/2026

An employee hands their manager a jury summons. The manager forwards it to HR, HR asks payroll, and payroll asks the question this guide answers: do we have to pay them?

The answer has three layers. Federal wage and hour law does not require pay for time not worked, but it does restrict what you can do to an exempt employee's salary. State law may require some pay for the first few days of service, and nearly always protects the employee's job. And your own policy fills whatever gap the law leaves, which is where most employers' actual jury duty pay obligations come from.

The Federal Rule for Non-Exempt Employees

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires pay for hours worked. It does not require pay for time not worked. The Department of Labor's own jury duty guidance says the FLSA does not require payment for time not worked, including attending jury duty, and that this is generally a matter of agreement between employer and employee, while some state laws do require employers to pay employees serving on juries.

So for an hourly, non-exempt employee, federal law leaves jury duty unpaid unless a state law, a collective bargaining agreement or your policy says otherwise. Time spent in court is not hours worked, so it does not count toward the 40-hour overtime threshold either. If the employee comes back to work after a short court day, those hours are worked and must be paid normally.

The Federal Rule for Exempt Employees

Exempt employees are different, and this is the part of jury duty pay that federal law actually controls.

The FLSA salary basis rule at 29 CFR 541.602 requires an exempt employee to receive the full predetermined salary for any week in which they perform any work, subject to a short list of permitted deductions. Jury duty is addressed directly in 541.602(b)(3):

An employer cannot make deductions from an exempt employee's pay for absences occasioned by jury duty, attendance as a witness or temporary military leave.
The employer can offset any amounts the employee receives as jury fees, witness fees or military pay for a particular week against the salary due for that week, without losing the exemption.

There is one more piece. Under 541.602(a), exempt employees "need not be paid for any workweek in which they perform no work." So if an exempt employee is on a jury for an entire workweek and does no work at all, the FLSA does not require salary for that week. If they answer a few emails or come in for an afternoon, it is a week with work, and the full salary is due, less any jury fee offset.

Worked examples

Partial week. An exempt manager earning $1,500 a week serves three days on a jury and works the other two. The employer must pay the full $1,500. If the court paid the employee jury fees for those three days, the employer may reduce that week's salary by the fees received for that week.

Full week, no work. The same manager is on a trial all week and does not work at all. The FLSA does not require any salary for that week. State law or company policy may still require pay, and many employers choose to pay to avoid the practical problem of confirming that the employee did no work at all.

Full week, some work. The manager is in trial all week but joins a one-hour call on Wednesday evening. That week contains work, so the full salary is due, less any jury fee offset.

A deduction that does not fit these rules can put the exemption at risk. Our exempt vs. non-exempt guide covers the salary basis test in more detail, and the DOL salary threshold guide covers the current minimum salary level.

Job Protection: Federal and State

Federal jurors

Under 28 U.S.C. 1875, no employer may discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate or coerce any permanent employee by reason of the employee's jury service, or attendance or scheduled attendance in connection with that service, in any court of the United States. An employer that violates it can be liable for lost wages and benefits, ordered to reinstate the employee, and subjected to a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation for each employee. The court may appoint counsel for the employee, and a prevailing employee can recover attorney's fees.

This statute covers federal jury service. Service in state courts is protected by state law.

State jurors

Most states have their own statutes prohibiting employers from firing, threatening or penalizing employees for jury service, and many add specific remedies such as reinstatement, back pay and penalties. Some go further, addressing whether an employer can require an employee to work a shift before or after a court day, or to use vacation time for jury service. Because the details differ, check the statute or the court system's juror information page for each state where you have employees.

As a practical matter, treat any summons as protected and route it to HR. Discipline for missing work due to jury service, even unintentionally through an attendance-points system, is a common source of claims.

States That Require Employers to Pay

A minority of states require employers to continue some pay during the first days of jury service. The amounts, the employer-size thresholds and the number of days differ, and they change, so the examples below are illustrations verified against state court and government sources rather than a complete list:

The state Judicial Branch says full-time employed jurors, meaning those normally required to work at least 30 hours a week, are paid their regular wages by their employers for the first five days of jury service.
According to the state's juror guidance, employers must pay regular wages for the first three days of jury service; after that, the state pays jurors a daily fee.
Under C.R.S. 13-71-126, as described by the Colorado Judicial Branch, regularly employed jurors must be paid regular wages, up to $50 per day unless the employer and employee agree to more, for the first three days of service. If the employer fails to pay within 30 days after the juror's service certificate is tendered, the juror can sue, and a court may award treble damages and attorney's fees for willful misconduct.
New York. Under the state Judiciary Law, an employer with more than ten employees may not withhold a set daily amount of a juror's wages for the first three days of service. The daily amount was increased by legislation in 2025, so confirm the current figure with the New York State Unified Court System before setting up the pay rule.

Other states have their own variations, including rules that apply only to certain employers or that differ for part-time workers. Before you finalize a policy, look up each state on its judicial branch juror page or labor department site.

Multi-state employers

When employees work in several states, the simplest compliant approach is a company policy that meets or exceeds the most generous state requirement for everyone. If you prefer state-specific rules, document them by state and make sure your payroll system applies the right rule based on the employee's work location, not the company's headquarters.

Jury Fees: Offsets and Taxes

Courts pay jurors a daily fee, and sometimes mileage. Employers that pay employees during jury service often want to avoid paying twice. There are two common approaches.

Offset. The employer reduces the employee's pay by the jury fees received for the same period. For exempt employees, 541.602(b)(3) allows this for jury fees received for the particular week. For non-exempt employees, the FLSA does not prevent an offset against voluntary jury duty pay, but state wage deduction laws and state jury pay statutes may limit how it is done. Some states require that the mandated wages be paid without reduction; others allow an offset. Read the specific statute.

Remittance. The employer pays full wages, and the employee signs the jury fee check over to the employer or repays the amount. The employee includes the jury pay in income and, according to IRS Publication 525, can deduct the amount turned over to the employer as an adjustment to income.

Payroll should not run jury fees through the employer's payroll as wages. The court pays them directly to the juror. What payroll does handle is the employer's own jury duty pay, which is ordinary taxable wages subject to withholding and employment taxes. For any recovery from the employee, follow the same written authorization practices you use for other voluntary deductions; see our guide to voluntary deduction authorization.

Building a Jury Duty Policy

A jury duty policy is short, but it should answer every question an employee and payroll will ask. If your team is reviewing jury duty alongside its other leave policies, the Leave Management Compliance Suite covers leave compliance as a bundle. At minimum, the policy should address:

How and when employees must notify the employer of a summons, and what documentation (summons, attendance record) they provide.
Whether the employer pays, for how many days, at what rate, and for which employee groups. Make sure the policy meets every state's minimum where you have employees, and the exempt salary rules.
Jury fee treatment. Offset, remittance or neither.
Return to work. Whether employees are expected to return on days they are released early, with any state-law limits respected.
Whether benefit deductions continue, and how accruals are treated during unpaid jury service.
Non-retaliation. A clear statement that employees will not be penalized for serving.
Witness and victim leave. Many states also protect time off to testify or to attend proceedings as a crime victim. Consider addressing these in the same section.

Our PTO and vacation policy checklist is useful for checking that the jury duty policy does not conflict with how PTO is described elsewhere in the handbook, for example by requiring employees to use vacation for jury service where state law prohibits that.

Payroll Setup

Item	Recommended practice
Earnings code	Separate "jury duty" code, taxable as regular wages
Overtime	Jury duty hours are not hours worked; exclude from overtime calculations
Exempt employees	No deduction for jury absences in any week with work; offset jury fees only
State rules	Configure required paid days by work state
Offsets	Documented, authorized, and limited to fees for the same period
Records	Summons and court attendance record retained with payroll records

Two practical pitfalls are worth naming. First, an attendance or points system that automatically counts an unexcused absence will treat jury service as a violation unless someone codes it correctly. Second, a paid jury duty code that feeds a "regular rate" calculation may misstate overtime. Check how your timekeeping system treats non-worked paid hours; our guide to how to calculate overtime pay explains which payments enter the regular rate.

Where Jury Duty Fits in Leave Administration

Jury duty is a small leave type, but it sits in the same administrative system as FMLA, paid sick leave, state family leave and military leave: each has eligibility rules, notice rules, pay rules and job protection, and each varies by state. Organizations that handle them one summons at a time tend to get the exempt salary rule or the state pay requirement wrong. The Leave Management Compliance Suite is the site's leave compliance bundle for the HR and payroll staff who maintain these policies, and a practical way to put the full set of leave rules in one place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do employers have to pay employees for jury duty?

Federal law does not require pay for non-exempt employees, because the FLSA does not require payment for time not worked. Exempt employees must receive their full salary for any week in which they do any work, although the employer can offset jury fees received for that week. Some states, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, Colorado and New York, require employers to pay at least part of an employee's wages for the first days of service. Beyond that, jury duty pay is a matter of company policy or a collective bargaining agreement.

Can an employer deduct jury duty from an exempt employee's salary?

No, not for absences in a week in which the employee does any work. Under 29 CFR 541.602(b)(3), deductions for absences caused by jury duty are not permitted, but the employer can offset jury fees the employee received for that week against the salary due. If the exempt employee performs no work at all during an entire workweek, the FLSA does not require salary for that week, although state law or company policy may.

Can I be fired for going to jury duty?

For federal jury service, 28 U.S.C. 1875 prohibits discharging, threatening, intimidating or coercing a permanent employee because of jury service, with remedies including lost wages, reinstatement and civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. Most states have similar protection for state court jury service. Employers should make sure attendance policies and point systems do not count jury service against employees, since that can be treated as unlawful penalization.

Can an employer make employees use vacation time for jury duty?

Federal law does not address this. Some states restrict it, either by prohibiting employers from requiring employees to use paid leave for jury service or by requiring a set amount of employer-paid jury duty wages. Even where it is allowed, requiring vacation for jury service can be unpopular and may conflict with your handbook. Check the state statute or the state court system's employer information page before adopting the rule, and state the policy clearly.

Do employees keep the jury duty fee if the employer pays their salary?

It depends on the employer's policy and state law. Some employers let employees keep the fee; others offset it against pay or require the employee to remit it. For exempt employees, the FLSA permits an offset of jury fees received for the same week. If an employee turns jury pay over to the employer because the employer continued their salary, IRS Publication 525 says the employee can deduct the amount turned over as an adjustment to income.

Is jury duty pay from an employer taxable?

Yes. Pay the employer provides during jury service is wages, subject to income tax withholding and Social Security, Medicare and unemployment taxes like any other wages. The fee the court pays directly to the juror is not employer wages and does not go on the employer's Form W-2, but it is taxable income that the employee reports on their own return.