Do Business Owners Have to Pay When an Employee Goes to Jury Duty?
Serving on a jury is a civic duty in the United States of America. The American court system would cease to work if no adult were able to perform jury duty. However, serving on a jury poses hardships for some Americans; for example, workers may worry about their pay and job security if they are summoned. It is against the law to simply ignore a summons for jury duty, and your employer is not obligated to compensate you for attending.
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Federal Law
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The United States Department of Labor does not require employers to compensate part or full-time employees who take time off from work to serve jury duty. Employers may not fire, threaten or intimidate permanent employees who take time off for jury duty, but they are not required to pay the employee's salary.
Undue Hardship
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Fulfilling the obligation to serve jury duty puts some families in financial predicaments. Some court cases last for longer than the family's breadwinner can afford to be away from work. Workers may mail a letter to the courts stating that serving jury duty will put an undue hardship on them. They must explain why, for example, they won't be able to pay their bills. The courts may excuse people in these circumstances.
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State Law
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The states are allowed to make their own rules regarding employers paying employees during jury duty. Most states, however, do not mandate pay. The states do often reiterate that employees may not be dismissed or harassed due to jury duty. Tennessee is an example of one state that does require employers to pay employee salaries during jury duty service. The employee must have worked for at least six months and be a full-time, permanent employee to qualify.
Occupation
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Some courts excuse people from jury duty based upon the type of work they do, according to the U.S. Courts website. Examples of these excused occupations include ambulance crew members and volunteer firefighters.
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