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Jury and Witness Duty

Jury or Witness Duty Leave Explained: At certain times, employees are requested to perform jury duty or appear as a witness in a trial. All employees are protected when they are engaged:​

• To serve on an inquest jury or trial jury
  
• To appear in court in compliance with a subpoena or court order as a witness
  

Absences from work for these reasons are protected by law; you cannot deny the employee the time off. This requirement applies to all employers, regardless of size. You cannot terminate or discriminate against any employee who takes time off of work to serve on a jury or as a witness as required by law, if the employee gives you reasonable notice of the need for time off. Any employee terminated, threatened with termination, demoted, suspended or discriminated against in any way because of time taken off to serve on a jury or as a witness is entitled to reinstatement and back wages and benefits.

Documentation of Jury or Witness Duty: You can require employees to provide advance notice for jury or witness duty, where it is reasonable to do so. If the employee is unable to give advance notice, you cannot take any action against the employee if he/she can provide certification of the need for leave within a reasonable amount of time after the absence. An employee called for jury duty will receive a summons from the court and can request proof of service from the jury clerk if he/she has to report for duty. The summons or proof of service from the court is sufficient certification.

Return to Work from Jury or Witness Duty: You cannot discriminate against an employee who takes time off for jury or witness duty. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, such as layoffs, you must reinstate the employee to his/her job. If you must lay off an employee who takes jury or witness duty leave, the employee has the same rights and seniority as if he/she had been at work.

 

Employee Pay While on Jury or Witness Duty: Whether you must pay wages to an employee who takes time off for jury or witness duty depends on his/her status as exempt or nonexempt. You’re not legally required to pay a nonexempt employee’s wages while the employee serves on jury duty or as a witness. However, many employers voluntarily maintain a pay policy for employees on jury duty or serving as a witness, usually in the range of five to 20 days per year.

Rather than take unpaid time, a nonexempt employee who takes time off work to serve on a jury or as a witness can use vacation or personal leave, unless otherwise provided by a collective bargaining agreement.

If the employee is exempt and performed any work during the workweek, you must pay the exempt employee for the entire week. You cannot make deductions from an exempt employee’s salary for absences caused by jury duty or attendance as a witness. But you can make deductions from an exempt employee’s pay if the employee performs no work at all in the workweek.

It is unlikely that an exempt employee will perform no work at all during a workweek. Exempt employees often will check messages before or after jury service, work on a weekend or any other time they are not engaged in jury duty.

Your employees cannot be exempted from jury duty merely because they don’t want to serve, it’s inconvenient or they are needed at work. You cannot get an employee excused from jury duty. Employees may request a onetime postponement of jury service for personal or business reasons. For example, an employee might ask for a postponement because of a planned vacation, business trip or other conflict. The employee will be required to serve on jury duty at a later date, which can be up to six months from the originally scheduled date.