How Jury Duty Pay Rules Vary by State

When you have to keep paying for jury service

Job protection is nearly universal. Pay is not. The FLSA does not require private employers to pay for time spent on a jury. Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Tennessee, and D.C. sit in the verified paid-jury core — details vary, and a few rows still need statute confirmation before you promise full wages.

New York employers with more than 10 employees generally may not withhold the first $72 of daily wages for the first three days of jury service (rate effective June 8, 2025). Colorado caps the first three days of required regular wages at $50/day unless you agree to more. Alabama requires usual compensation for full-time employees and bars forcing vacation or sick leave for jury response time.

What to do when a summons arrives

• Excuse the employee for service after they give notice of the summons.
• Check the employee’s work state against the paid-jury core before zeroing wages.
• Turn off automatic “court = PTO” deductions.
• For New York shops over 10 employees, apply the $72 floor for days 1–3.
• Keep attendance points off protected jury absences.
• Be careful docking exempt salary mid-week — freestyle docks create separate FLSA risk.

Where jury-week payroll goes wrong

• Paying only the court fee in a state that requires employer wages.
• Auto-burning vacation for jury days in Alabama-style no-forced-PTO states.
• Missing New York’s size threshold and the post-2025 $72 rate.
• Writing someone up for missing a shift after they produced a summons.

Protect the job first — then verify pay

Never retaliate for jury service. Then open the state rule before the first court day. Outside the paid-jury core, your policy or CBA usually decides wages — but the summons still is not a free no-call.