Direct answer: Federal law protects your job during jury duty but doesn't make your employer pay you. Nine places do require at least some pay: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York and Tennessee. Tennessee requires your usual pay, minus the juror fee if your employer chooses, at employers with 5 or more workers.
By the numbers: New York employers with more than 10 employees can't withhold the first $72 of daily wages for the first 3 days of jury service (Judiciary Law 519, revised 2025). Federal jurors get $50 a day (28 U.S.C. 1871). Source: N.Y. Judiciary Law 519; 28 U.S.C. 1871
“No employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce any permanent employee by reason of such employee's jury service.” — 28 U.S.C. 1875(a)
Updated 2026-10-18
Only if your state requires it. Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York and Tennessee do, each with its own limits. Federal law protects your job but doesn't require pay.
Yes, if your employer has 5 or more regular employees: your usual pay for days your service runs over 3 hours, and the employer may subtract the juror fee (Tenn. Code Ann. 22-4-106). Temporary workers employed under 6 months aren't covered.
$72 a day from the state. Employers with more than 10 employees can't withhold the first $72 of your daily wages for the first 3 days; you don't get the state fee on a workday your employer pays you (Judiciary Law 519, 521).
$50 a day (28 U.S.C. 1871), plus a travel allowance. A trial juror on one case more than 10 days may get up to $10 more a day at the judge's discretion.
Federal law bars firing permanent employees over federal jury service (28 U.S.C. 1875). The Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Louisiana, Nebraska, New York and Tennessee laws we read bar firing or penalizing you for jury service, and a published 50-state survey says every state does.
Not in Alabama, which bars requiring or requesting annual, vacation, sick or unpaid leave, or Nebraska, which bars loss of sick leave or vacation. Louisiana's one paid day can't cost you leave either.
Jury duty pay laws for AL, CO, CT, DC, LA, MA, NE, NY and TN plus 28 U.S.C. 1871/1875, each read from the statute Oct. 18, 2026.
As of Oct. 18, 2026 · 9 state laws + federal · from the statutes
Federal law protects your job but doesn't require pay; only some states make employers pay jurors. Nine laws make employers pay: Alabama (full-time, every day), Colorado (up to $50 a day, 3 days), Connecticut (5 days), D.C. (5 days), Louisiana (1 day), Massachusetts (3 days), Nebraska (no loss of pay), New York ($72 a day, 3 days) and Tennessee (usual pay, 5+ employees).
The math:
Sources: Pay check · By state · Federal · Sources
A best fit for the situation described, not financial advice or a buy/sell recommendation. Partner links never change a pick.
Pick your state and job details. Daily pay = what you'd normally earn that day.
Each row is from the state law itself, read Oct. 18, 2026. Pay rules cover private employers unless noted.
| State | Employer must pay | For how long | Who is covered | Also | Law |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Usual pay | Every day of jury service | Full-time employees | Your employer can't require or ask you to use vacation, sick, annual or unpaid leave for jury duty. Small employers (5 or fewer full-time) get an automatic postponement if another employee is summoned for the same period. | Ala. Code 12-16-8 |
| Colorado | Regular wages up to $50 a day | First 3 days | Regularly employed, including part-time, temporary and casual workers whose hours follow a schedule or set practice over the prior 3 months | You and your employer can agree to more than $50 a day. Firing, threatening or coercing you over jury service is barred; a court can award triple damages for willful violations. | C.R.S. 13-71-126 · C.R.S. 13-71-134 |
| Connecticut | Regular wages | First 5 days | Full-time employees (30+ hours a week in a job that isn't temporary or casual); temp-agency workers in a 30+ hour position count once they've worked it more than 90 days | From day 6 the state pays $50 a day. Part-time, temporary and unemployed jurors get state reimbursement of expenses for days 1-5 ($20 to $50 a day). Eight hours of jury duty counts as a day's work. | Conn. Gen. Stat. 51-247, 51-247a |
| District of Columbia | Usual pay, minus any juror fee | Jury service of 5 days or less | Full-time employees in D.C.; employers with 10 or fewer employees are exempt | D.C. Superior Court pays $30 a day, but not to jurors whose employer pays regular wages. Firing, threatening or coercing you over a summons or service is criminal contempt. | D.C. Code 15-718 · D.C. Code 11-1913 |
| Louisiana | Full wages | 1 day | Anyone regularly employed in Louisiana (state juries) | The day off can't cost you sick, emergency or personal leave. Firing you over jury duty means reinstatement plus a $100 to $1,000 fine per employee. | La. R.S. 23:965 |
| Massachusetts | Regular wages | First 3 days | Regularly employed, including part-time, temporary and casual workers whose hours follow a schedule or set practice over the prior 3 months | From day 4 the state pays trial jurors $50 a day. Self-employed jurors pay themselves for the first 3 days. | M.G.L. c. 234A, s. 48 · M.G.L. c. 234A, s. 51 |
| Nebraska | No loss of pay; employer may subtract the court's juror pay | Every day of jury service | Any employee who gives reasonable notice | No loss of sick leave or vacation either. Shift workers are excused from shift work on jury days without loss of pay on request. | Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-1674 |
| New York | First $72 of daily wages | First 3 days | Employees of employers with more than 10 employees | The state's juror fee is $72 a day; you don't get it on a workday your employer doesn't withhold your wages. You can't be fired or penalized for jury service if you tell your employer before your term starts. | N.Y. Judiciary Law 519 · N.Y. Judiciary Law 521 |
| Tennessee | Usual pay; employer may subtract the juror fee | Every day your service runs over 3 hours | Employers with 5 or more regular employees; not temporary workers employed under 6 months | Night-shift workers are also excused from the shift before their first day. Employers don't have to pay for more time than you actually spent serving and traveling. Firing, demoting or suspending you means reinstatement plus lost wages and is a Class A misdemeanor. | Tenn. Code Ann. 22-4-106 |
We read the 9 laws above in full. A published 50-state survey (Workforce.com, read Oct. 18, 2026) lists the same places as requiring pay, plus Broward and Miami-Dade counties in Florida, and says every state bars employers from firing or penalizing you for jury service. We haven't confirmed each remaining state's statute ourselves. If your state isn't above, your employer's policy decides whether you're paid, and the court's juror fee may be all you get.
How we built this: on Oct. 18, 2026 we saved each state's law (and the two federal sections) with checksums, and our build checks that every quoted phrase behind this page appears in that saved text (46 quotes). The pay check applies only those laws' rules and runs in your browser. State court juror fees vary by state and county and aren't listed here except where the law we read sets them.
Facts, not legal advice. Laws change, and public employees often have separate rules. The court that summoned you and your state labor department are the final word.
All read Oct. 18, 2026.
Only if your state requires it. Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York and Tennessee do, each with its own limits. Federal law protects your job but doesn't require pay.
Yes, if your employer has 5 or more regular employees: your usual pay for days your service runs over 3 hours, and the employer may subtract the juror fee (Tenn. Code Ann. 22-4-106). Temporary workers employed under 6 months aren't covered.
$72 a day from the state. Employers with more than 10 employees can't withhold the first $72 of your daily wages for the first 3 days; you don't get the state fee on a workday your employer pays you (Judiciary Law 519, 521).
$50 a day (28 U.S.C. 1871), plus a travel allowance. A trial juror on one case more than 10 days may get up to $10 more a day at the judge's discretion.
Federal law bars firing permanent employees over federal jury service (28 U.S.C. 1875). The Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Louisiana, Nebraska, New York and Tennessee laws we read bar firing or penalizing you for jury service, and a published 50-state survey says every state does.
Not in Alabama, which bars requiring or requesting annual, vacation, sick or unpaid leave, or Nebraska, which bars loss of sick leave or vacation. Louisiana's one paid day can't cost you leave either.
Estimates, not financial advice. Taxes, insurance, PMI and fees vary by lender, county and city; confirm with your lender, dealer and state agency before acting.
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