When you’re called for jury service, the court pays you a modest daily stipend, and whether your employer keeps your paycheck going on top of that depends on your state’s law, how you’re classified at work, and your company’s own policy. So the honest answer to who pays you for jury duty is: the court always pays something, and your employer may or may not pay the rest. Federal law does not force private employers to cover your wages while you serve, which is why the same week of jury duty can mean a full paycheck for one worker and a $50 check for another.
What the Court Pays
Federal court pays jurors $50 per day of actual attendance. A judge can approve up to $60 per day for petit jurors who have served more than 10 days on a single case. Federal courts also reimburse reasonable transportation costs, sometimes parking, and pay a subsistence allowance for lodging and meals if your service requires an overnight stay.1United States Courts. Juror Pay
State and local courts set their own rates, and almost all of them pay less than federal court. Daily stipends run from as little as $5 in some states up to roughly $70 in the highest-paying ones. A handful match the $50 federal rate; many sit between $10 and $30 a day. The stipend is designed to offset gas and lunch, not to stand in for a paycheck. For a trial that stretches past a few days, that gap matters.
What Your Employer Pays
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not require private employers to pay employees for time not worked, and that includes jury duty.2U.S. Department of Labor. Jury Duty No single federal law guarantees your regular wages while you serve. What fills that silence is a mix of three things.
State Laws
A number of states require employers to provide some form of compensation during jury service. The specifics vary widely. Some states require full pay for a limited number of days. Others require the employer to pay the difference between the court stipend and your regular wages. Still others impose no pay obligation at all and leave the question to company policy. Your state labor agency and the summons paperwork itself are the most reliable places to confirm what your employer owes you.
The Salary Basis Rule If You’re Exempt
Salaried employees classified as exempt from overtime get an extra layer of protection. Under federal regulations, an employer cannot dock your weekly salary for absences caused by jury duty if you perform any work during that same workweek.3eCFR. 29 CFR 541.602 – Salary Basis If you sit on a jury Monday through Wednesday and work Thursday, your employer owes you your full salary for the week.
One wrinkle: your employer can offset the jury fees you received from the court against that week’s salary.3eCFR. 29 CFR 541.602 – Salary Basis If your weekly salary is $1,000 and you collected $50 in jury fees, your employer can pay you $950 and stay within the rule. The salary basis rule applies to salaried employees earning at least $684 per week, or $35,568 annually.4U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions
If jury duty consumes the entire workweek and you perform no work at all, the salary basis rule does not require your employer to pay you for that week.5U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Overtime Security Advisor – Jury Duty, Military Leave and Serving as a Witness
Company Policy
Many employers voluntarily pay for jury leave even when no law requires it. The details live in your employee handbook or offer letter. Some companies pay your full salary for the whole trial. Others cap paid jury leave at a set number of days, with five to ten days being common. Read the policy before you report. A long trial without that information is where the financial surprises happen.
Some state laws also prohibit your employer from forcing you to use vacation, sick leave, or other PTO to cover jury service, on the reasoning that requiring you to burn PTO for a civic duty is an indirect penalty for serving. Not every state includes this protection, so confirm what your state requires.
Taxes on Jury Pay
The IRS treats jury duty pay as taxable income, and the court stipend has to be reported on your federal return. Reimbursements for parking, mileage, and meals are generally not taxable.
The scenario that trips people up: your employer keeps paying your full salary but requires you to hand over the jury stipend. Many companies do this. You still report the full stipend as income, but you can claim a matching deduction for the amount you turned over to your employer. The deduction cancels out the income, so you aren’t taxed twice.
What you cannot deduct is lost income. If your employer doesn’t pay you and the court stipend falls short of what you’d normally earn, the shortfall is simply money you didn’t make. The tax code offers no relief for that gap.
If You’re Self-Employed
Freelancers, independent contractors, and small business owners feel the financial hit hardest. There’s no employer to continue your wages, so the court stipend is all you get. Lost client work, missed deadlines, and cancelled projects are real losses with no legal remedy, and you cannot deduct lost self-employment income on your tax return. If service would create genuine financial hardship, the hardship excuse process is where that matters.
Asking the Court for Relief If the Pay Gap Is Too Big
If serving would cause severe financial hardship, you can ask the court to defer or excuse you. Federal courts allow judges to excuse or defer jurors based on “undue hardship or extreme inconvenience,” and each of the 94 federal district courts sets its own procedure for handling the request.6United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions and Excuses State courts have similar provisions.
A postponement and an excuse are different things. A postponement shifts your service to a later date, usually within 12 months. An excuse releases you from the current summons entirely, though it does not mean you’ll never be called again. Courts grant postponements far more readily than outright excuses, so if your conflict is a trip or a deadline, a postponement is the realistic ask.
For a hardship excuse, you generally need to show more than inconvenience. Judges look for situations with real financial damage: being the sole earner in your household with no employer-paid leave, or running a small business that cannot operate without you. The decision rests entirely with the judge, and there is no appeal if the request is denied.
Your Job Is Protected Either Way
Losing pay is one problem. Losing your job is another, and federal law is firm here. It is illegal for any employer to fire, threaten, or coerce a permanent employee because of federal jury service, and a court can order reinstatement with no loss of seniority, award lost wages, and impose a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation per employee.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1875 – Protection of Jurors Employment Every state has a parallel law protecting employees called for state or local jury duty, with penalties that commonly include fines, reinstatement, and in some states misdemeanor charges against the employer.
To keep those protections intact, notify your employer promptly after you receive the summons and provide a copy. No federal statute sets an exact number of days, and state standards vary, but prompt notice puts you on solid ground if a dispute comes up later.