I recently reported for jury duty, and, as a curious — nosy — reporter, I overheard a lot of conversations among potential jurors and their HR staff, union reps and employers about whether they would get paid by their company while serving or have to use vacation time.
Federal law doesn’t require that employers provide paid time, but states, counties and municipalities can. Here in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, jurors are compensated $27 for each day of service, meaning minimum wage workers are potentially losing out on roughly $57 per day. But, state law does prohibit employers from requiring workers to use vacation or sick time — or penalizing them in other ways, like terminating them — to serve.
I put out a call on social media to see how other workplaces handle jury duty. A communications pro in Baltimore said he has served on a criminal and a civil jury and reported for selection many times, but, as an exempt employee, has always been paid his normal daily salary during service.
“That’s good, because, up until recently, the court only paid $15 per day. Fifteen dollars wouldn’t even cover lunch and parking! Recently, the courts increased juror pay to $30 per day, which is somewhat better but still not great,” he said.
One worker said that in the South Carolina Lowcountry, jurors receive $10 per day.
Another said her company offers jury duty compensation time. “I have not personally needed to use it yet, but I am grateful it exists!” she said.
My company didn’t dock my time for jury; I just had to inform my manager of my summons.
Because I work remotely already, I was able to take my laptop to the courthouse and work a bit while waiting to be called. Spoiler alert: I was not seated to serve. All in all, I got a check for $54 and left my dining room for a few days.
But, for some workers, it’s not always that easy. For example, in 2019, a Taco Bell manager alleged he was fired because he refused to lie to be released from jury duty.
And you could always be Ronald Gladden, the star of the Amazon series Jury Duty, in which everyone but Gladden was a paid actor serving on a jury.