Answers to tricky HR questions: Do we have to pay employees for jury duty?
June 13, 2008 by Jim GiulianoPosted in: Answers to tricky HR questions, Exempt non-exempt, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Money, Pay and benefits, policies
Our team of experts fields real-life, everyday questions from HR managers and gives practical answers that can be applied by any HR pro in the same situation. Today’s question: What are the rules for paying employees who are on jury duty?
Question
Do we have to pay employees who are on jury duty? Should they get full pay for the whole time they serve?
Answer
Let’s begin the answer by talking about exempt employees, explains Jane Dalton, an employment-law attorney with Duane Morris LLP.
The FLSA says any exempt employee who works part of a week and spends another part of the week on jury duty must be paid for the full week.
For all other employees and for exempts who spend at least a full week on jury duty, the law varies from state to state.
Some say employees must be paid for a minimum number of days. Most states permit the employer to deduct from pay any amount the employee receives for serving on jury duty.
Check with your state department of labor to learn the limits and requirements in your state.
Tags: duane morris, exempt, jury duty, Pay and benefits
June 16th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Would you happen to know the state of California requirements?
June 16th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
We are a Florida business and called the The Fed. Dept. of Labor on this exact issue. They said call the state. I called the State of Florida Dept .of Labor and they said call the County.
I just paid the non-exempt dude his 8 hours. That was enough for me.
June 16th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
California follows the Federal law, you are not required to pay a non exempt employee for hours not worked. You do not have to pay for an employee serving on a jury but you cannot prevent them from serving or discriminate against them for doing it.
June 16th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I’ve read two articles in the last few weeks that indicate employers are required to pay exempt employees for jury duty, however, I looked up this issue and the US DOL website and it says the FLSA not require payment for jury duty. Can you tell me where I can find the inforamtion you’ve found that indicates federal law requires us to pay them?
The US DOL website address I found the above info at is:
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/benefits-leave/juryduty.htm
June 16th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Sherry, the DOL statement at the link you provided is referring to nonexempt employees (i.e., ees not subject to a “salary basis” test in order to qualify for exemption). If your reference to “exempt” employees means those who must be paid on a salary basis, such as executives or, in most cases, administrative and/or professional ees, reducing or deducting from the salary because of jury duty is not permitted and will cause loss of exemption. The relevant regulation is 29 CFR Part 541, Section 541.602 http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_541/29CFR541.602.htm Here is an excerpt:
(3) While an employer cannot make deductions from pay for absences
of an exempt employee occasioned by jury duty, attendance as a witness
or temporary military leave, the employer can offset any amounts
received by an employee as jury fees, witness fees or military pay for
a particular week against the salary due for that particular week
without loss of the exemption.
As with any other absence of a salaried exempt employee, you may charge a leave or PTO bank. Also, as was initially pointed out at the beginning of this thread, if a salaried ee does not work at all during a workweek the regulation does not require that the weekly equivalent of the salary be paid, but do not confuse the workweek with the calendar week (they may be the same, but typically they are not).
June 30th, 2008 at 10:43 am
It is my understanding that it is okay to charge an exempt employees paid leave bank for jury duty. However, if that exempt has exhausted hours in a leave bank, a company must still pay the employee for jury duty and cannot make deductions from a exempt employee’s pay for absences due to jury duty in a workweek.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone is working/has worked in the state of Florida who can answer this question.
Can you pay a “car mechanic” in a car dealership setting, commission only in Florida?
The quesion arose that this person gets paid commission only for actual hours worked, which are far less than hours actually at work (many hours are spent waiting around for car repair work to come by, which in a slow economy is even less). He gets a W-2 and his benefits require at least 30 hours worked per week(which means he is classified as an employee), which he is unable to make due to the slowing economy. He actually is present at his work site atleast 8 hours a day but doesn’t receive any hourly pay.
Does this seem normal? Any input or references will be appreciated.
Thanks,
CB
August 7th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
CB,
You can structure the pay any way you wish as long as the total pay divided by the hours worked meets or exceeds the min wage. (USDOL Vs Carolina Glove). Also, the total pay must be divided by the hours work to determine a rate to be paid at 150% if the hours work exceed 40 in a week.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:21 am
How can I find Massachusetts law pertaining to this question?
Thank you.
August 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Thanks for clarifying this.
But I still don’t understand that how can you explain having an employee come in for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week then and pay them for just 2-3 hours when they perform work as it comes in ?
Thanks,
Charu
September 15th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Some noted above that for exempt employees… “As with any other absence of a salaried exempt employee, you may charge a leave or PTO bank.”
I’d like to see where this is documented. Charging a leave or deducting from PTO would appear to be taking away earned benefits. If one is assumed to be on the job if one works at all during a particular workweek, how can a deduction of earned benefits be justified? Can anyone document an interpretation either way?
December 4th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I am certain the language is in the regulations. FLSA does not require/regulate vacation, sick or PTO accruals. It is stated in the regulations that an employer can dock from accrual benefits any hours where an exempt employee is not working, including hours taken where the hours are less than 8 hours in duration. The only caveat is that an exempt employee cannot be docked pay for any time taken that is less than 8 hours in duration where no accrual balance exists. The regulations further state that accruals can be docked even where it results in a negative balance. Our company policy however does not allow an employee to take time off in advance of its accrual, so we wouldn’t have this scenerio though neither would we dock an exempt employees’ pay unless time taken was one or more full days.
October 12th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
According to our Policies & Procedures, Regular Part-Time employees working less than 40 hours weekly are not entitled to leave (sick/vacation/holiday) benefits. Now, in the event that a Regular Part-time /Non-Exempt employee is called to serve on jury duty – shall the employee be paid for that day (or days) she was absent ?
October 13th, 2009 at 9:45 am
I do not know about FL law, but FLSA does not require that non-exempt ees be paid for absences, jury duty or otherwise.
Regarding charu’s question about automobile mechanics on commission: As Russell Lookadoo pointed out, all hours of work must be recorded and considered in determining whether a supplement to the commission is necessary in order to meet the FLSA MW. If the employer’s policy is that comm. computed for actively working may be applied against idle hours, that is fine, just so the idle hours are accounted for and included in the computation. You stated that the mechanics are employed by a car dealer; in that case, it is probable that an overtime exemption applies. If that is the case, the half-time premium for hours over 40 is not required. The MW does apply to all hours worked, productive or otherwise.
Mechanics paid on commission who are not employed by an auto, truck, or farm implement dealer might be subject to the overtime standards. Another (more complicated) overtime exemption sometimes applies.