According to the US Department of Labor there is no requirement to pay for time not worked including jury duty. However, according to the Departments Employee Benefit Survey 87% of employee pay employees while they serve jury duty. (Labor) State laws vary on employer’s obligations in this area so you will need to check on the law in your state.
If it is a day or two it will likely have little impact on your business even if the employee is a key employee. If a key person had been selected to sit on the O.J. Simpson trial that took months the impact could be substantial. What if you need to replace that employee? Do you want to pay the employee for a certain number of days as some state laws require? You also need to make sure you are consistent. A policy drafted before the issue comes up will reduce hard feelings when you say you cannot pay an employee to be gone for an extended time.
Original Content copyright 2010 Thomas Robinson
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