Jury Duty Leave and Pay Requirements in Alabama

At a glance

Excused time and full-time pay

After receiving a jury summons, an employee must show it to the immediate superior on the next day the employee is at work. The employer must then excuse the employee for the day or days required for service in a court created under federal or Alabama law.

The wage rule is narrower than the leave rule. A full-time employee is entitled to the usual compensation received from the job during the excused absence. Section 12-16-8 states no comparable wage-continuation duty for a part-time employee.

No required or requested use of leave banks

An employer may not require or request that an employee use annual leave, vacation, unpaid leave, or sick leave for responding to a jury summons, participating in selection, or actually serving. The statute does not require an employer to create those benefits for workers who do not otherwise receive them.

The person paying the juror must issue a statement showing the daily and total juror compensation. The current section does not state that an employer may subtract the juror payment from the full-time employee's usual compensation.

Return after dismissal and civil remedies

An employer may not discharge an employee or take an adverse employment action solely because the employee serves on a jury empanelled under state or federal law. That protection carries a return-to-work condition: after being dismissed from the jury, the employee must report at the next regularly scheduled hour.

An employee discharged or subjected to an adverse employment action may sue the employer in a court of competent jurisdiction in Alabama. The statute authorizes both actual and punitive damages. It states no special filing deadline, reinstatement remedy, or attorney-fee award.

What trips people up

The summons-display deadline is tied to the employee's next workday, not to a fixed number of calendar days. The return rule is likewise precise: it points to the next regularly scheduled hour after dismissal from the jury, rather than a general same-day-return standard.

For a summoned employee of an employer with five or fewer full-time employees, or their equivalent, the court must automatically postpone and reschedule the service if another employee of the same employer is summoned for the same period. That is a court rescheduling rule, not an employer power to deny leave.

Common questions

Must an Alabama employer pay an employee during jury duty?

Yes for a full-time employee: § 12-16-8(c) requires the employee's usual compensation during the excused absence. The section states no corresponding pay requirement for a part-time employee.

Can the employer make the employee use vacation or sick leave?

No. The employer may not require or request use of annual, vacation, unpaid, or sick leave for the summons, selection process, or service.

When must the employee show the summons?

On the next day the employee is engaged in employment after receiving it.

What can an employee recover for an unlawful adverse action?

The express cause of action allows actual and punitive damages.

Statutes and sources

• Ala. Code § 12-16-8(a)-(e): summons display, excused time, no forced leave, full-time usual compensation, juror-fee statement, and small-employer postponement — official court reproduction of current text (accessed July 13, 2026).
• Ala. Code § 12-16-8.1(a)-(c): return-to-work condition, adverse-action protection, cause of action, and actual and punitive damages — official court reproduction of current text (accessed July 13, 2026).