Arizona: Jury Duty Leave and Pay Requirements

No forced or requested annual, vacation, or sick leave

Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 21-236(A) protects the full jury sequence: responding to a
summons, participating in selection, and actually serving. For that time, an
employer may not require or even request that the employee use annual,
vacation, or sick leave. The employer does not have to create any of those
benefits for an employee who otherwise lacks them under company policy.

The statutory floor is nevertheless unpaid. Section 21-236(B) expressly says
an employer need not compensate an employee absent because of jury service.

Permission, seniority, and return position

An employer may not refuse to permit jury service and may not dismiss or in
any way penalize an employee because the employee serves as a grand or trial
juror. During that absence, the employee keeps seniority and precedence.

Upon return, § 21-236(C) requires restoration to the previous position or to a
higher position commensurate with the employee's ability and experience if
ordinary seniority or precedence would entitle the employee to it.

Small-employer postponement

The five-worker rule is not an exemption from employment protection. If an
employer has five or fewer full-time employees or their equivalent and one
employee is already serving as a juror, the court must postpone and reschedule
another summoned employee whose service overlaps.

That statutory postponement does not consume the person's separate right to
one automatic postponement under § 21-336.

Notice, scheduling, and enforcement

Section 21-236 states no employee-to-employer notice deadline, mandatory
written form, summons-copy or attendance-proof rule, night-shift rest period,
same-day return rule, or make-up-time rule. It also states no rule coordinating
employer wages with court-paid juror fees.

Any violation of § 21-236 is a Class 3 misdemeanor, carrying up to 30 days of
imprisonment under § 13-707(A)(3) and a fine up to $500 under § 13-802(C).
Separately, § 23-1501(A)(3)(c)(iv)
recognizes an employee claim when the employer terminates employment in
retaliation for jury service protected by § 21-236.

What trips people up

Arizona bars a request as well as a requirement to use the three named leave
balances. A supervisor should not frame annual, vacation, or sick leave as the
expected way to cover protected jury time.

The anti-penalty and restoration provisions expressly name grand and trial
jurors. The broader PTO paragraph also reaches summons response and selection,
before actual jury service begins.

Common questions

Must an Arizona employer pay wages during jury duty?

No. Section 21-236(B) expressly says the employer is not required to
compensate the employee for the absence.

Can an employer require vacation or sick leave?

No. The employer may not require or request annual, vacation, or sick leave
for summons response, jury selection, or actual service.

Does the employee keep seniority?

Yes. Seniority and precedence are preserved, and the employee must return to
the previous position or a higher position earned through those rights.

What happens when two workers at a very small employer are summoned?

If the employer has five or fewer full-time employees or equivalents and one
employee is already serving, the court must postpone and reschedule the other
employee's overlapping service.

Statutes and sources

• Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 21-236(A)-(E): no forced or requested leave balances,
  permission to serve, unpaid status, seniority, return position, small-
  employer postponement, and misdemeanor — official text
  (accessed July 13, 2026).
• Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 23-1501(A)(3)(c)(iv): retaliatory-termination claim for
  protected jury service — official text
  (accessed July 13, 2026).
• Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-707(A)(3) and 13-802(C): Class 3 misdemeanor jail and
  fine maximums — official jail text
  and official fine text
  (accessed July 13, 2026).