Nebraska: Jury Duty Leave and Pay Requirements
The short answer
Nebraska is a paid-leave state. An employee summoned for jury duty may not be subjected to discharge, loss of pay, loss of sick leave or vacation, or any other penalty for the absence, if the employee gives reasonable notice of the summons. The employer may reduce the employee's pay only by the amount of the court's jury-duty compensation (not expenses). An employee may also be excused, on request, from shift work on serving days without loss of pay. A violation is a Class IV misdemeanor.
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This is the general rule in Nebraska. Ezel applies current Nebraska law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1674 (formerly § 25-1640; recodified 2020) |
|---|---|
| Jury service covered | Being summoned to serve on jury duty and the absence from employment 'by reason of jury duty' (§ 25-1674); the section speaks to jury duty, not witness or subpoena appearances |
| Employers and employees covered | Written as a flat protection for 'any person who is summoned to serve on jury duty' and a flat duty on 'no employer'; § 25-1674 states no employer-size, tenure, or classification gate |
| Time-off entitlement | The absence from employment by reason of jury duty is protected on reasonable notice: the employee may not be subjected to discharge or 'any other form of penalty' for it (§ 25-1674) |
| Employer-paid wages | Pay continues. The employee may not suffer 'loss of pay' for a jury-duty absence, except that the employer 'may reduce the pay of an employee by an amount equal to any compensation, other than expenses, paid by the court for jury duty' (§ 25-1674). So the employer effectively pays the difference between regular wages and the court's juror fee |
| PTO and juror-fee treatment | The employee may not be forced to lose sick leave or vacation time for jury service (§ 25-1674). The employer's only permitted offset is the court's jury-duty compensation (other than expenses), which it may deduct from the wages it owes |
| Employee notice and proof | The protections apply 'upon giving reasonable notice to his or her employer of such summons' (§ 25-1674); the section sets no written-notice form or summons-copy requirement |
| Scheduling and return-to-work rules | An employee summoned to serve 'shall be excused upon request from any shift work for those days required to serve as a juror without loss of pay' (§ 25-1674) — a shift-work-excusal protection many states lack |
| Job protection and remedies | No employer may subject an employee to discharge, loss of pay, loss of sick leave, loss of vacation time, or any other penalty because of a jury-duty absence; a person who violates the section is guilty of a Class IV misdemeanor (§ 25-1674) |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Paid, protected, and penalty-free
Nebraska is one of the states that requires employers to keep paying employees during
jury service. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1674, a person summoned to serve on jury duty
"shall not be subject to discharge from employment, loss of pay, loss of sick leave,
loss of vacation time, or any other form of penalty" for the absence — as long as the
employee gives reasonable notice of the summons.
The one thing the employer may do is offset the court's jury-duty pay. The statute lets
an employer "reduce the pay of an employee by an amount equal to any compensation,
other than expenses, paid by the court for jury duty." In practice, that means the
employer pays the gap between the employee's regular wages and the juror fee the court
pays, and the employee is not left short. Travel or expense reimbursements the court
pays cannot be offset.
Note the section's citation. This protection used to be numbered § 25-1640 and was
recodified to § 25-1674 in 2020; the text is the same, but some court handouts still
use the old number.
Shift work and scheduling
Nebraska adds a scheduling protection that many states lack. An employee summoned to
serve "shall be excused upon request from any shift work for those days required to
serve as a juror without loss of pay." So a night-shift or swing-shift worker can ask
to be excused from the shift tied to a serving day and still not lose pay for it.
Notice and PTO
The pay and job protections apply "upon giving reasonable notice to his or her employer
of such summons," so telling the employer promptly is what locks in the protection. The
statute sets no particular written-notice form or summons-copy requirement.
Because the employee may not suffer "loss of sick leave [or] loss of vacation time" for
jury duty, an employer cannot force the employee to burn accrued paid leave to cover the
jury days. The court's jury-duty compensation is the only permitted offset against wages.
Enforcement
The remedy is criminal: a person who violates the section is guilty of a Class IV
misdemeanor. The statute frames the duty as a flat prohibition on the employer rather
than laying out a private lawsuit with its own damages formula, so an employee who is
penalized should raise the violation with the court that issued the summons and get
legal advice about enforcement.
What trips people up
The offset is the detail most people miss. "No loss of pay" does not mean the employee
collects both full wages and the full juror fee — the employer may deduct the court's
jury-duty compensation (but not expense reimbursements) from the wages it owes. The
result is that the employee ends up whole, not ahead.
The old citation also causes confusion. Material still circulates under § 25-1640; the
current, controlling section is § 25-1674, with identical wording.
Common questions
Does my Nebraska employer have to pay me for jury duty?
Yes. You may not suffer loss of pay for a jury-duty absence if you give reasonable
notice, though the employer may reduce your pay by the court's juror fee (not
expenses).
Can my employer make me use vacation or sick leave for jury days?
No. The statute bars loss of sick leave or vacation time as a result of jury service.
I work nights — do I have to work my shift around jury duty?
No. On request, you must be excused from shift work on the days you are required to
serve, without loss of pay.
What happens to an employer who breaks the rule?
The violation is a Class IV misdemeanor.
Statutes and sources
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1674 (formerly § 25-1640): bars discharge, loss of pay, or loss
of leave for jury service on reasonable notice, permits only a juror-fee offset,
provides a shift-work excusal without loss of pay, and makes a violation a Class IV
misdemeanor —
Nebraska Legislature official statute text
(accessed July 13, 2026); cross-checked against the
Justia 2025 Nebraska Revised Statutes mirror.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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