New Jersey: Jury Duty Leave and Pay Requirements
The short answer
New Jersey prohibits an employer from penalizing, threatening, or coercing an employee because the employee is required to attend court for jury service. Private employers currently are not required to continue salary, and the statute states no PTO, notice, proof, or scheduling rule. A violation is a disorderly persons offense; the employee may seek economic damages, reinstatement, and attorney's fees, but must sue within 90 days after the violation or completion of jury service, whichever is later. S152 would add pay for qualifying employees of certain larger State contractors.
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This is the general rule in New Jersey. Ezel applies current New Jersey law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | N.J. Stat. § 2B:20-17 (employment protection, offense, civil remedy, and filing deadline) |
|---|---|
| Jury service covered | Required attendance at court for jury service (§ 2B:20-17(a)); the text does not separately enumerate summons response, questionnaire completion, selection, grand-jury service, or a particular court system |
| Employers and employees covered | Any employer and employee under the current protection; no employer-size, industry, tenure, schedule, or classification gate stated in § 2B:20-17(a). Proposed S152 would use size, State-contract, tenure, and hours-worked gates for its new pay rule |
| Time-off entitlement | Employer may not penalize the employee with respect to employment, or threaten or otherwise coerce the employee with respect to employment, because required to attend court for jury service (§ 2B:20-17(a)); the section is protective rather than a separately quantified leave grant |
| Employer-paid wages | No current private-employer wage-continuation requirement; New Jersey Courts expressly states private employers are not required to pay salary during juror service. S152 would require usual compensation from qualifying State contractors, less the daily juror fee |
| PTO and juror-fee treatment | No express current rule in § 2B:20-17 on compelled or voluntary vacation, sick leave, or other PTO, or on offsetting employer wages by juror fees. S152 would expressly deduct the per diem juror fee from its proposed employer-paid compensation |
| Employee notice and proof | No employee-to-employer notice deadline, written-notice form, summons-copy duty, attendance statement, or other proof requirement stated in current § 2B:20-17 |
| Scheduling and return-to-work rules | No night-shift rest period, same-day return rule, make-up-time rule, work-interference prohibition, or long-trial scheduling protection stated in § 2B:20-17 |
| Job protection and remedies | Employment penalty, threats, and coercion prohibited (§ 2B:20-17(a)); violation is a disorderly persons offense (§ 2B:20-17(b)); employee may seek economic damages, reinstatement, and a reasonable attorney's fee, with suit due within 90 days after the violation or completion of service, whichever is later (§ 2B:20-17(c)) |
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Protection for required court attendance
N.J. Stat. § 2B:20-17(a) prohibits an employer from penalizing an employee with
respect to employment, or threatening or otherwise coercing the employee with
respect to employment, because the employee is required to attend court for
jury service.
The current protection states no employer-size, industry, tenure, schedule, or
classification threshold. Its service language focuses on required court
attendance and does not separately list questionnaire completion, summons
response, jury selection, grand-jury service, or a particular court system.
Private-employer time is currently unpaid
New Jersey Courts states that no statute requires a private employer to pay an
employee's salary during juror service. An employer policy or collective-
bargaining agreement may provide paid jury leave, but that is different from
the current state-law floor.
Section 2B:20-17 states no rule on required or voluntary use of vacation, sick
leave, or other PTO. It also supplies no employee notice deadline, written-
notice form, summons-copy or attendance-proof requirement, shift-rest period,
same-day return rule, make-up-time rule, or long-trial scheduling protection.
Offense, civil remedies, and 90-day deadline
An employer that violates subsection (a) is guilty of a disorderly persons
offense under § 2B:20-17(b). Under subsection (c), an employee penalized in
violation of the statute may sue for economic damages and reinstatement. A
prevailing employee is entitled to a reasonable attorney's fee fixed by the
court.
The filing window is short. The action must begin within 90 days after the
violation or completion of jury service, whichever is later.
Proposed pay rule for certain State contractors
S152 would add a limited employer-pay mandate. An employer with a State
contract and an average of at least 50 employees for 20 or more weeks would
have to pay a qualifying employee's usual compensation for each day present
for jury service, less the daily juror fee. The employee would need at least 12
months of employment and 1,000 base hours in the preceding 12 months.
The bill is not current law. Its introduced version would take effect six
months after enactment.
What trips people up
The current protection is broad as to employment consequences but does not
make private-employer jury time paid. Job protection and wage continuation are
separate questions.
The 90-day civil deadline can run from the later of two dates: the violation or
completion of jury service. It should not be rewritten as 90 days from the
employee's discovery of the violation.
Common questions
Must a New Jersey private employer pay wages during jury service?
No current statute requires it, according to New Jersey Courts. S152 would
create a limited pay rule for qualifying employees of certain State
contractors if enacted.
Can an employer penalize an employee for jury service?
No. Section 2B:20-17 prohibits employment penalties, threats, and coercion
because the employee is required to attend court for jury service.
Can the employer require PTO?
Section 2B:20-17 does not expressly answer that question. It states no rule for
vacation, sick leave, or other paid time.
What may an employee recover?
Economic damages, reinstatement, and a reasonable attorney's fee are available
under the statute, subject to the 90-day filing deadline.
Statutes and sources
- N.J. Stat. § 2B:20-17(a)-(c): employment protection, disorderly-persons
offense, economic damages, reinstatement, attorney's fee, and 90-day filing
deadline — official text
(accessed July 13, 2026). - New Jersey Courts: no statutory private-employer salary requirement and
summary of employment protection — official guidance
(accessed July 13, 2026). - NJ S152: proposed State-contractor pay rule, coverage gates, juror-fee
deduction, and effective-date clause — official bill text
(checked July 25, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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