Most people think jury duty is a pain in the rear. I’ve seen and heard of some creative excuses to get out of jury duty. There’s even a report that “Jesus Christ” was struck from jury service in Birmingham: Jesus On Jury Duty
Jury duty can also create hardships for employers. Nevertheless, Alabama has recognized the importance of jury duty by statutorily creating protections for employees who are called for jury service. This is significant, because the general rule in Alabama is “employment-at-will”: an employee without an employment contract can be terminated for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all.
Protection of employees serving on juries is one of the few exceptions to employment-at-will in Alabama. Here are the three most important things to know if one of your employees is called for jury service.
1. You cannot terminate an employee who misses time from work for jury service.
Alabama Code Section 12-16-8.1 prohibits termination or any “adverse employment action” because an employee was called for jury service. Notably, Section 12-16-8.1 prohibits adverse employment actions because an employee “serves” on a jury. But, the Alabama Supreme Court has interpreted the statute to protect employees from serving in any part of the jury process — including simply being called for jury duty.
2. You must pay an employee their regular wage for time spent in jury service.
Alabama Code Section 12-16-8(c) requires that full-time employees receive their “usual compensation” for the time they spend in jury service. As a result, you must pay an employee if they are absent for jury service.
3. You cannot require the employee to use leave time for jury service.
Your company may provide annual, vacation or sick leave time as a benefit to employees. If they miss time for jury duty, you cannot require, or even request, that they use paid or unpaid leave when they are called for jury duty. Ala. Code § 12-16-8(b).