Alabama: Jury Duty Leave and Pay Requirements
The short answer
Alabama requires an employer to excuse an employee for the days required for state or federal jury service. A full-time employee is entitled to usual compensation, and no employee may be required or requested to use annual, vacation, unpaid, or sick leave for the summons, selection, or service. The employee must show the summons on the next workday and, after dismissal from the jury, report at the next regularly scheduled hour to preserve the separate adverse-action protection.
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This is the general rule in Alabama. Ezel applies current Alabama law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Ala. Code §§ 12-16-8 and 12-16-8.1 |
|---|---|
| Jury service covered | Responding to a summons, participating in jury selection, and serving on a jury; excused service includes courts created under federal or Alabama constitutions or laws (§ 12-16-8(a)-(b)) |
| Employers and employees covered | Leave, no-forced-leave, and adverse-action rules apply to employees generally; usual-compensation rule is limited to full-time employees. No employer-size exclusion, but a court postpones overlapping service for qualifying employers with five or fewer full-time employees (§§ 12-16-8, 12-16-8.1) |
| Time-off entitlement | Employee must be excused for the day or days required for jury service after displaying the summons as required (§ 12-16-8(a)) |
| Employer-paid wages | Full-time employee is entitled to usual compensation during the excused absence; no statutory wage-continuation rule stated for a part-time employee (§ 12-16-8(c)) |
| PTO and juror-fee treatment | Employer may not require or request annual, vacation, unpaid, or sick leave for summons response, selection, or service. Statute requires a juror-fee statement but states no employer offset from usual compensation (§ 12-16-8(b)-(d)) |
| Employee notice and proof | Employee must exhibit the summons to the immediate superior on the next day the employee is engaged in employment after receiving it (§ 12-16-8(a)) |
| Scheduling and return-to-work rules | After dismissal from the jury, employee must report at the next regularly scheduled hour to preserve § 12-16-8.1 protection. Court automatically postpones overlapping service for a qualifying employer with five or fewer full-time employees (§§ 12-16-8(e), 12-16-8.1(a)) |
| Job protection and remedies | No discharge or adverse employment action solely because of state- or federal-law jury service, if employee satisfies return rule. Employee may sue in a competent Alabama court for actual and punitive damages (§ 12-16-8.1(a)-(b)) |
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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).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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