New Mexico: Jury Duty Leave and Pay Requirements
The short answer
New Mexico protects the job and bars forced use of PTO, but does not require pay. An employer may not deprive an employee of employment, or threaten or coerce the employee, because of a jury summons or service. An employer also may not require or request that the employee use annual, vacation, or sick leave for jury time. No New Mexico statute requires the employer to pay wages during service, and this section states no penalty or private lawsuit of its own.
Ask Ezel about your situation
This is the general rule in New Mexico. Ezel applies current New Mexico law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | N.M. Stat. Ann. § 38-5-18 (employer prohibited from penalizing employee for jury service) |
|---|---|
| Jury service covered | Receiving a summons for jury service, responding to the summons, serving as a juror, and attending court for prospective jury service (§ 38-5-18(A)) |
| Employers and employees covered | Written as a flat duty of any 'employer' toward any 'employee'; § 38-5-18 states no employer-size, tenure, or classification gate |
| Time-off entitlement | The absence to respond to a summons, take part in jury selection, and serve is protected: the employer may not deprive the employee of employment because of it (§ 38-5-18(A)) |
| Employer-paid wages | None. No New Mexico statute requires wage continuation for jury service; § 38-5-18 protects the job and PTO, not a paycheck during service |
| PTO and juror-fee treatment | The employer may not require or request that the employee use annual, vacation, or sick leave for jury time (§ 38-5-18(B)) — but this does not force an employer to provide such leave to employees not otherwise entitled to it under company policy. The section does not address crediting the court's juror fee against wages |
| Employee notice and proof | Section 38-5-18 imposes no express advance-notice period, written-notice form, or summons-copy requirement on the employee |
| Scheduling and return-to-work rules | No shift-rest window, night-shift excusal, minimum-release period, or long-trial rule appears in § 38-5-18 |
| Job protection and remedies | The section prohibits depriving an employee of employment or threatening or coercing the employee because of jury service (§ 38-5-18(A)), but states no fine, damages measure, or express private right of action of its own; an employee penalized for jury service must look to general law for a remedy |
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Protected job, protected PTO, unpaid time
New Mexico's rule for employees called to jury service is N.M. Stat. Ann. § 38-5-18. An
employer may not deprive an employee of employment, and may not threaten or otherwise
coerce the employee, because the employee receives a summons, responds to it, serves as
a juror, or attends court for prospective jury service. The protection covers the whole
process, from answering the summons through actual service.
New Mexico adds a protection many states lack: the employer may not require or request
that the employee use annual, vacation, or sick leave for the time spent responding to
a summons, going through jury selection, or serving on a jury. In other words, an
employer cannot make the employee burn accrued paid leave to cover jury days. The
statute is careful to add that this does not force an employer to create leave for
employees who would not otherwise have it under company policy.
What the section does not do is require the employer to pay wages. No New Mexico statute
requires wage continuation for jury service, so New Mexico is a protected-but-unpaid
state. An employer policy or union contract may provide paid jury leave, but the statute
does not command it.
Notice, scheduling, and fees
Section 38-5-18 sets no advance-notice deadline, requires no particular written notice,
and does not spell out a right to produce a copy of the summons. It contains no rule
about shift rest, release time, or long trials, and it does not address crediting the
court's juror fee against any wages an employer chooses to pay. As a practical matter, an
employee should still notify the employer promptly and keep the summons.
Enforcement
Section 38-5-18 is unusual in what it leaves out: it prohibits the employer's conduct
but states no fine, no damages formula, and no express private lawsuit of its own. That
does not make the prohibition toothless, but it means an employee penalized for jury
service has to look to general New Mexico law — for example, a wrongful-discharge theory
— rather than to a remedy written into this section. Anyone in that situation should get
legal advice about the available avenues.
What trips people up
The strongest, most concrete feature of New Mexico's statute is the no-forced-PTO rule.
An employer cannot dock your vacation or sick balance for jury days, even though it does
not have to pay you for them.
The gap in the statute is enforcement. Because § 38-5-18 names no penalty or private
action, the practical strength of the job protection depends on general law, not on a
damages provision built into the jury statute itself.
Common questions
Can a New Mexico employer fire me for serving on a jury?
No. Depriving an employee of employment, or threatening or coercing the employee, because
of a jury summons or service violates § 38-5-18.
Can my employer make me use vacation or sick leave for jury duty?
No. The employer may not require or request that you use annual, vacation, or sick leave
for responding to a summons, jury selection, or serving.
Does my employer have to pay me?
Not under this statute. New Mexico does not require wage continuation for jury service,
though an employer may choose to pay.
What remedy does the jury statute give me if I am penalized?
Section 38-5-18 states no penalty or lawsuit of its own; enforcement runs through general
New Mexico law, so consult a lawyer about your options.
Statutes and sources
- N.M. Stat. Ann. § 38-5-18: bars depriving an employee of employment, or coercing the
employee, because of jury service, and bars requiring or requesting use of annual,
vacation, or sick leave for jury time —
New Mexico Judiciary official jury page reproducing the statute
(accessed July 13, 2026); cross-checked against the
Justia 2025 New Mexico Statutes mirror.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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