While salaried workers often get paid jury leave, hourly and part-time workers usually face a total loss of income. Know your state rights.
Getting summoned for jury duty is stressful for anyone, but it is a genuine financial crisis for hourly workers who rely on every shift to pay the bills.
Under federal law (the Fair Labor Standards Act), employers are not required to pay hourly workers for hours they did not actually work. If you miss a 6-hour shift to sit in a courthouse, your employer does not have to pay you for those 6 hours.
A handful of states have passed laws forcing employers to pay. For example:
If you don't live in one of these protective states, your job only has to give you unpaid time off.
Regardless of whether they pay you, every state strictly prohibits employers from firing, threatening, or demoting you for attending jury duty. Furthermore, they cannot force you to use your accrued vacation or sick time (PTO) to cover the absence, though you can choose to use it if you want to get paid.
If you are an hourly worker and losing 3 days of pay will mean you can't pay rent, you should immediately write a letter to the court requesting a "Financial Hardship Excusal." Courts are generally sympathetic to hourly wage earners.
Unless you live in a state with strict jury pay laws like NY, MA, or CO, your employer is not legally required to pay your hourly wages while you serve on a jury.