Mississippi - Jury Duty Employer Obligations

In Mississippi, employers are required to provide you with unpaid time off for reporting to jury selection or jury duty. You may have to show your employer your jury summons in order to be given the necessary leave.

Your employer can never punish you for missing work to attend jury duty. However, if missing work would cause your employer undue hardship, it may be considered as an acceptable jury duty excuse.

There is no statute requiring private employers to pay their employees for jury service. A employer does not need to provide annual, vacation, or sick leave to employees not entitled to such benefits under company policies.

Employee must give notice of leave within a reasonable period of time after receipt of a summons.

State employees may be given administrative leave with pay, thereby not taking away from their sick or annual leave.

You will receive a nominal jury duty payment from the State of Mississippi for each day you serve on a jury, as well as potential reimbursements for travel expenses. However, jury duty pay tends to be a token amount rather than actual compensation.

An employer shall not remove, intimidate, threaten, or persuade or attempt to persuade any juror to avoid jury service, or otherwise subject an employee to adverse employment action as a result of jury service

An employer may not require or request an employee to use annual, vacation, or sick leave for time spent responding to a summons for jury duty, time spent participating in the jury selection process, or time spent actually serving on a jury.

You should be sure to show your employer your Mississippi jury duty summons letter when you receive it, and update them with your jury duty dates if you are assigned to a trial, to ensure that you receive your mandatory time off.

An employer found guilty of interfering with the administration of justice may be fined up to $500, or imprisoned at least one month in the county jail and up to 2 years in the state penitentiary, or both

An employer found guilty of contempt of court, may be fined up to $1,000 or imprisoned up to 6 months, or both.

If you have been punished for missing work due to jury duty, contact the joror office of the court that summoned you, and they will assist in ensuring that your rights are protected.