Tennessee - Jury Duty Employer Obligations

in Tennessee, your employer is not only required to give you leave for jury duty, but they are required to pay you your normal wages for all working hours spent at jury selection or jury duty. This is a rare guarantee, as most states only require that employees be provided with unpaid leave for serving on a jury.

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.

An employee must give notice of leave to their employer the day following receipt of the summons.

An employee is entitled to usual compensation received. The employer has the discretion to deduct any State compensation from the wages. The employer is only required to compensate for actual time spent traveling to and from, and serving on a jury.

Employes working on a temporary basis for less than 6 months, or in employment that has less than 5 employees, are not entitled to usual compensation.

Any compensation outside of these provisions is at the discretion of the employer.

You will receive a nominal jury duty payment from the State of Tennessee 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 employee will be excused from work for the whole day, provided their jury service exceeds 3 hours.

Night shift or employees whose hours of work are outside the operational hours of the court will be excused from any shift immediately preceding the first day of jury duty. After the first day, same employees having served 3 or more hours on any day of jury, are excused from any scheduled shifts following 24 hours from the service.

An employee shall not be discharge or in any manner discriminated against for serving on jury duty if prior to taking time off, gave the required notice.

You should be sure to show your employer your Tennessee 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.

Any employer who willfully refuses to rehire or restore an employee to their previous position, wages, and benefits, may be found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, which may be punishable by imprisonment of up to 1 year, or a fine up to $2,500, or both.

Any employer who is discharged, demoted or suspended due to taking leave for jury duty obligations is entitled to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and work benefits.

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.