Time Off for Civic Duties

Household employers should be aware and well-informed of the more often-used leave laws like sick leave or Family Medical Leave, but other leave laws will arise. Employers are typically mandated to provide time off for civic duties like voting, witness leave, and jury duty, but state laws specify how much time can be allowed, payment requirements, and how much notice needs to be provided.

Jury Duty

Almost every state prohibits employees from being terminating or disciplined for serving on a jury or missing work for jury duty.  Some states even make it illegal for employers to discourage or intimidate an employee from serving on a jury.

Many household employees may wonder if they will be paid while reporting for and/or serving on a jury. In most cases, employers are not required to compensate their employee for jury duty. However, some states allow employees to use vacation or PTO while on serving on a jury. Some states do require some form of monetary compensation for jury service; employers in the states listed below must pay their employees for jury duty (states not listed do have this requirement).

Alabama: Normal pay for full-time employees.

Colorado: Normal pay but only up to $50 per day for the first three days of jury duty.

Connecticut: Normal pay for full-time employees for the first five days of jury duty (the state pays up to $50 per day after 5 days).

District of Columbia: Normal pay for full-time employees for the first five days of jury duty.

Louisiana: Normal pay for full-time employees for only the first day of jury duty.

Massachusetts: Normal pay for full-time employees for the first three days of jury duty (the state pays up to $50 per day after 3 days).

Nebraska: Normal pay for all employees.

Tennessee: Only pertains to employers with 5 or more employees – normal pay for all employees if they’ve been employed for at least 6 months.

Note: In most cases, witness leave laws are similar to jury duty laws.

For a state-by-state guide to jury duty laws, click here.

Voting Leave

As with jury duty leave, most states prohibit employers from taking actions like disciplining or firing an employee who takes time off work to vote. Some states require employers to allow a certain number of hours of time off so an employee can vote. And some states also require payment to employees for voting leave. For example, California mandates that employers provide sufficient time off, including up to two hours of paid time off, to employees whose work schedules do not otherwise provide them with sufficient time off to vote.

To find out what the voting leave laws are in your state, please click here.

For more information on how GTM keeps household employers compliant with wage and labor laws, contact us at (888) 432-7972.