As required by Michigan law, employers must provide time off to serve jury duty when summoned by the court. Though employers are not required to pay an employee for time off to serve jury duty, most ASE members report (93.6%) that they pay either full pay (50.7%) or the difference between full pay and jury duty pay (42.9%).  Further, though many employers will provide pay for a limited amount of time, over 63% indicated in ASE’s last Michigan Policies and Benefits Survey that they have no maximum to their jury duty pay benefit.

Specifically, Michigan law states:

Employers and their agents may not discharge or discipline an employee because that person has been summoned for jury dutyserves on a jury, or has served on a jury. Employers and their agents also may not threaten an employee with discharge or discipline or cause the person to be discharged or disciplined for such reasons (MCL Sec. 600.1348(1)).

Further Michigan employers:

cannot require an employee who is serving on jury duty to work any number of hours that, when added to the number of hours the person spends on jury duty on that day, would exceed the number of hours the employee would normally and customarily work or that would extend beyond the normal and customary quitting time, unless voluntarily agreed to by the employee or as provided in a collective bargaining agreement (MCL Sec. 600.1348(2))

In a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals case a Taco Bell Franchisee allegedly fired an employee because he served on a jury for about a week and refused the employer’s request to lie to get out of serving. The employment action occurred in the state of Mississippi and that is the law the Court applied when determining the lower court needed to look at the circumstances of his employment termination closer.

Mississippi law on employer jury duty obligations is a bit less protective of employee rights and states:

Employers may not persuade jurors to avoid jury service (or attempt to do so), intimidate/threaten them in that respect, discharge them, or subject them to adverse action because of their jury service, if reasonable notice is provided. Employers may not require or request employees to use annual, vacation, or sick leave for time spent responding to jury duty summons, participating in jury selection, or serving on juries (Miss CodeAnn, Sec. 13-5-35, as amended by S. 2488, L. 2006).

 The employer in this case allowed the employee to serve but subsequently fired the employee shortly after their return for reasons the fired employee argued were pretextual. The Fifth Circuit agreed and resurrected the case against the employer.

This case brings up the opportunity for employers to review their jury duty leave practices. Employers should not only make sure employees are given time off but determine:

• If an employee does not get paid for time serving on a jury what is their policy and practice for exempt employees?

Federal wage and hour law requires exempt employees to be paid for any week in which any work is done. If an employee does any work (during the day, after work hours, etc.) that employee must be paid their full week’s salary to maintain their exempt status.

• Must a worker’s hours of work in a day be shortened if the employee is serving on a jury that day?

Michigan Law states an employer may not work an employee “any number of hours that, when added to the number of hours the person spends on jury duty on that day, would exceed the number of hours the employee would normally and customarily work or that would extend the normal and customary quitting time, unless voluntarily agreed to by the employee…”

• Can an employee whose jury service goes on for weeks or months be replaced?

Employers trying to permanently replace or influence an employee to return to work can face legal trouble. In Michigan the employee can sue the employer for adverse employment action, and the court can charge the employer with a misdemeanor and be cited for contempt of court.