In Colorado, jury duty pay comes from two sources. For the first three days of service, your employer must pay your regular wages, capped at $50 per day unless you both agree to more. Starting on the fourth day, the state takes over and pays you $50 per day for every additional day you serve.1Justia. Colorado Code 13-71-126 – Compensation of Employed Jurors During First Three Days of Service2Justia. Colorado Code 13-71-129 – Compensation of Jurors After First Three Days of Service
What Your Employer Must Pay for the First Three Days
Colorado law puts the first three days of juror compensation squarely on the employer. You get your regular wages for the hours you would have worked, up to $50 per day. If you and your employer want to agree on a higher amount, nothing stops you, but $50 is the statutory floor the employer cannot drop below (as long as that matches or undercuts your usual pay).1Justia. Colorado Code 13-71-126 – Compensation of Employed Jurors During First Three Days of Service
The rule reaches further than many people assume. Full-time, part-time, temporary, and casual employees are all covered, provided your work hours can be determined from a schedule, custom, or practice established during the three months before your jury term starts.1Justia. Colorado Code 13-71-126 – Compensation of Employed Jurors During First Three Days of Service If your schedule is predictable enough to show what you would have earned, you qualify.
Independent contractors, the self-employed, and anyone without an employment relationship fall outside this part of the law. There is no employer to bill, so no wages are owed for days one through three.
When the Employer Can Be Excused and the State Pays Instead
An employer who would face genuine financial hardship covering your wages can ask the court to be relieved of the obligation. The request has to be made in writing within 30 days of the employer receiving the juror service acknowledgment, and a judge decides whether the hardship is real.3Justia. Colorado Code 13-71-127 – Financial Hardship
If the court grants the request, you do not lose out. The state steps in and pays you up to $50 per day for those first three days instead.3Justia. Colorado Code 13-71-127 – Financial Hardship The pay source shifts; the money still comes.
What the State Pays From Day Four Onward
Longer trials move onto the state’s dime. Beginning on the fourth day of service, Colorado pays each juror $50 per day for every additional day.2Justia. Colorado Code 13-71-129 – Compensation of Jurors After First Three Days of Service That rate applies to everyone regardless of employment status, so a self-employed juror, an unemployed juror, and a salaried employee all receive the same $50 per day from day four forward.
The practical effect of the two-phase system: most short trials cost employed jurors nothing in lost wages, and longer trials at least partially offset the income you would otherwise be giving up. Self-employed and unemployed jurors get nothing for days one through three but receive the state rate from day four on.
Protections Against Being Fired or Punished for Serving
Pay is only half of what the statute protects. Your employer cannot fire you, strip your benefits, demote you, threaten you, or otherwise punish you for receiving a summons, responding to it, or serving. The law also forbids employers from making demands that substantially interfere with your ability to serve effectively.4Colorado Judicial Branch. Information for Employers
Willful violations are a class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 120 days in jail, a fine of up to $750, or both.4Colorado Judicial Branch. Information for Employers That’s on top of any civil remedies you pursue yourself.
If Your Employer Won’t Pay You
If the first three days come and go and your wages don’t, you have a direct path to court. You can sue for the unpaid compensation once 30 days have passed since you submitted your juror service acknowledgment. When a court finds the nonpayment was willful, it can award treble damages (three times what you were actually owed) along with reasonable attorney fees. The employer is not allowed to defend the lawsuit by claiming financial hardship at that stage; the time to raise hardship was during the 30-day window after the acknowledgment arrived.5Justia. Colorado Code 13-71-133 – Penalties and Enforcement Remedies for Failure to Compensate Jurors
If Your Employer Retaliates
Retaliation claims follow a similar structure. You can file a civil lawsuit asking for damages, an injunction to get your job back, or both. If the court finds the employer acted willfully, it can award treble damages plus reasonable attorney fees. These cases are decided by a judge, not a jury.4Colorado Judicial Branch. Information for Employers
The combination of criminal exposure for the employer and treble damages plus fees for you is meant to make retaliation an expensive choice. If you think your employer has crossed the line, document the timing: the summons, your acknowledgment, any communications about scheduling, and the adverse action itself.
Who Actually Qualifies for the Employer-Pay Rule
The employer-paid wage rule hinges on an employment relationship with determinable hours. A few boundaries worth knowing:
- Self-employed jurors receive nothing from an employer for the first three days because there is no employer. They do collect the $50 state rate starting on day four.
- Unemployed jurors are in the same position: no employer pay for days one through three, state pay from day four onward.
- New employees without a three-month history of scheduled or customary hours may fall outside the first-three-days wage protection, because the statute measures hours against a schedule, custom, or practice established during the three months before the jury term.1Justia. Colorado Code 13-71-126 – Compensation of Employed Jurors During First Three Days of Service
- The $50-per-day employer cap is a floor on employer liability, not a cap on what you can earn. If your regular wages are lower, the employer owes your regular wages. If they’re higher, the employer owes $50 unless you’ve agreed to more.
Jury service is mandatory in Colorado, and the pay rules exist so that answering a summons doesn’t wreck your paycheck. If something about your compensation looks wrong (wages missing, hardship claimed late, hours miscounted), the enforcement tools in the statute are real and the deadlines are short. Keep your acknowledgment, track the days you serve, and raise any dispute while the paperwork is still fresh.