In Florida, employers are not required to pay your wages during jury duty. Section 40.271 of the Florida Statutes protects your job while you serve, but it says nothing about your paycheck, so a private employer can lawfully pay you nothing for every day you spend at the courthouse.1 There are two meaningful exceptions: a federal rule that protects salaried exempt employees from pay deductions, and whatever your own company handbook or union contract may promise. The court itself pays jurors a small daily fee that only partly fills the gap.
What Florida Law Actually Requires
Florida Statutes § 40.271 is the only state statute addressing the employer-juror relationship, and it does one thing: it prohibits retaliation. It bars your employer from firing you or threatening to fire you because of jury service, and it gives you the right to sue if they do. It does not require wage continuation. No administrative rule fills that gap, and no separate provision quietly imposes a pay obligation. If your employer chooses not to pay you while you serve, that choice is legal under Florida law.
Many employers do pay voluntarily. Company policies, employee handbooks, and collective bargaining agreements often include paid jury duty leave, and when a handbook promises it, that promise becomes an enforceable part of your employment terms. Read the fine print before your report date. Some policies cap paid leave at three or five days. Others continue your regular salary but require you to sign over the state’s juror fee in exchange. A quick conversation with HR before you serve is more useful than a surprise on your next pay stub.
The Federal Exception for Salaried Exempt Employees
If you are classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act and paid on a salary basis, your employer cannot dock your pay for days missed because of jury duty. Federal regulation 29 CFR § 541.602(b)(3) is explicit on the point: deductions from an exempt employee’s salary for jury duty absences are prohibited. If you work any part of a workweek and miss the rest for jury service, you are owed your full salary for that week.
Your employer can, however, offset the juror fees the court pays you against your salary for the same week. If your weekly salary is $1,200 and you collect $30 in juror fees, the company can pay you $1,170 and treat the week as fully paid. What the employer cannot do is withhold your salary entirely or deduct full days from it. The stakes for the employer are significant. Improper deductions can jeopardize the exempt classification for the position itself, which exposes the employer to overtime liability well beyond the amount originally withheld.
This federal rule is the main reason the answer to the pay question depends so heavily on how you are classified. Hourly and non-exempt workers in Florida have no comparable protection; their paychecks can shrink to reflect every unworked hour.
What the Court Pays Jurors in Florida
Florida Statutes § 40.24 sets a two-tier payment schedule that depends on how long you serve and whether your employer is paying you.
- Days one through three: If your employer does not pay your regular wages, the clerk of the circuit court pays you $15 per day. If your employer continues your wages, you receive nothing from the court for these first three days.
- Day four onward: Every juror earns $30 per day from the court, whether or not the employer is also paying. The rate stays flat for the rest of your service.
Payment comes from the clerk of the circuit court after your service ends and attendance records are processed. The timing varies by county, so do not expect the money the week you finish. One detail catches many jurors off guard: Florida does not reimburse travel, parking, meals, or any other out-of-pocket expense. Section 40.24(5) says so directly. If your courthouse is an hour away, the gas, tolls, and lunch all come out of your pocket.
If You Work for the Government
Public-sector rules are different and more generous. Florida state employees receive administrative leave with pay for every hour spent on jury duty, up to the hours in their normal workday, under Florida Administrative Code Rule 60L-34.0071(3)(a). They also keep whatever juror fees the court pays them. Federal employees called to either state or federal court receive court leave under 5 U.S.C. § 6322 with no charge to personal leave. County and municipal employees should check their own agency’s policy, since local ordinances and union contracts vary.
Federal Court Service Works Differently
Florida residents are sometimes summoned to federal district court rather than state court, and the compensation structure is not the same. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1871, federal jurors receive $50 per day starting on day one, with no unpaid waiting period. If a trial runs longer than ten days, the judge can authorize up to an additional $10 per day. Federal court also pays a mileage allowance for travel to and from the courthouse plus reimbursement for tolls, bridges, tunnels, and ferries.
Job protection in federal court is stronger too. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1875, an employer who fires, threatens, intimidates, or coerces an employee because of federal jury service faces a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation per employee, plus liability for lost wages and benefits, and the court can order reinstatement and award attorney’s fees. None of this changes your employer’s wage obligation during service, but it does change what remedies are available if the employer punishes you for serving.
If Your Employer Retaliates
Florida Statutes § 40.271 makes it illegal for any employer to fire you because of jury service. The protection covers both the fact and the length of your service, so an employer cannot argue the trial simply ran too long. Even threatening to fire you can expose the employer to contempt proceedings in the court that issued the summons.
If your employer fires you for serving, you can sue in Florida state court. The available remedies include compensatory damages for lost wages and other financial harm, punitive damages (the statute specifies no cap), and reasonable attorney’s fees if you win. One thing the Florida statute does not expressly provide is reinstatement to your old job. That remedy exists in the federal statute for federal jury service but not in § 40.271. Your path under state law is monetary, though compensatory damages covering ongoing lost income can be substantial.
Documentation makes any claim stronger. Keep your jury summons, the certificate of service the clerk issues at the end of your service, and your juror fee payment records. If a dispute later arises over whether your absence was in fact jury duty, or over how your employer calculated an offset against your salary, those records are what settles it.