Jury duty pay in Connecticut depends on whether you work full-time and how long your service lasts. If you hold a job of 30 or more hours per week, your employer pays your regular wages for the first five days. Part-time, temporary, and unemployed jurors instead receive $20 to $50 per day from the state during those first five days. Starting on day six, the state pays every juror a flat $50 per day, regardless of employment status.
The First Five Days
Connecticut draws a sharp line between full-time and part-time workers. If your position normally requires 30 or more hours per week and is not temporary or casual, your employer must pay your regular wages for the first five days of jury service.1Justia. Connecticut Code 51-247 – Compensation of Jurors You take home whatever you would have earned on a normal workday, not a flat stipend.
If you work fewer than 30 hours a week, hold a temporary or casual job, or are unemployed, your employer owes nothing. The state instead reimburses out-of-pocket expenses incurred during service, in an amount between $20 and $50 per day. Food costs cannot be included.1Justia. Connecticut Code 51-247 – Compensation of Jurors The gap between a salaried employee getting full wages and a part-time worker getting $20 to $50 is significant, and it catches many people off guard.
One wrinkle: even a full-time employee isn’t treated as full-time on a day they wouldn’t have earned wages anyway. If jury duty falls on your scheduled day off, your employer doesn’t owe you wages for that day, and the state reimbursement applies instead.1Justia. Connecticut Code 51-247 – Compensation of Jurors
After the Fifth Day
Starting on day six, the state takes over payment for every juror at a flat $50 per day. Full-time, part-time, unemployed, it doesn’t matter; everyone receives the same amount.1Justia. Connecticut Code 51-247 – Compensation of Jurors Jurors paid by the state at this stage are not entitled to any additional expense reimbursement on top of the $50.
Most Connecticut jury service wraps up within a few days. For cases that stretch into weeks, the drop from full wages to $50 per day can be substantial, especially for higher earners. The statute provides no mechanism for the state to make up the difference.
Mileage and Expense Reimbursement
Part-time and unemployed jurors receiving the $20 to $50 daily reimbursement during the first five days can include mileage in their out-of-pocket expenses. The statutory rate is $0.20 per mile, measured by the shortest route between your home and the courthouse.2Connecticut General Assembly. Chapter 884 – Jurors Mileage folds into the overall $50 daily cap rather than paying out on top of it.
Full-time employed jurors receiving regular wages during the first five days don’t receive separate mileage payments. After day five, the flat $50 state payment replaces any additional reimbursement, mileage included.1Justia. Connecticut Code 51-247 – Compensation of Jurors
Self-Employed Jurors
Connecticut’s statute defines a full-time employed juror as an employee holding a position of 30 or more hours per week.1Justia. Connecticut Code 51-247 – Compensation of Jurors If you’re self-employed, you have no employer obligated to pay wages, which puts you in the same category as part-time and unemployed jurors: $20 to $50 per day from the state during the first five days, and $50 per day after that. You cannot deduct lost business income on your tax return as a result of jury service.
If Your Employer Won’t Pay
Connecticut law prohibits your employer from firing you, threatening you, or otherwise retaliating because you received a summons, responded to it, or served on a jury.3Justia. Connecticut Code 51-247a – Employer Not to Discharge Employee or Require Additional Hours Work for Jury Service Your employer also cannot require you to work extra hours to make up time spent in court. Eight hours of jury duty counts as a full legal workday.
An employer who violates these protections faces criminal contempt, which can carry a fine of up to $500, up to 30 days in jail, or both.4FindLaw. Connecticut General Statutes Title 51 Courts 51-247a If you’re fired for serving, you have 90 days from the date of discharge to file a civil lawsuit seeking reinstatement and up to ten weeks of lost wages, plus attorney’s fees.
If your employer simply refuses to pay your wages during the first five days, you can sue in Superior Court for damages. The court can award treble damages, three times your actual loss, along with attorney’s fees if the failure to pay was willful.4FindLaw. Connecticut General Statutes Title 51 Courts 51-247a The statute specifically says financial hardship on the employer is not a defense.
One point the statute doesn’t address directly: whether an employer may charge jury service time against your vacation or sick leave balance. If your employer tries this, check your handbook and raise the issue with HR before service begins. A policy that effectively penalizes you for serving could raise questions under the broader anti-retaliation provision, but the statute doesn’t spell out a clear prohibition.
Taxes on Jury Pay
Jury duty pay is taxable income. Whether the payment comes from the state or the court, you report it on your federal return. Jury pay goes on Schedule 1, Line 8h of Form 1040.5IRS. 2025 Schedule 1 (Form 1040)
If your employer pays your full wages during jury duty and requires you to turn over the court-issued jury check, you still have to report the jury pay as income. You can then deduct the amount handed to your employer on Schedule 1, Line 24a, which zeroes it out so the same money isn’t taxed twice.5IRS. 2025 Schedule 1 (Form 1040) Reimbursements for expenses like parking and transportation are generally not taxable.