Jury Duty and Court Attendance Leave Law Summaries
Alabama, Jury Duty and Court Attendance Leave Law Summaries
Alabama's jury duty leave law is located in the Code of Alabama at Title 12, Chapter 16, Art. 1. The full text of the law is available beginning at Wages-Hours ¶1-59,001 .
COVERAGE
Both private and public employers are covered by Alabama's jury duty leave law.
WHAT THE EMPLOYER MUST DO
Upon receiving a summons to report for jury duty, any employee, on the next day he or she is engaged in his or her employment, shall exhibit the summons to his or her immediate superior, and the employee shall thereupon be excused from his or her employment for the day or days required of him or her in serving as a juror in any court created by the constitutions of the United States or of the State of Alabama or the laws of the United States or of the State of Alabama (Sec. 12-16-8(a), as amended by S. 87, L. 2005).
An employee may not be required or requested to use annual, vacation, unpaid leave, or sick leave for time spent responding to a summons for jury duty, time spent participating in the jury selection process, or for time spent actually serving on a jury. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require an employer to provide annual, vacation, or sick leave to employees who otherwise are not entitled to the benefits under policies of the employer (Sec. 12-16-8(b), as amended by S. 87, L. 2005).
Notwithstanding the excused absence provided in Sec. 12-16-8(a) just above, any full-time employee shall be entitled to his or her usual compensation received from such employment (Sec. 12-16-8(c), as amended by S. 87, L. 2005).
Notwithstanding Sec. 12-16-8(a) just above, a court shall automatically postpone and reschedule the service of a summoned juror who is an employee of an employer with five or fewer full-time employees, or their equivalent, if another employee of that employer also has been summoned to appear during the same period. A postponement pursuant to this section shall not affect an individual's right to one automatic postponement under Sec. 12-16-63.1 (Sec. 12-16-8(e), as amended by S. 87, L. 2005).
No employer in this state may discharge any employee or subject any employee to an adverse employment action solely because he or she serves on any jury empaneled under any state or federal statute; provided, however, that the employee reports for work on his or her next regularly scheduled hour after being dismissed from any jury (Sec. 12-16-8.1(a), as amended by S. 87, L. 2005).
Any employee who is so discharged or subjected to an adverse employment action shall have a cause of action against the employer for the discharge or adverse employment action in any court of competent jurisdiction in this state and shall be entitled to recover both actual and punitive damages (Sec. 12-16-8.1(b), as amended by S. 87, L. 2005).
The provisions of this section are supplemental to any statutes, existing or to be enacted in the future, that are designed to protect and safeguard a citizen's right and duty to serve on a lawful jury, and the provisions of this section shall not repeal or supersede the provisions of any law not directly inconsistent herewith (Sec. 12-16-8.1(c), as amended by S. 87, L. 2005).
<p>The provisions of this section are supplemental to any statutes, existing or to be enacted in the future, that are designed to protect and safeguard a citizen's</p>
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