Yes, federal employees do get paid for jury duty. You receive your full regular salary for the entire time you’re serving, and the hours don’t come out of annual leave or sick leave. A separate leave category called court leave covers the absence.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6322 – Leave for Jury or Witness Service The one thing you give up: any jury attendance fee the court pays you (typically $50 per day in federal court) has to be turned over to your agency.
What Court Leave Actually Covers
Court leave applies to any employee summoned for jury service in a federal, state, or local court, from the first day of reporting through official discharge.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6322 – Leave for Jury or Witness Service Because it’s its own category, it doesn’t touch your annual leave, sick leave, or any other balance you’ve built up. Your time-in-service credit and performance rating continue as if you were at your desk.
The rule also reaches witness service, but only when a government entity is a party to the case, or when you’re testifying in your official capacity. A summons as a private witness in a lawsuit between two private parties falls outside court leave, and you’d need annual leave or leave without pay for that.
Who Qualifies
Full-time employees with a regular schedule are the clean case. Part-time employees qualify too, provided they have an established recurring tour of duty. What disqualifies you is an intermittent schedule with no set hours.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Court Leave Temporary employees are eligible as long as their appointment has a regular schedule attached.
For part-time employees, court leave covers only the days and hours you would otherwise have worked. Jury duty on a day outside your schedule doesn’t count as court leave, but you get to keep any fee the court pays for that day.3U.S. Department of Commerce. Court Leave Same for federal holidays that fall during service: if you weren’t going to be working, it isn’t court leave and any fee for that day is yours.
The Jury Fee Rule
Federal courts pay jurors $50 per day. Trials that run past ten days can go up to $60 per day at the judge’s discretion.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1871 – Fees Since you’re already drawing your full salary, federal law requires you to remit that fee to your employing agency.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Court Leave The government doesn’t pay you twice for the same hours.
Expense reimbursements are different. Any money the court pays you for transportation, meals, mileage, or lodging is yours to keep.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Court Leave Your certificate of attendance from the clerk should itemize the service fee separately from expenses. Review that breakdown before you write your check to the Treasury.
When Jury Duty Can Actually Cut Your Pay
For most employees, court leave is fully neutral. The exception is night pay differential for General Schedule employees. GS workers receive night differential during paid leave only when their total leave in the pay period is under eight hours.5eCFR. 5 CFR 550.122 – Computation of Night Pay Differential Jury service longer than a day blows past that threshold, so a GS employee on a night schedule typically loses the differential for the duration.
Federal Wage System employees (blue-collar and trade positions) come out better. If you’re regularly assigned to a night shift under FWS, you keep your night differential during paid leave, court leave included.6eCFR. 5 CFR 532.505 – Night Shift Differentials Your agency can also temporarily shift your hours to match court hours so you’re not working overnight and sitting on a jury in the morning.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Court Leave
Getting Released Early
Courts often let jurors go before the workday ends. If the court excuses you for a full day or a substantial part of one, tell your supervisor.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Court Leave The default expectation is that you return to work unless doing so would be genuinely impractical. A long commute back to the office, limited midday transit, or a night-shift schedule can all count as reasons not to return. Telework may be an option if you have an agreement in place. When returning really doesn’t work, you can request annual leave for the remaining hours.
Grand Juries and Extended Service
Court leave has no cap. It covers the full stretch from first appearance to official discharge, whether that’s a two-day trial or a months-long grand jury.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6322 – Leave for Jury or Witness Service Your agency can’t push you to burn annual leave instead or seek an exemption.
Watch the gaps, though. If the court excuses you for an indefinite period “subject to call” or for a definite stretch longer than a day, those breaks aren’t part of your service term.7Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. Court Leave You’re expected back at your regular job on those days. Grand jurors who sit only a couple of days a week feel this most: on off days, you’re back at your desk, not on court leave.
What to Do After You’re Summoned
Notify your supervisor as soon as the summons arrives and hand over a copy. That’s what authorizes the court leave, and early notice helps your office cover your workload. Submit the leave request through your agency’s regular time and attendance system.
When service ends, get a certificate of attendance from the clerk of the court. It should list the dates you served and separate the attendance fee from expense reimbursements. Give the certificate to your supervisor or administrative office. Send the fee portion to your agency following its procedures, usually a personal check or money order payable to the U.S. Treasury. Keep the expense portion for yourself.
Don’t skip the remittance step because the amount looks small. Federal policy treats an unremitted jury fee as a salary overpayment, and your agency has to collect it one way or another.