§12-16-8. Employees excused from employment; compensation; postponement of service.

(a) 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.

(b) 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.

(c) Notwithstanding the excused absence provided in subsection (a), any full-time employee shall be entitled to his or her usual compensation received from such employment.

(d) It shall be the duty of all persons paying jurors their fee or compensation for services to issue to each juror a statement showing the daily fee or compensation and the total fee or compensation received by the juror.

(e) Notwithstanding subsection (a), 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 Section 12-16-63.1.

(Acts 1969, No. 619, p. 1126; Act 2005-311, 1st Sp. Sess., §1.)