§ 25-1674.Employee; penalized due to jury service; prohibited; penalty.
Article 16: Jurors and Jury Selection · Last amended 2020 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis section protects any Nebraska employee summoned for jury duty from being fired, docked pay, or stripped of sick leave or vacation time because of a resulting absence, guarantees excused time off for shift workers without lost pay, and makes an employer’s violation a Class IV misdemeanor.
Full Text of § 25-1674
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Any person who is summoned to serve on jury duty shall not be subject to discharge from employment, loss of pay, loss of sick leave, loss of vacation time, or any other form of penalty as a result of his or her absence from employment due to such jury duty upon giving reasonable notice to his or her employer of such summons. Any person who is summoned to serve on jury duty shall be excused
upon request from any shift work for those days required to serve as a juror without loss of pay. No employer shall subject an employee to discharge, loss of pay, loss of sick leave, loss of vacation time, or any other form of penalty on account of his or her absence from employment by reason of jury duty, except that an employer may reduce the pay of an employee by an amount equal to any compensation, other than expenses, paid by the court for jury duty. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a Class IV misdemeanor.
Section 25-1674 answers a worry that keeps some people from serving on a jury without complaint: will I lose my job, or my pay, for doing it? The statute says no. Anyone summoned to serve on jury duty cannot be discharged, lose pay, lose sick leave, lose vacation time, or face any other penalty because they were absent from work for jury service — as long as they gave their employer reasonable notice of the summons.
The protection reaches shift workers specifically. Someone scheduled to work a shift during their days of jury service can request to be excused from that shift, and the employer has to grant it without cutting their pay for those days.
The core prohibition repeats for emphasis: no employer can discharge an employee, cut their pay, take away sick leave or vacation time, or impose any other penalty because the employee missed work for jury duty. The one financial adjustment an employer is allowed to make is narrow — an employer may reduce an employee’s pay by the amount the court itself paid that employee for jury service, not counting reimbursed expenses. In other words, an employer does not have to pay full salary on top of whatever the court pays the juror, but cannot dock more than that court payment.
Violating this section is a Class IV misdemeanor, giving the protection a real criminal backstop rather than leaving it as an unenforceable guideline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my employer fire me for serving on a jury in Nebraska?
No. Section 25-1674 forbids discharging an employee because of an absence for jury duty, as long as reasonable notice was given to the employer.
Do I have to tell my employer I have been summoned for jury duty?
Yes. The protection applies once you give your employer reasonable notice of the summons.
Can my employer reduce my pay because the court pays me for jury service?
Yes, but only by the amount the court itself paid, not counting expense reimbursement — the employer cannot dock more than that.
What if I work shifts — do I still have to lose income to serve?
No. You can request to be excused from shift work for your jury-service days without losing pay.
What happens to an employer who violates this section?
The employer is guilty of a Class IV misdemeanor.
Does this protection cover loss of sick leave or vacation time, not just pay?
Yes. The section also bars losing sick leave, vacation time, or any other form of penalty tied to a jury-duty absence.
Source & verification. Section text and the amendment-history citation are
reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Legislature, Revisor of Statutes, enacted by the
Nebraska Legislature. Last verified July 22, 2026. ·
Official source
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