Maryland Expands Employee Rights In Connection with Jury Service

Maryland employers are not permitted to require an employee to use accrued time off when appearing in response to a jury summons. Employers are also not permitted to take (or threaten to take) an adverse employment action against an employee who fulfills his or her civic duty. This past session, the General Assembly has added to the list of what an employer cannot do vis-à-vis an employee involved in jury duty. Effective October 1, 2012, an employer may not require an employee who is summoned for jury duty for four or more hours, including travel time, to work a shift that starts on or after 5pm on the day the employee appeared for jury duty or before 3am on the day following jury duty.