HR Hotline: What Will the Court Pay Your Employee for Jury Service?

Q: We have an employee who was called for jury service in the District Court of Connecticut and was paid $40 per day. Can we pay her the difference between that and the amount she’d earn in a regular work day?
A: Based on the $40 per day, and your reference to District Court, I assume this relates to U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, not state Superior Court.

Just to clarify the distinction, in the state court jury system, often referred to as “one day/one trial” jury service (meaning jurors are required to serve the longer of either one day or one trial), employees receive no pay from the court for the first five days of jury service.
Employers are required to pay regular wages for the first five days. After that, the Connecticut judicial system pays jurors $50 per day.
Employers are not required to pay wages for any days an employee serves on federal jury service; the federal court system pays jurors $40 per day starting on the first day.
In the situation you describe, it would be permissible to supplement the court payments (starting on the first day in federal court, the sixth day in state court) with added wages to bring your employee to full pay.
Just be careful when exempt employees serve on jury duty—state or federal—for less than a full week.
Because they will have worked a partial week, they are entitled to their full regular weekly salary, but you are allowed to reduce that by any amount paid by the court system.