Illinois Jury-Duty Policy 2027: 26-Employee Line and Regular-Rate Math

The paid rule is a payroll update, not a new leave right

If you are deciding what to change before January 1, 2027, start with the split: paid jury duty is a payroll obligation for a defined group, while protected jury leave is a legal duty for every employer. Starting January 1, 2027, Illinois companies with at least 26 employees must pay eligible workers their regular rate for time spent on jury duty. Illinois law already obligates every employer, no matter how large or small, to give eligible employees job-protected leave for jury service.

Illinois enacted HB 4844 on July 31, 2026, when Governor JB Pritzker signed it, to make some employers pay employees for jury service. HB 4844, enacted as Public Act 104-0683, amends the Illinois Jury Act and Jury Commission Act to create paid jury-service leave. The checklist below pairs the legal requirements with the good-practice artifacts that keep the policy defensible. Put both in the same policy section so managers do not have to infer the difference.

Five steps make the policy defensible

• Count employees. Start with the payroll population that determines which rule applies. Record a dated headcount note: who is on payroll, where they work, and which rule applies to each group. Separate the count from non-employee arrangements unless your policy says otherwise. Near the line, document the count and the date, because hiring changes can move you across the threshold before a jury date.
• Confirm eligibility and notice. Employees must give notice of required jury service within 10 days after the jury summons is issued. Put that deadline in the policy in plain language. Treat the summons as the trigger for the leave conversation. Ask for the summons date, not just the service date. Route unclear eligibility to HR with the court document. Use a simple intake form: summons date, expected dates, and the employee’s contact information.
• Calculate the regular rate. Apply the regular rate to the hours actually spent on jury service. Hourly workers usually get the rate they would have earned for the same time. Salaried workers need a salary-to-hourly conversion using your payroll method. Multiple rates require the rate that matches the hours they would have worked. Do not substitute a flat per diem unless the employee’s regular rate is already a flat amount. The usual mistake is treating jury pay as a benefit paid from a separate budget. It is payroll, so it belongs in the same system that tracks hours, deductions, and final pay. Run a payroll test: pick an employee, pick a jury date, run the regular-rate calculation, and check the pay stub against the policy.
• Update the leave policy and payroll codes. Write the leave as protected for every eligible employee. Add the paid-jury-duty rule for the paid group. Name the notice deadline, the regular-rate method, and the payroll code. Create a policy page that a manager can read without calling HR: who gets leave, who gets pay, what notice is required, and how the pay is calculated. Preserve the old language that says jury leave is protected. Create a payroll code that is easy to audit. A code that says jury pay, not leave pay, helps you separate both rules. External payroll providers need the policy edit and the code definition at the same time.
• Train managers on no retaliation. Illinois employers of any size are barred from firing, intimidating, or coercing employees because of jury service or court attendance. Employees can sue over violations of the Illinois jury-service rules and recover attorneys’ fees. Make the training short and concrete. A manager who can say the rule in a single sentence is less likely to improvise. Give managers a short note: approve the leave, do not comment on the absence, and escalate any scheduling conflict to HR.