Pregnancy leave — prohibited employer actions
Montana law makes it unlawful for any employer to terminate an employee because of pregnancy, refuse to grant a reasonable leave of absence for pregnancy, deny disability or leave benefits that have accrued for pregnancy-related disability (though the employer may require medical certification), or require an employee to take mandatory maternity leave for an unreasonable length of time. This statute applies to all Montana employers regardless of size.
Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 49-2-310
Paid military leave for public employees
Montana public employees who are members of the Montana National Guard, another state's national guard, or the organized or unorganized reserve corps or military forces of the United States are entitled to 120 hours of paid military leave per calendar year (or academic year) after six months of employment. The full 120 hours must be credited immediately upon completion of the six-month period and in each successive year. Military leave may not be charged against annual vacation time. Unused military leave carries over to the next calendar or academic year but may not exceed 240 hours total in any year.
Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 10-1-1009
Jury duty leave — public employees only
Montana provides paid jury duty leave for state and local government employees but has no statute requiring private-sector employers to provide time off or job protection for employees summoned to state jury duty. This gap makes Montana one of the few states without a general jury-duty leave mandate for private employment.
Public employees (state and local government)
Mont. Code Ann. § 2-18-619 governs jury duty and witness service for employees of state and local government units. Each employee summoned as a juror must collect all fees and allowances paid by the court and forward the fees to the appropriate accounting office; juror fees are applied against the amount due from the employer. However, if the employee elects to use annual leave to serve on the jury, the employee may keep the juror fees and is not required to remit them to the employer. The employee may always keep any expense or mileage allowance paid by the court. The same framework applies to employees subpoenaed to serve as witnesses.
Employers (state or local government units) may request the court to excuse their employees from jury duty if the employees are needed for the proper operation of the unit, though the decision rests with the court.
Private-sector employees
Montana law does not address time off or job protection for private-sector employees summoned to jury duty in state courts. Private employers are not required by Montana statute to grant leave, and employees are not protected from discharge or discipline for attending state jury service. This silence means a private employee's ability to serve depends on employer policy or a negotiated accommodation.
Federal jury service is governed separately by the federal Jury Systems Improvement Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1875, which prohibits any employer (public or private) from discharging, threatening, intimidating, or coercing an employee because the employee serves on a federal jury. That federal protection applies nationwide and covers Montana employees called to federal jury duty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, but it does not extend to state-court jury service.
Practitioners advising private-sector clients in Montana should note that the absence of a state jury-duty leave statute creates potential tension with the state's public-policy interest in jury participation (articulated in Mont. Code Ann. § 3-15-301, which declares that all qualified citizens have an obligation to serve on juries unless excused). Some Montana municipal court FAQs (published by local governments, not binding statute) have asserted that "the law prohibits any employer from preventing an employee to serve as a juror" and from "depriving an employee of benefits because of jury service," but those statements appear to reflect aspirational policy or federal-jury-service protections rather than a Montana statute applicable to private employers in state-court cases. Absent codified state-law protection, private employees in Montana who face adverse employment action for state jury service would need to pursue a wrongful-discharge claim under the Montana Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act (Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-2-901 to 39-2-915) arguing a violation of public policy, a path that has not been definitively settled by Montana appellate case law in the jury-duty context.
Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 2-18-619 Source: 28 U.S.C. § 1875) Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 3-15-301