Does anyone happen to know what the laws, if there are any, applying to jury duty service compensation are for the state of Iowa? I just got done with serving on a trial for 8 days and lost approximately $800 doing so. I can't afford to give up that kind of money, and my employer says they do not pay jurors for serving even though all of their handbooks and fine print paperwork make no mention of jury duty at all.

On a handful of states require employers to compensate employees in a limited way for jury duty (MA, NY, and CT, I believe). In all others, the laws generally state that an employer can penalize or discipline an employee who must miss work to serve on jury duty. While some companies voluntarily compensate their employees for time spent on jury duty, there is no law requiring them to do so.

Most judges will ask during the voir dire process if there is anyone who will experience undue financial hardship by serving.

If you are an exempt employee, your salary cannot be docked for jury duty. See Section (a)(4) here:
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/scope/screen24.asp

If you are a nonexempt employees, Iowa does not require the employer pay you for jury duty time.