Face Time is Better than Face Book!

We live in interesting times --when social media is an oxymoron.  This hit me hard the other day when I finally had a long overdue breakfast with a dear colleague.  I respect this business coach so much--but hadn't found/made/taken the time to reach out to her. I mean--not for months! Oh, I was busy doing something else: looking for solutions, finding clients, fulfilling client needs, back office stuff, well, you know how it goes....and then add in the usual holiday frenzy.   I wasn't going to let the year go by without seeing her again.  A client meeting postponed the original date...we rescheduled again. 


We had a great conversation over breakfast around family and business and clients and market and organizations and the economy and goals.  No agenda--just getting together.  


As I drove off after breakfast, I realized that I really enjoyed the face time.  


I love catching up with old friends on Facebook, making new connections on linked in and tweaking an article that I know would be useful.


But the sitting down and breaking bread was almost gone from my things I do.  How did that happen?  When did I lose the something that was so important to me?


I think about calculating my age while a child and reading Orwell's 1984 and then doing the same as an adult for the year 2000. Today Christmas items are displayed with Halloween in the stores.  Valentines are already popping up and we aren't even in 2012.  Time is rushed as the "best of" lists  come out with 3 or 4 weeks left in the year.  What if the "best of"  hasn't happened?  Don't the days and weeks at the end of year count as much as the others?  Aren't they 24-7 as well?  


Face time got a bad name for itself when bosses insisted that people spend time in the office just to be there--whether they were accomplishing anything or not.  That was an era ago.  Today, we are virtual, on flextime and technology has helped (?) make us accessible.


Nothing replaces the slowing down and making time for another-- really engaging and listening to another person.  


I got a great gift this year--and it came unexpectedly. Face Time is better than Facebook.   Happy New Year!

Florida Minimum Wage goes up Jan 1, 2012! New Poster!

Florida's new Department of Economic Opportunity has announced that the minimum wage is going up by 36 cents to $7.67 per hour effective January 1, 2012.  Here's the link to the posters on the site:
http://www.floridajobs.org/business-growth-and-partnerships/for-employers/display-posters-and-required-notices

How do you coach yourself or your partner?

Hmmm:  the motivation of ourselves.  How do we keep that spark alive inside and how do we help those around us?   That’s a tough question—but we seem to be able to “help” our partner better than ourselves at times.  Isn’t it interesting how so often we can find the flaws in others?  They aren’t to our standard.  Now, if we only held ourselves to that standard.  How many times have we been late with a delivery of a service or a product or even an appointment yet we will make sure another person with tardiness is aware that we know he/she is late.  Why is that?  Does recognizing the obvious make us feel better?  Is it really that important to step on those we are around the most?

Let’s focus on you first.  You get up and you have this feeling—it is going to be a rotten day.  The humidity is bad so your hair has a mind of its own.  There is little gas in the car and you have little cash and now you realize that you put that new magnetic name tag right next to your credit cards.  Quite a start to a day.  My Granny said: “Sit down.  Have a cup of coffee and start the day over.”  That Kentucky wisdom really is good.  The moment you have now is itself.  It can affect or not affect the next moment—and how it affects it is up to you.  For instance-do you decide to stop for the stoplight or just slow and go?  If it is the latter—how do you feel when you get that ticket?

The great author and inspirationalist Og Mandino claimed that “we make our own weather.”  What is yours?  Do you have that black cloud over your head?  Do your sharp words strike like lightning? Or do you shine? Do heads turn when you come into the room because the energy and “sunshine” is there—all around you?   So just like Tampa weather which can change between intersections and at a moment’s notice-change yours.  Have a ”that was then-this is now” talk with yourself.  THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO IS DECIDE.  Make the choice to change your weather.  If you are stuck in the mud, think of the sun and dry out.  You may want to take a walk, work out, call someone who loves to hear from you or have that cup of coffee; but decide.  You are the only one who can make you act like a victim.  Take the first step by deciding!

Now onto your partner-what do you do when their spark is out; when they are feeling down or just not motivated to get something done.  This is a fast paced world full of impersonal voicemail trees, animated characters on emails so we don’t even need to write to express ourselves and to do lists that go on and on.  We have lost some of the human touch in all of this and that may be true in this case.  This is a wonderful time to help your partner.  Schedule a planning session, review your business plan-remember the passion you had around starting it.  Remind your partner of the successes you have had together and what they bring.  Great partnerships complement and compliment each other. The two of you are greater than two—you create more being together than apart.  In business, we can be sorting out the tasks, the meetings, the duties and the appointments of the day.  It can be lonely.  If your partner is in the office all day, because you are so good with people and networking-remind him/her that you can drum up that business because he/she is getting the back office of books, invoices,  packaging and web site all done.  Take a picnic lunch in and enjoy each other.  Isn’t that the reason for this work arrangement?

Being is business is great; having a partner is wonderful.  When you are in business with your partner in life-it is truly the opportunity to have it all.  You can have the best of both worlds by bringing the best of you and bring out the best in your partners.

Good luck and let me know if I can help spark your pilot light again!

He was simply: “Click. Boom. Amazing!”

Today, in honor of man who made products through a culture he built-his words say it best. His philosophy and his products changed my career and my life.  RIP Steve Jobs

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

“We’ve gone through the operating system and looked at everything and asked how can we simplify this and make it more powerful at the same time.”

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

“I want to put a ding in the universe.”

“I was worth over $1,000,000 when I was 23, and over $10,000,000 when I was 24, and over $100,000,000 when I was 25, and it wasn’t that important because I never did it for the money.”

“The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas, and they don’t bring much culture into their products.”

“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”

“We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.”

“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”

"You've got to find what you love."

“A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.”

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

Labor Dept. Expands Enforcement Of Wage Violations

Hi all:  Just wanted to share this news release from The AP.  I will comment later this week-but didn't want to delay in getting this out to you all.

Labor Dept. Expands Enforcement Of Wage Violations 

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON September 19, 2011, 04:18 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department is signing agreements to share information with nearly a dozen states and the Internal Revenue Service as it gets more aggressive in its program to crack down on businesses that cheat workers out of their wages.

The information will help Labor officials target businesses that improperly label workers as independent contractors or as non-employees to deprive workers of minimum wage and overtime pay. Misclassifying workers also lets companies avoid paying workers compensation, unemployment insurance and federal taxes.

Patricia Smith, the Labor Department's top lawyer, said sharing information between state and federal agencies could subject businesses to multiple fines.

"There's more of an incentive to be in compliance because the cost of what we consider to be illegal activity has increased," Smith said in an interview.

In the past, Smith said, a company might pay a single fine to a state agency for not making proper unemployment insurance payments. Under the new agreements, a state can share the information with the Labor Department, which also can seek fines and penalties for federal wage violations.

The violation also would be reported to the IRS, which can go after the company for unpaid taxes, Smith said.

States that have agreed to work with the Labor Department so far include Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Utah and Washington. Labor officials from New York and Illinois plan to sign up in the near future.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has made increased enforcement of federal wage-and-hour laws a top priority since she took office in 2009. The department has focused on industries where so-called "wage theft" is considered a problem, including the hotel, restaurant, janitorial, health care and day care industries.

Last month, the agency began targeting large U.S. homebuilders to see if they failed to pay workers the minimum wage or overtime.

"The urgency of addressing this issue has become more pronounced because we're seeing these illegal business practices used by more and more industries, like restaurants," said Nancy Leppink, head of the department's Wage and Hour Division.

Earlier this year, for example, the department recovered over $219,000 in back wages for 44 Boston-area restaurant workers who were misclassified as independent contractors by two restaurants. The restaurants had failed to pay them overtime and also weren't paying their payroll taxes.

Scott DeFife, a vice president for policy and government affairs at the National Restaurant Association, said his group works closely with members to navigate the "increasingly complex" federal and state rules governing wage and hour issues.

"We support 100 percent compliance with the law," he said.

Leppink said employers who do follow the law are finding it difficult to compete against those businesses that are misclassifying their workers.

In 2010, the Labor Department collected nearly $4 million in back wages on behalf of about 6,500 employees who had been misclassified, a 400 percent increase over the amount collected in 2008. The department has hired about 300 additional investigators to probe wage theft complaints.

Leppink said getting more referrals from states would help the agency increase enforcement efforts. IRS officials said they could take case referrals from the Labor Department, but would not refer individual cases to any agency.

COBRA subsidies for jobless expires

Today, one of the stimulus package items comes to an end.   COBRA is the program set up under federal law that allows people who lose their jobs to keep the employer-provided insurance, typically for 18 months, if they pay for the premium plus a small percentage for administrative fees-generally around two percent.

In February 2009, Congress approved a 65 percent subsidy for COBRA premiums to help those who had been laid off starting in September 2008.

Congress extended the COBRA subsidy three times to cover workers who lost their jobs through May 2010.  The subsidy lasted for up to 15 months.

Here are two good sources of info:

DOL fact sheet :

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsCOBRApremiumreduction.html

and a good article by benefits pro

http://www.benefitspro.com/2011/08/30/6-faqs-about-end-of-cobra-subsidy

Employers told me, in the past year,  that workers would not take job offers because the health care premium they would be would be higher than the subsidized amount.

It will interesting to see what happens now.

New Poster again! The NLRB in 11x17 and on your intranet!

The National Labor Relations Board has issued a final rule requiring most private-sector employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act by posting a notice. The rule was placed of the Federal Register on August 25. It is scheduled to be posted in the Federal Register on August 30 and will take effect 75 days later.

The posting requirement, which takes effect on November 14, 2011 is intended to inform employees - both unionized and non-unionized - of their NLRA rights and is patterned after other required postings.

The rule will not apply to non-NLRA employers, including employers of railroad, airline, and agricultural workers. Federal contractors will also be required to post this NLRB notice as well as others.

Employers must post an 11-by-17 inch poster in the workplace and requires covered employers to post the notice on an internet or intranet site, if HR rules and policies are genrerally posted there. However, employers will not be required to distribute the posting by emails. 

The poster will be on the NLRB website for download and available at no charge in hard copy form at NLRB regional offices.  Posters will available by November 1, 2011.

Don't follow the posting requirements?  You may have earned an unfair labor practice.

Employers failing to post the notice may get a break as the NLRB recognizes that employers may be unaware of the new rule. In those cases, the Board may not seek penalties as long as the employer posts the notice right away.

Here is the link to the info: http://nlrb.gov/news/board-issues-final-rule-require-posting-nlra-rights

A fact sheet published bythe NLRB is here: http://nlrb.gov/news-media/fact-sheets/final-rule-notification-employee-rights

Pinellas Board of Education: don't search yet-do the work!

Julie Janssen 2008-2011; Clayton Wilcox 2004-2008 and Howard Hinesley 1990-2004.  All were School Superintendents of Pinellas County.  Much has gone wrong with the latest firing, unfortunately, it is a fine example of  not hiring with a list of technical talents as well as a list of competencies.

People get hired for technical reasons and fired for their inability to build formidable relationships in the "right" places in the organization.  Sometimes the relationships have been there but we self sabotage; our heart isn't in it -so we do, or don't do things that irritate the issues further.  Termination becomes the word of the day.

What does a successful candidate look like for Pinellas County?  What will the person do?  How do they go about doing it?  How does the Board wish to learn about things happening?  What do the other stakeholder want?  Has anyone asked the parents?  I don't know.

It is a waste of time to go on a search right now.  For what?  People with a similar title?  I know many people with the title of Mom--some good and some bad.

I encourage the Board of Education to take the time to really sort through the needs and the wants.  I pray there is someone who can have the managerial courage to guide them through the process.  (and if not, I could help them :-))  This should take some time.  It makes the search more surgical, better defined and more successful.

Valuable money will be lost if a thorough review is not done.  Please Pinellas Board of Education-define the customer (parents?  Board?  children?), the duties and the skills, knowledge and abilities to do the jobs, and  finally what are those "soft skills" that people need for this job-because when those "soft skills" aren't there,  the landing is hard for everyone.

Post strike relations: Was trust lost? If so, can it be restored? My story.

News is coming out today that union workers plan to end their walkout against Verizon Communications.  There has been screaming and yelling and throwing bad names and bus pickets in front of executive's houses.  Hateful sayings have been hurled.

Bad memories come up whenever I hear of strikes.   You see, in my sophomore year of high school our teachers went on strike.  I remember going home and asking, "What's a scab,"  for it was being screamed at me by math and science teachers who just days before were on a respected pedestal.   The Honor Students, ( yep I was one) were teaching the younger students.  New York State Regents exams didn't care about a strike.  Those exams go on state wide so one community can not reschedule.

I remember, like it was yesterday, a teacher throwing a tomato at our school bus window as we went to the other school.  "Who are those people?," I remember thinking.

The strike came to an end.

It seemed so strange to sit in the classroom and look at the teacher in the front of the room.  I was sick to my stomach.  I was always taught to respect people in authority and elders; but I was truly troubled.  it was hard to concentrate.

That experience left a gouge on my heart.  I never regained the respect I once held for the teachers who were so rude to me and my fellow students.They didn't even acknowledge it.  This was my education-it could not be put on hold. The education I got during that time has stuck with me.

So as these union employees go back to work-I wonder what issues will be in the workplace by people who drove into work and through the picket lines, feelings by the people whose children were pulled indoors as bus loads of people emptied onto their quiet neighborhood street to picket.

Be a shareholder, vote out those members of management you don't want.

How will cross departments meetings flow?  Was trust lost between the two "sides?"  Where was the customers' voice in all of this?  If lost, can trust be restored?  As we know, trust, once broken, never returns to the same level .

It's a sad situation.  Respect and communication without agendas except for the customers' should be simple.   Even designers will tell you that a simple working design is the hardest.

Where does the time go? Hurricanes and more.

I haven't posted in a while-been busy but didn't realize so much time passed.  This is something that I change with this blog post today.  I had a great time today speaking on "Making your own weather" for Real Estate Lives. An amazing group of volunteers helping people in their industry find their next great job.  My hats are off to this business focused; very applicabale serving organization.  If you don't know about them--well check it out--you will be amazed and you should know of the awesome people who are ready to be hired!  I was very impressed!  Here's the link for :www.realestatelives.org.  Every HR person needs to connect with this group.

Making our own weather was based upon the Scroll from Og Mandino--one of my favorites-being Master of My Emotions.  What weather do people see when you are coming?  Is it sunshine or is it thunder clouds?  Do you thrive on the chaos of a hurricane or are you calming winds?  And who do you hang around with? Are your associates helpful or hurtful?  If you are stressed is it from the weather of your friends?  Make a choice!

We have a dawn happening around the earth at any time--so I encourage you --that if you have a having a bad day--have a new dawn---and let the sunshine in.

Tonight there will be no sunshine but a big moon in the sky over the beautiful Vinoy and I am pleased to be a finalist for the Tampa Bay Business Woman of the Year, sponsored by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.  There were more than 400 nominations and I am one of 52 finalists.    It feels good to be chosen by the panel of judges.  I like the independence but I also like seeing my name with women who contribute to the business community of Tampa.  So here are the finalists--Ladies thank you for raising me up!  See you at the Vinoy tonight!

Business Services

• Eileen Auen, PMSI
• April Diemer, Creative Recycling Systems
• Lisa Faller, FKQ Advertising & Marketing
• Karen S. Gillman, Intelligent Office of Tampa Bay
• Misha Hart, A La Carte Event Pavilion
• Kimberly Lamb, Colliers International
• Angela Massaro-Fain, Grapevine Communications International Inc.
• Diane Nelson, Pinellas County Tax Collector

Education

• Linda W. Devine, University of Tampa
• Dr. Sunita Lodwig, University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee
• Tara Payor, University of South Florida
• Eileen Rodriguez, USF Small Business Development Center
• Paula Tarver, Advance My Baby Inc.

Entrepreneur

• Rose Averill, St. Francis Sleep Allergy and Lung Institute
• Stefanie Berry, Showorks Inc.
• Lee-En Chung, Ivy Ventures Inc.
• Maryann Ferenc, Mise en Place Inc.
• Joy Gendusa, PostcardMania
• Barbara McCarthy and Susan McCarthy, Sun Country Cleaners
• Lynda McDermott, EquiPro International Ltd.
• Hope Peterson, New Hope Auto & Truck Service
• Kelley Rexroad, krexconsulting
• Penny Rogo Bailes, MamaRazzi Foto
• Sheri Taber, The Peak Performance Group

Financial Services

• Cheryl G. Brown, GTE Federal Credit Union
• Sandra W. Callahan, TECO Energy Inc.
• Jeannie Holliday, Independent Financial Services
• Penny Hulbert, Links Financial LLC
• Sydney M. Niewierski, Wells Fargo Advisors

Media

• Angela L. Ardolino, Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine
• Maryann Balbo, St. Petersburg Times
• Michelle Bauer, Common Language
• Julie Heidelberg, Heidelberg PR
• Stacey Spencer, Teen Tyme Productions Inc.

Nonprofit

• Elizabeth Frazier, Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation
• Nancy Giles, PARC
• Cindy Rose, All Children’s Hospital & Health System
• Alisa Savoretti, My Hope Chest

Technology

• Brenda Dohring Hicks, Dohring Group/RealWired!
• Patricia Dominguez, Triage Partners LLC
• Kimberly During, K. Tek International Corp./ K. Tek Systems Inc.
• Laura Ellis, IBM
• Jane Mason, eMason Inc.

Young

• Lissette Marisol Baker, Vaco
• Renia Carsillo C2B Professional and Life Development, LLC/ BNI West Central Florida
• Erin Cigich, Clickbooth LLC
• Marie Carson Hebbler, The Bank of Tampa
• Haley Maple, Forizs-Dogali PA
• Phara E. McLachlan, Animus Solutions Inc.
• Jennifer Shimek, Doctors Adminstrative Solutions
• Natalie Sidor, Raymond James
• Lacey H.C. Willard, CB Richard Ellis

IRS issues updated mileage rates

The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2011 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.
Beginning on Jan. 1, 2011, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 51 cents per mile for business miles driven
• 19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

More info:  

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=232017,00.html

Supreme Court of the US says no class action for Wal-Mart

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled today that female employees who charged that Wal-Mart discriminated against them because of their gender will not be able to file a class action suit.

As many as 1.6 million women could have been part of what may have been the country's largest sex discrimination case.  Billions of dollars were at stake.  The high court has ruled that the plaintiffs must pursue their appeals individually.

This reverses the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling made last year.

The SCOTUS ruling was unanimous that there can  be no class-action claim, however, it was divided that future suit by workers can be blocked.

Writing for the majority, Justice Scalia said that for a case to qualify as class action, there needs to be commonalities linking "literally millions of employment decisions at once."  In this Wal-Mart case, that connection, Scalia wrote "is entirely absent."

Wal-Mart's written policies bar gender bias.

The dissenting opinion was written by Justice Ginsburg who said that the cases of all of the company's female employees were linked.  "Wal-Mart's delegation of discretion over pay and promotions is a policy uniform throughout all stores," she said.

Union targeted Target: Workers say No

Friday's vote at the Valley Stream, NY Target resulted in a vote against union affiliation 137-85.  This has been closely watched by retailers.  Target employs thousands of people in their 1,755 stores; none have union-represented employees. As expected Unfair Labor Practices have been filed on both sides about the other according to the National Labor Relations Board.  United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 wanted to represent the workers at the store, just east of Manhattan.

Three times a charm?

ODESSA, FL, June 13, 2011 — Entrepreneur and HR expert Kelley Rexroad, SPHR,  has been nominated once again for Tampa Bay Business Woman of the Year, an annual award sponsored by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.  

“In 2007 I was a finalist for Business Services category and last year, a finalist for Entrepreneur category-who knows what will happen this year.  It may sound trite but I am honored to be nominated.  The nomination application itself is a good exercise for reflection as to what you have accomplished in your professional life but also in service to your community,” said Rexroad.  

Kelley Rexroad is founder of krexconsulting where her experience in communications and HR helps businesses succeed.    She has been featured as a speaker and a writer in numerous media including CBS, ABC, St Pete Times, The Tampa Tribune and NY Times. She's been called an expert by Fox News' Neal Cavuto.   Her original inspirational quotations have been selected out of thousands to highlight calendars. Her tailored HR strategies and coaching programs' effectiveness are why her clients continue to work with her year after year.

Isn't this special? An app from the Dept of Labor-for your employees.

The Department of Labor has issued a press relase about its new app for smartphones. Workers have always been able to keep their own hours--just now it will be tied into the Department of Labor!

Here's the notice right from the DOL and the handy link:  http://www.dol.gov/whd/Hightlights/archived.htm#May9_2011
"May 9, 2011

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the launch of its first application for smartphones, a timesheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed. Available in English and Spanish, users conveniently can track regular work hours, break time and any overtime hours for one or more employers. This new technology is significant because, instead of relying on their employers’ records, workers now can keep their own records. This information could prove invaluable during a Wage and Hour Division investigation when an employer has failed to maintain accurate employment records.

The free app is currently compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch. The Labor Department will explore updates that could enable similar versions for other smartphone platforms, such as Android and BlackBerry, and other pay features not currently provided for, such as tips, commissions, bonuses, deductions, holiday pay, pay for weekends, shift differentials and pay for regular days of rest.

For workers without a smartphone, the Wage and Hour Division has a printable work hours calendar in English and Spanish to track rate of pay, work start and stop times, and arrival and departure times. The calendar also includes easy-to-understand information about workers’ rights and how to file a wage violation complaint."

The Anthony Trial: What is your jury duty policy?

The media is all over Central Florida covering the Casey Anthony trial. The jury for this Central Florida trial was pulled from Pinellas County, here in the Tampa Bay area.   The group, once selected had just a weekend to pull their lives together before being  sequestered in the Orlando area for the next "several weeks."  The Judge did ask potential jurors if such a timeframe could be a "potential financial hardship."  He excused many who said yes.  

How would you handle your employee being gone for potential months?  Would you be supportive?

Here are some things to consider for your Jury Duty Policy.

1.  State your support of employees fulfilling their civic duty.  This is just good common sense for any employer.  

2.  Write letters requesting postponement if you have business needs that are important such as a trip or deadline that requires that particular employee.  I wrote several of these over the years (for different employees) and all were well received.  My employers supported this community request so we did not write letters so employees could get out of jury duty.  

3.  Require documentation.  Employees should give their employer as soon as received a copy of the summons notice.  

4.  Decide if this will this be paid or unpaid time?  Does the employee receive only the jury pay or the jury pay and your pay or does your pay supplement what your employee receives from the Court.  

5.  Will your benefits continue?  For how long? Insurance? Vacation?  

My experience has been that up to five days of jury duty covers most of the circumstances.  I have had an employee who was called three times in one year (all less than 5 days) and one who was called to serve for 6 weeks.  

6.  Employees should be required to keep their supervisor informed of their status in jury duty.

7.  Time spent on jury duty is generally counted as regular working time and not counted for overtime purposes.  For instance if the employee spent Monday on Jury Duty and worked 40 hours Tuesday through Friday--then he/she would receive 40 hours of regular pay (for the State of Florida) and then pay for whatever your jury duty policy says.

8.  Check with your state laws. NY, I believe has a law that requires an employer with more than 10 employees to pay at least the same amount as the jury duty amount (such as $40) for the first three days.  If jury duty lasts longer than three days then NY state starts paying the $40/day.  California --well you know check the law for the time if you have employees in California.  

9.  Will all of your employees (seasonal?, temporary?, part time?) be eligible for jury duty leave?

10.  Do you want to set the expectation that employees are to work during normal work hours whenever the court is not in session or when their prescence in court is not required?  This puts the employee on notice that if they only spend a couple hours in the morning  of a regular work day that they should expect to return to work. You may have in your policy something like this:  "Upon completing jury duty, the employee shall report to work at the beginning of the next scheduled work period. If jury duty does not require the full work period, the employee shall report to work upon completing jury duty for that day, with travel time consideration."

Federal jurors are paid $40 for the day.  The pay goes to $50/day after serving 10 days on a trial.  Federal employees are paid their regular salary in lieu of the the daily payment.    Employers can not fire, intimidate or coerce employees due to their federal jury service.  

There is no State Law in Florida that requires employers to pay employee- jurors while they are serving on jury duty.  However, there may be some County ordinances. ( I think Broward has one.)

Florida law requires jurors in capital cases be sequestered during deliberations. But nothing mandates that a jury be sequestered during the entire trial. That is up to the judge.  And in Anthony's case, Orange-Osceola Chief Judge Belvin Perry has decided the jurors will be sequestered.  The flow of information in years past could be stopped by removing tvs, radios and newspapers.  Today's flow of information is greater in volume and variety of tools.  So don't think that a sequestered juror could be working on his/her laptop every night!  

In Florida, jurors are entitled to $15 per day payment from the State if the employer does not pay, juror is not employed, is self employed or retired.  If selected for a trial that is longer than 3 days, the juror will be paid $30 per day for the 4th day and for each day thereafter, regardless of the employer’s compensation policy. Do you need help putting a policy together?  Pull some answers together for these questions and I will be happy to put the policy together for you!  Hope this helps you.  Just remember to write the policy to be fair for all; be sure your expectations are known.  Precedents may have been set that you don't even know are in place. Help your supervisors!  Have a policy.  Policies provide guidance.