Breaking Down California Employment Laws for Dispensary Owners
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- KayaPush imports live and historical sales data from Treez POS to enhance labor cost management and operational efficiency.
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- Heat maps visualize sales trends by time of day, optimizing staffing and operational strategy.
- The Enterprise Dashboard consolidates sales and labor data across locations, enabling accurate forecasting and comparisons.
- KayaPush imports live and historical sales data from Dutchie POS to enhance labor cost management and operational efficiency.
- Dutchie POS data integrates into KayaPush, empowering precise scheduling, cost analysis, and decision-making.
- KayaPush's scheduler displays sales insights, labor costs, and labor forecasts leveraging Dutchie's historical sales data.
- Heat maps visualize sales trends by time of day, optimizing staffing and operational strategy.
- The Enterprise Dashboard consolidates sales and labor data across locations, enabling accurate forecasting and comparisons.
- Import live and historical sales data to enhance labor cost management and operational efficiency
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- Display sales insights, labor costs, and labor forecasts in your scheduler - leveraging Cova's historical sales data
- Heat maps visualize sales trends by time of day, optimizing staffing and operational strategy
- The Enterprise Dashboard consolidates sales and labor data across locations, enabling accurate forecasting and comparisons
- Import live and historical sales data to enhance labor cost management and operational efficiency
- Integrate your data to empower precise scheduling, cost analysis, and decision-making
- Display sales insights, labor costs, and labor forecasts in your scheduler - leveraging BLAZE's historical sales data
- Heat maps visualize sales trends by time of day, optimizing staffing and operational strategy
- The Enterprise Dashboard consolidates sales and labor data across locations, enabling accurate forecasting and comparisons
- KayaPush imports live and historical sales data at a granular level, as well as tips, from Flowhub POS to enhance labor cost management and operational efficiency.
- Flowhub data integrates into KayaPush, empowering precise scheduling, cost analysis, and decision-making.
- KayaPush Scheduler displays sales insights, labor costs, and labor forecasts leveraging Flowhub's historical sales data.
- Heat maps provide visuals of sales trends by time of day, optimizing staffing and operational strategy.
- Enterprise Dashboards consolidate sales and labor data across locations, enabling accurate forecasting and comparisons.
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Breaking Down California Employment Laws for Dispensary Owners
Table of contents
In an employee-friendly state like California, employers need to be aware of updated employment laws to stay out of trouble. Beyond general employment laws, being in the cannabis industry often adds an added layer of complexity due to the regulated nature of cannabis products. As a cannabis business owner, understanding and complying with these laws is an essential part of running a successful business. Non-compliance can result in legal trouble and significant penalties, including fines that can reach up to $25,000 per violation.
While navigating California employment laws can seem overwhelming at first, it doesn’t have to be with KayaPush. We’ve created an overview of the most common employment laws to simplify what you need to know.
Cannabis-Specific Employment Laws
Trying to figure out California employment law is challenging for any business, but the stakes are even higher for cannabis businesses. It’s important to familiarize yourself with the unique rules associated with operating in the cannabis industry. Kayapush’s HR + feature offers proactive labor compliance alerts, keeping dispensary owners informed and compliant with current regulations.
Minimum Age Requirement for Cannabis Employees
Under the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) Commercial Cannabis Regulation Section 15000.6, all employees must be 21 or older. This minimum age applies to everyone, regardless of whether their job directly involves handling cannabis (touching roles) or not (non-touching roles). The reason behind this is the legal age limit for recreational cannabis consumption in the state. With KayaPush, our digital employee database makes it simple to keep track of everyone’s proof of age.
Required Certifications in California
For employees, no specific certifications are currently required to work inCalifornia’s cannabis industry. However, for businesses, a valid DCC license and a valid seller’s permit from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) are required to operate any cannabis business.
Employee Background Checks
While background checks are allowed in California during the hiring process, cannabis businesses need to follow the state's "Ban the Box" law under the Fair Chance Act. This means they can't ask about criminal history on the initial application. Additionally, only convictions directly related to the job and those that haven't been expunged can be considered when making hiring decisions.
Security Requirements for Cannabis Businesses
The DCC takes security for cannabis businesses seriously to ensure the safety of both staff and customers. Under the DCC Commercial Cannabis Regulations Article 5, security measures that include access controls, video surveillance, security personnel, locks, and an alarm system are all required. While implementing these measures is required, they’re set by the DCC for a valid reason: to protect your business, your staff, and your customers.
Required Training for Cannabis Businesses in California
California cannabis businesses must follow the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety guidelines to ensure a safe work environment. According to the DCC Commercial Cannabis Regulations Section 15002, if you have at least two employees, one manager and one staff member must complete OSHA's 30-hour health and safety training. KayaPush's HR+ feature enables managers to complete these courses for free.
Additionally, a designated account manager must be identified for the track and trace system as per the DCC Commercial Cannabis Regulations Section 15048. Within 10 days of the DCC issuing your commercial cannabis license, this designated account manager must complete new user system training, request access to the track and trace system, and establish a login.
General California Employment Laws
Besides the cannabis-specific employment laws, you’re also expected to follow the general California employment laws as a cannabis business owner. We’ve broken down several key aspects of the California Labor Code to be mindful of.
Meal and Rest Break Requirements
California Labor Code Section 512 requires a 30-minute, unpaid meal break for every five hours worked. This means that a second break is required if an employee works 10 hours or more. On top of meal breaks, employees are entitled to a 10-minute, paid rest break for every four hours worked. Keeping track of employee breaks can be tricky, but KayaPush’s Break Roster allows you to do it from the palm of your hand on a phone or tablet. Kayapush’s scheduling solution helps business owners create break schedules and get alerts when employees miss their breaks.
While meal and rest breaks must always be offered and made available to employees, there are certain circumstances where a break can be mutually waived by the employee and employer, such as when an employee:
- Is working a shift that’s less than six hours;
- Is working a shift that’s between 10 to 12 hours and has taken their first meal break and would like to waive their second meal break;
- Or would like to waive their rest break.
When it comes to waiving breaks, break waiver forms aren’t required by law, but they can act as an essential form of protection between you and your employee. Using KayaPush’s break waiver forms eliminates the need for manual paperwork and allows you and your employee to provide mutual consent at the push of a button.
California Minimum Wage
Currently, California’s minimum wage is $16.00 per hour across all industries, but some cities and counties require even higher rates. It’s important to do your research and stay informed of these local variations to ensure compliance with labor laws.
At-Will Employment
California is an "at-will" employment state. This means employers have the freedom to fire employees for almost any reason, so long as it's legal and not based on discrimination or protected rights. Likewise, employees can quit their jobs at any time without explanation.
Pay Transparency Requirements
The California Pay Transparency Act, also known as SB 1162, requires companies with at least 15 employees, including part-time staff, to disclose salary ranges in all job postings. This applies regardless of the employee's location, ensuring transparency even if only one worker is based in California. This law promotes fair compensation and helps combat pay inequality. Non-compliance can lead to penalties of $100 per employee, with additional failures incurring penalties of $200 per employee.
Sexual Harassment Training
According to California Law Government Code Section 12950.1, sexual harassment and abusive conduct prevention training is required for all employers with at least five employees. Every two years, supervisors need two hours of training, while non-supervisory staff require one hour. The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) even offers free training that complies with these requirements. If you choose to conduct your own training, it must be “effective interactive training,” which can include in-person classroom training, e-learning, webinar training, or a combination of audio, video, or computer technology for education.
Staying Compliant is Made Effortless With KayaPush
California's cannabis industry thrives on a balance of happy employees and satisfied customers. Compliance isn't just about avoiding hefty fines; it's crucial for building a positive work environment and protecting your employees, your customers, and your business. To streamline your people management, leverage an all-in-one solutionlike KayaPush. Our software automates and simplifies almost all HR tasks, from hiring and onboarding to scheduling and payroll. Book a demo with us today to experience the ease of strain free HR.
Disclaimer:
This document is provided by Push Technologies Inc. ("Push Operations") for information purposes only. This is not an official or legal document and should not be taken as legal advice. Push Operations does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information provided. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, please check with the proper governing authority.
