FACES HCM was very excited to be a part of the 2016 Marijuana Business Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.

The November event was sold out, with around 10,000 people attending. That’s up from 4,000 last year and says volumes about how the legal cannabis industry has matured and grown.

We were very impressed by the high caliber, as well as the high-capitalization rates, of the companies represented. There were a lot of technology and equipment firms in attendance, as well as agricultural lighting groups, food organizations and other companies essential to this rapidly-expanding market.

For our part, FACES partnered with MJ Freeway, the pioneering cannabis compliance software firm, and had a well-attended display in the back of one of the halls.  That space provided us a quiet place, where many people came by to talk with us about their management and HR needs in this unique industry.

Las Vegas wouldn’t be complete without a happy hour; and ours at the Bellagio – which we put together with Nerve Cannabis Consulting – was a crowded and fun event.

Thanks to everyone who came by to chat with us. We’re looking forward to seeing you again – as well as making new friends and contacts – at future conferences.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has recently reassessed their interpretation of the independent contractor classification with an emphasis on a new set of criteria, and in order to ensure continued compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), small businesses that have classified workers as independent contractors will now need to review and possibly reassess whether or not those classifications are still valid.

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the DOL previously relied on a number of tests to determine how much control an employer had over an individual’s work; now, the DOL has deemphasized that test in favor of the “economic realities” test, which instead determines how economically dependent the worker is on the employer. According to attorney Allan Bloom, “Businesses worried about staying under the DOL radar on this issue should make sure that they are doing business with established independent service providers.”

When reassessing the status of your workers currently classified as independent contractors, it is now vitally important to carefully consider how much control and even influence your business has over each worker. Independent contractors should be “independent” in regards to how and when work is performed, and a contractor must have the freedom to work for others.

The DOL now requires employers to review the following six factors:

• The extent to which the work performed is an integral part of the employer’s business.
• The worker’s opportunity for profit or loss depending on his or managerial skill.
• The extent of the relative investments of the employer and the worker.
• Whether the work performed requires special skills and initiative.
• The permanency of the relationship.
• The degree of control exercised or retained by the employer.

If you are unsure whether or not your worker classifications are still valid and in compliance with the FLSA, one of our HR professionals will be happy to provide further guidance and advisement. Feel free to contact us for more information!

On June 30th, President Obama announced that the Department of Labor had developed a proposal for extending overtime pay to millions of American workers. Exempt workers previously only qualified for overtime if they earned $455 a week/$23,660 annually or less. Under this new proposal, that threshold will be raised to $970 a week/$50,440 annually or less. The White House and the Secretary of Labor believe this will extend overtime pay to almost 5 million more workers in the United States.

Unless you do business within certain industries that fall under specialized pay laws, your employees are likely classified as either non-exempt or exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Non-exempt employees must be paid for overtime, while exempt employees usually do not if they earn more than the established pay threshold. Exempt employees usually fall into three categories: administrative, executive and professional. If your employees don’t fall into at least one of these categories, they are non-exempt and, if eligible, must be paid overtime. Many managers on the front lines of small businesses are often classified as exempt under the executive classification, as managing other employees is documented as their primary duty and therefore have not been eligible for overtime.

What does this mean for your business? In simple terms, it means that under this proposal, you may need to begin paying overtime to exempt workers earning less than $970 a week. In more complex terms, it means that you may need to begin curtailing the work hours of exempt employees in order to keep their work hours below 40 hours a week. Some companies and businesses are already developing plans to limit after hours work activities, while some business experts predict that businesses may hire more employees in order to fill the extended hours that were worked by the previously exempt employees.

If you require further information or guidance on this new proposal, please contact us and schedule a meeting with one of our HR experts! We will be happy to help ensure that your employees are correctly classified and you have the proper programs and policies in place to manage your employee scheduling and workload.