Hi everyone, just joined here! We at Avantpay are hosting a conference (www.avantpay.io) in Washington DC, Sept 30 - Oct 1, 2019 and are looking for speakers who are experts in payments, cannabis, & cryptocurrency. Please check us out and let me know if you are interested in participating in some way (speak/attend/sponsor). Expecting 500+. Thanks!

Joshua M. Radbod 

Lawmakers seem ready to consider the “Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018,” more commonly known as the “Farm Bill.” It contains much needed support for farmers reeling from effects of climate related changes and a trade war. It could pass as early as next week and be on the President’s desk for signature before Christmas. While the full text of the Farm Bill has yet to be released (latest markup is here), a major provision of the bill will be to make hemp legal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced the Amendment to make hemp legal and has gone on record to guarantee that his proposal - to make hemp a legal agricultural commodity, removing it from the federal list of controlled substances - will be part of the final farm bill.     

Hemp, a cannabis plant, is currently a Schedule 1 controlled substance but does not contain tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. There are 1,242 pages of text in the draft bill, so here’s the relevant part describing hemp:

“(1) HEMP.—The term ‘hemp’ means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, ...more

ISO-certified companies all say the cost and effort to become certified is well worth it! 

As the cannabis industry becomes more competitive, a growing number of cannabis companies are looking for ways to differentiate their operations, whether that means offering value-added services or implementing the latest lean techniques. 

One best practice that many of today's leading shop's tout is ISO 9001 certification. The ISO standard is based on implementing seven quality management principles, including a strong customer focus, Evidence-based decision making, and continuous improvement. 

The basic goal of the ISO 9001 standard is to help companies provide customers with consistent, good quality products and services, which, in turn, often brings business benefits like improved financial performance. 

ISO standards are certain to help you increase profitability by

• Improving the quality of your goods and services
• Enhancing your credibility and build consumer confidence
• Cutting the business costs of poor service and reduce customer complaints 
• Processes will be aligned and understood by everyone in the business which increases productivity and

New rules raise the minimum salary for exempt (exempt from overtime) employees from $23,660 to $47,476.  The previous rate of $455/week, or $23,660/year has not been a challenge for most employers, but the new rate ($913/week) may cause pause. 

You have options!  First, conduct a self-audit of your exempt and non-exempt classifications to understand the salary and duties tests for Executive (Management), Administrative, Professional, and other exempt classifications (DOL Fact Sheets #17A & #17G.)  Misclassifying an employee can result in stiff penalties so owners and managers should understand their risk.  Job titles do not determine exempt status so calling someone a “manager” does not automatically exempt them from overtime. 

Second, raise their salary to $913 per week OR convert them to hourly.  If you convert them to hourly, decide whether you will take their current salary divided by 40 hours per week or, if they regularly work 50 hours per week, you will calculate the hourly rate that will have the same results as their current salary.  Option one may result in higher wages due to overtime.  Option two may result in e...more