Cannabis business compliance managers are responsible for assessing and auditing inventory to prevent product loss. They are also responsible for onboarding new products and ensuring they meet all packaging and labeling regulations.
The compliance manager establishes the compliance culture at any cannabis business. As such, the compliance manager is responsible for communicating new laws and regulations to the staff. They also deter improper behavior by setting a code of ethics.
If any compliance infraction occurs, the compliance manager investigates when it happened, how it happened, and who’s responsible. After pinpointing the issue, they then consult with upper management on how to proceed.
The compliance manager is also responsible for establishing open communication channels with state and local administrators. In some cases, they might also meet with the regulators in person at workshops or hearings. This enables them to develop more personal relationships that could prove beneficial to your company in the future.
Covid-19 has changed how consumers buy cannabis products. Nowadays, most consumers prefer ordering their weed online rather than going to the dispensary. To top it all off, numerous states across the US enacted a new set of regulations regarding online orders and deliveries. The cannabis compliance manager is thus responsible for ensuring your business stays compliant with these new regulations.
Every now and then, the compliance manager has to meet with upper management to compile, review, and resolve any compliance issues that have come up. For the best results, we recommend weekly or bi-weekly meetings. This way, they’ll be able to keep all levels of management up to date with any open, pending, or unresolved compliance issues.
As part of cannabis’ compliance and regulation standards, every cannabis business has to report all inventory and sales data. The compliance manager ensures that all reporting and auditing regulations are met.
However, since manually performing Metrc reporting is a daunting task, most cannabis businesses use automated reporting software. This alleviates compliance errors and minimizes their staff’s workload.
The cannabis industry is barred with regulatory instability. State and local laws change so fast that it’s nearly impossible to keep up and stay compliant. Hiring cannabis compliance managers makes it easier for cannabusinesses to keep up with all state and local legislative initiatives that affect all cannabis-related businesses.
Most cannabis compliance managers also actively participate in state and local cannabis reform organizations that push for new legislation. By attending meetings and learning about which state and local initiatives are underway, your compliance manager can keep you up to date. This way, you can support causes that benefit your business.
This is probably the most important reason why you should hire a compliance manager. You need to establish store-wide policies and protocols that will safeguard your business against compliance infractions. The best and most effective way to achieve this is by hiring someone with experience in both the cannabis industry and retail management. By hiring an expert, you can better develop and implement lasting employee practices.
Developing these standards will deter improper conduct from your staff. It also encourages a code of ethics. This way, your staff can feel comfortable pointing out and reporting suspicious behavior. Some of the vital policies you should implement include preventing sales to minors and scrutinizing purchase limits to avoid looping.
As a cannabis business owner, investigating and resolving compliance issues is often daunting. That’s why you need an expert to do it. A compliance manager investigates any issue that comes up, then passes it onto you.
If the compliance issue turns out to be an unintentional human error, a probationary period or additional training may motivate the employee to pay more attention. However, if the violation occurred due to unethical behavior, you should consult with cannabis regulators and law enforcement to figure out the way forward.
Inventory management is one of the most important aspects of staying compliant. Your cannabis compliance manager performs a physical count of your inventory and reconciles it with data from your point-of-sale system, usually every 14 days, as required by your state.
And as the cannabis industry evolves, your compliance manager can come up with new ways to optimize operations while still adhering to state and local regulations.
Every now and then, you’re bound to slip and commit a compliance violation in your cannabis business. Regardless of the cause, you must have a compliance manager around when this happens. They will investigate and report all findings to the Bureau of Cannabis Control. If by any chance it is a major infraction, your compliance manager will help paint a full picture of the situation. This way, the regulators can decide on a fair verdict.
Cannabis compliance managers also maintain open communication with state and local regulators. So, if you ever find yourself in a sticky situation, your compliance manager can leverage their connections and sort it out in a more streamlined manner.
State and local governments seem to institute new cannabis laws every other day, and it’s hard to keep up. So, instead of stressing yourself out, why not leave it to the professionals? Apart from making your cannabis business run more smoothly, a cannabis business compliance manager could save you lots of money in fines. They could also save your business license from being suspended.