Aster Farms

10

Employees

40

Retail locations

31,000 sq

Square footage of outdoor facility

Aster Farms is a sustainable cannabis brand in Northern California, dedicated to providing the highest quality flower through clean, safe cultivation practices. An outdoor grow with native soil allows Aster Farms to provide a pure product while decreasing environmental impact.

Challenge

• All HR and Payroll tasks were handled internally, causing an administrative burden and potential for compliance risk.
• The cultivation team was filing out paper time sheets, creating a labor intensive, error-prone timekeeping process.
• Inability to pay employees through direct deposit due to the nature of the cannabis industry.
• Lack of data made it difficult to identify workforce trends and create plans for growth.

Solution

Wurk’s cannabis-specific payroll technology and the support of a dedicated Payroll Specialist have allowed Aster Farms to deliver consistent employee payments and remain in compliance with California’s complex labor laws.

Benefits

• An industry partner that understands the financial challenges cannabis businesses face and ensures that Aster Farms provides accurate pay to all employees.
• A dedicated Payroll Specialist to manage workforce-related tasks the Aster Farms team did not have the time or expertise to maintain.
• Accessible mobile application for employees to track time, even while in the middle of their outdoor cultivation.
• Analytics that owners can rely on for workforce planning, productivity, and cost containment.

The Story

In 2018, Aster Farms recognized the challenges involved with managing a thriving outdoor grow, several hourly employees and the need to comply with California law. Pressure only increased when they had heard anecdotes from their employment lawyer that companies were dealing with legal fines for not recording meal and rest breaks in accordance with California regulations.

Aster Farms’ dated practices of managing time with pen and paper as well as running payroll internally, were causing hindrance and increasing their compliance risk. It became apparent to leadership that the need for a reliable, cannabis-specific payroll and timekeeping partner was rising.

Julia Jacobson, CEO of Aster Farms, a repeat entrepreneur and cannabis advocate, engaged with Wurk’s managed services team to provide compliant payroll services and streamlined processes.

“Before Wurk, I dreaded figuring out taxes and understanding what types of withholdings needed to happen, and what departments we had to file what with,” said Aster Farms CEO, Julia Jacobson. “Now with Wurk, they take care of all of that for us.”

Payroll solutions designed for cannabis

Wurk’s payroll services and technology are designed for cannabis businesses, so Aster Farms can pay their employees through direct deposit without the uncertainty of being dropped. With a dedicated Payroll Specialist, Aster Farms can trust that their employees are paid accurately and on time.

“Having the ability to process our payroll through direct deposit as a cannabis business is an incredible
advantage,” said Jacobson.

State specific labor compliance

Wurk’s system is configured to follow the work and pay rules of individual states and municipalities, including the complicated regulations in California. Wurk allows Aster Farms to follow the accrual policies in California and accurately track employees’ accrued time. Plus, with self-service functionality, their employees can check their hours, see paychecks, and update personal information.

“Our Wurk Payroll Specialist has worked through the many intricacies of California labor laws. This was an important piece of our HR process that Wurk was able to make possible.”

Mobile time and attendance management

Using Wurk’s mobile application, their outdoor farm employees can clock in and out using GPS coordinates, change cost centers, and complete labor transfers. Additionally, they are able to submit timesheets and time-off requests and view schedules, accrual balances, and pay statements at any time and location. Management can remotely approve time off and leave requests, approve timesheets, and view workforce reports from anywhere..

“For most of the farm team, because they are literally out in the middle of the field, they’re typically using the mobile application. For sales and admin teams, they use the desktop version.”

Robust reporting functionality

Automated reporting gives managers timely workforce data needed to make informed decisions. Performance indicators that impact their labor costs and productivity are recorded in the cloud-based system for easy access.

“Something that is important to us as a growing small business, is understanding the number of people it takes to accomplish tasks and perform in certain roles. We are easily able to go into the system and sum up the number of hours that various employees have worked. This data gives us a good understanding
of how our business is growing.”