HR, Payroll & Staffing
Payroll, HR, and staffing providers that work with cannabis employers — an industry where many national payroll platforms still decline the business.
“Cannabis HR” gets used for three different services, and the companies on this page split along those lines. Payroll and HR platforms (Würk, and Vangst’s payroll add-on) run payroll, benefits, time and attendance, and compliance filings for employers that many national payroll processors still decline because the business is federally illegal. Staffing and recruiting agencies (Vangst, CannabizTeam, FlowerHire, Viridian Staffing) fill roles — hourly budtenders and trimmers on temporary or temp-to-hire terms, and salaried retail, cultivation, and corporate positions on direct hire. Executive search (CannabizTeam and FlowerHire both list it) is retained recruiting for C-suite, VP, and general-manager roles, priced as a percentage of first-year compensation.
When comparing, ask which states a firm actually places in or runs payroll for (labor and cannabis licensing rules differ by state), whether staffing includes onboarding and payroll for temporary workers or just placement, how fees work (hourly markup, contingency percentage, or a retained search fee), and — for HR platforms — whether they handle multi-state operators and 280E-aware accounting exports. Every company on this page has been checked against a live site.
CannabizTeam
UnclaimedCannabis executive search and direct-hire staffing firm; sold its temp-staffing arm (CannabizTemp) to Vangst in 2024 to focus on search.
Dark Staffing Solutions
UnclaimedHumboldt County-rooted staffing agency providing executive recruiting, temp staffing and payroll for cannabis and agriculture.
FlowerHire
UnclaimedCannabis recruiting agency offering contingent placement, executive search, HR advisory, and high-volume hourly hiring across 28+ states.
Green Leaf Business Solutions
UnclaimedManaged payroll, HR and banking-access solutions for cannabis and hemp businesses; a 2026 Inc. 5000 honoree.
GreenLeaf HR
UnclaimedCannabis-focused HR management company offering payroll administration, employee benefits and PEO services for U.S. operators.
H2 Talent
UnclaimedExecutive search and staffing firm placing cannabis and psychedelics-industry talent across compliance, cultivation and retail.
Higher Growth Search
UnclaimedCannabis-focused staffing, payroll and HR services firm serving cultivators, retailers and MSOs across California and beyond.
Paragon Payroll
UnclaimedNational HCM and payroll provider with a dedicated cannabis practice since 2016, serving multi-state cannabis operators.
Paylient
UnclaimedPEO offering payroll, HR, benefits and workers' comp for cannabis operators in all 50 states.
The United Green
UnclaimedFull-service cannabis staffing agency with 6,000+ placements nationwide, from cultivation labor to C-suite executive search.
Vangst
UnclaimedCannabis hiring platform combining a job board, direct-hire recruiting, and gig/temp staffing; grown via acquisition of CannabizTemp and GreenForce.
Viridian Staffing
UnclaimedFull-service cannabis staffing agency offering executive search, contingency/retained recruiting, temp staffing, and HR consulting.
White Ash Group
UnclaimedCannabis-focused executive recruitment agency placing talent across cultivation and corporate roles in the US and Canada.
Würk
UnclaimedAll-in-one payroll, HR, and workforce-management (HCM) platform built for cannabis and other compliance-intensive industries.
Events & dates for hr, payroll & staffing
See all on the calendar →Questions about hr, payroll & staffing
- Why do cannabis businesses need a specialized payroll provider?
- Because several major payroll and PEO providers decline plant-touching clients over federal-illegality and banking risk, and those that accept them need cannabis-specific handling: cash-heavy operations, state licensing rules on employee badges and background checks, and 280E-aware reporting. Platforms like Würk exist to serve that gap; some staffing firms (Vangst) also run payroll for the workers they place.
- What is the difference between a cannabis staffing agency and an executive search firm?
- A staffing agency fills volume and mid-level roles — budtenders, trimmers, packaging, delivery drivers, store managers — often on temporary or temp-to-hire terms with the agency as employer of record. Executive search is a retained engagement to recruit senior leaders (CEO, COO, VP Cultivation, Director of Retail), typically billed as a percentage of first-year compensation. CannabizTeam and FlowerHire offer both; Vangst and Viridian lean toward staffing and direct hire.
- How do cannabis staffing agencies charge?
- Temporary staffing is usually an hourly bill rate (worker pay plus a markup); direct hire is a contingency fee — a percentage of the hire’s first-year salary, paid on placement; retained executive search is a fixed or staged fee. Ask whether temp workers are on the agency’s payroll and whether conversion (hiring a temp permanently) carries a fee.
- Do these firms work in every legal state?
- No — most concentrate where they have recruiters and licensed-market experience (Colorado, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, Illinois, and the Northeast show up most). Ask for placements or payroll clients in your specific state, since employee-badging and background-check rules vary by regulator.
- Can a general HR consultant handle cannabis compliance?
- Sometimes, but cannabis adds state-specific requirements — agent cards or employee badges, mandatory training, security-clearance rules, and cash-handling controls — on top of normal employment law. Cannabis-focused HR consultants (Viridian Staffing lists this) and platforms with cannabis compliance modules build these into onboarding rather than bolting them on.
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