Cannabis staff training — warm path for existing staff, cold path for new hires

Existing trained staff resent being walked through register basics they’ve done thousands of times. They tune out, miss the new-information bits, and pencil-whip the sign-off. Then the inspector asks the staff member about the sale-to-minor block flow + they freeze.

New hires walked through ‘just the new system’ haven’t actually learned the register, the WAC 314-55-095 verification cadence, or the customer-script. They pass the sign-off and then make rookie mistakes on the floor.

Staff who’ve already been trained on cannabis register work + WAC 314-55-095 fundamentals. They need:

• **~30-minute per-shift brief** when a new feature ships, a new compliance gate goes live, or a process changes (e.g., when /admin/setup gains a new env-var requirement). Not a sit-down session — a stand-up at the start of shift.
• **Quarterly 60-minute refresh** on the things WSLCB actually asks about (sale-to-minor block flow, industry-discount verification, recall response). Random-question quiz at the end so the operator catches drift before the inspector does.
• **Annual full re-cert** signed by manager-on-duty. WSLCB inspection records ask ‘when was this employee last trained?’ — annual is the floor.
• **Same-day brief on any post-mortem.** When the shop has an incident (sale-to-minor near-miss, recall, security event), the next-shift staff get a 10-minute brief on what happened + what the new gate is. Per /guides/wslcb-unannounced-inspection-first-60-seconds — the post-incident pattern is what inspectors look for.

Anyone who hasn’t worked a cannabis register before. Even hires from another industry need the cannabis-specific overlay; even hires from another dispensary need YOUR shop’s skin + customer-script + manager-PIN policy.

1. 1**Day 1 (3-4 hours):** Register basics + cart build + cash-drawer flow + ID-scan + WAC 314-55-095 verification (industry / heroes / medical) + sale-to-minor block flow. Shadow a senior budtender for the rest of the shift; no solo register time.
2. 2**Day 2 (2-3 hours):** Customer-script + de-escalation + recall handling per /guides/cannabis-recall-handling-first-four-hours + manager-PIN policy + close-of-day cash count + variance review. Solo on register with a senior budtender on the floor.
3. 3**Day 7:** WSLCB compliance written quiz (10 questions). Has to score 90% or repeat the questions they missed. We use the same 10 questions WSLCB inspectors ask in the field.
4. 4**Day 14:** Manager-on-duty observes a full open-to-close shift; signs off on the new hire’s readiness for solo unsupervised work. Or extends the shadow period.
5. 5**Day 30:** Random-question check by the GM. If the new hire still freezes on a fundamental, back to shadow + re-train. Better to extend training than leave a weak link.

• **New hire joins:** cold path, regardless of their cannabis-retail experience elsewhere. (Other-shop experience compresses Day 1 + Day 2 to 60% but the WSLCB-quiz + observe-shift steps don’t skip.)
• **Existing staff misses 30+ days (LOA, vacation, etc):** warm path on return. Quick refresh; not full curriculum.
• **WSLCB rule update:** warm path within 72 hours. Don’t batch into the next quarterly — the rule changed; staff needs to know now.
• **Operator-side feature ship:** warm path stand-up at start of next shift. CannAgent ships changelog notes to /admin/setup; operator bridges that to the floor.
• **Post-incident:** warm path 10-minute brief same-day. The new gate, the new caution, what to say to the customer if asked.
• **Annual:** warm path full re-cert for everyone. Same paper trail; clean year-over-year audit.