Job Description

Job Description

 HR Business Partner 

Location: New York City, NY

Job Type: Full-time | Exempt | Salaried

About The Travel Agency

The Travel Agency is a leading cannabis dispensary group in New York City, with locations in Union Square, Downtown Brooklyn, Fifth Avenue, and SoHo. Rooted in community impact and social equity, we proudly employ formerly incarcerated individuals and champion BIPOC-, women-, and LGBTQIA-owned brands. Our mission is to blend innovation, education, and sustainability to elevate the cannabis retail experience while creating equitable pathways to opportunity.

Position Overview

The HR Business Partner is a key member of the People Team, responsible for delivering comprehensive HR partnership across The Travel Agency. This role provides dedicated day-to-day HR support to the Travel Agency’s four retail locations. This role blends frontline HR partnership with strong operational ownership. The ideal candidate is confident handling complex ER matters, highly detail-oriented with payroll and benefits, and capable of supporting leaders in a fast-paced, highly regulated retail environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary HR partner for all dispensary locations, providing on-site and virtual support to General Managers, Supervisors, and Associates.
• Conduct weekly on-site visits to maintain visibility, gather insights, and ensure consistent application of HR policies and practices.
• Support workforce planning, scheduling practices, onboarding, offboarding, and hiring alignment.
• Provide guidance on employee questions related to pay, benefits, leave, attendance, and HR policies.

Employee Relations Leadership

• Own all Employee Relations investigations and case management across the organization.
• Lead complex investigations involving harassment, discrimination, theft, performance issues, workplace conflict, and policy violations.
• Conduct time and attendance investigations, scheduling equity reviews, and payroll-related ER audits.
• Maintain detailed, compliant documentation and ensure consistent corrective action practices.
• Partner with HR leadership, Legal, and Operations on escalated ER matters and risk mitigation.

Payroll, Benefits & HR Operations 

• Own weekly and semi-monthly payroll processing for hourly and salaried employees, including overtime, premium pay, adjustments, and retroactive payments.
• Manage benefits administration including medical, commuter benefits, wellness stipends, leaves of absence, and open enrollment.
• Support leave administration including FMLA, NY Paid Family Leave, ADA accommodations, and return-to-work processes.
• Partner with Finance on payroll funding, reconciliations, reporting, and audits.

HR Systems, Compliance & Audits

• Maintain and optimize HR systems including Gusto, When I Work, and Lattice, ensuring data accuracy and system integrity.
• Conduct ongoing audits of timekeeping, payroll, attendance, scheduling, and compliance.
• Ensure compliance with NYC, NY State, and federal labor laws including wage and hour, NY Safe & Sick, ACA, and cannabis-specific regulations.
• Maintain compliance documentation and support annual reporting (ACA, EEO-1, workers’ compensation, etc.).
• Track ER, payroll, and attendance trends and present insights to HR leadership.

Union-Aware & High-Growth Environment Support

• Support leaders operating in union-aware environments, ensuring consistent interpretation of collective bargaining agreements related to pay, scheduling, premiums, and benefits.
• Assist with grievance-related steps and employee concerns as appropriate.

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years of HR Business Partner, Employee Relations, payroll, or HR operations experience, preferably in retail, hospitality, cannabis, or other high-volume hourly environments.
• Direct experience managing ER investigations and corrective action processes.
• Strong working knowledge of payroll, benefits administration, and HRIS platforms.
• Solid understanding of New York labor laws and workforce compliance requirements.
• Experience partnering closely with store-level leadership teams.
• Strong documentation, interviewing, analytical, and communication skills.
• High emotional intelligence, sound judgment, and discretion with sensitive matters.

Preferred Qualifications

• Cannabis or other regulated industry experience.
• Experience supporting unionized or union-aware environments.
• Hands-on experience with Gusto, When I Work, Lattice, or similar systems.

Salary & Work Location

Salary: $80,000–$105,000 (commensurate with experience)

Work Location: Hybrid — on-site in Manhattan a minimum of four days per week

Why This Role Matters

This role serves as the connective tissue of the People function. By owning Employee Relations, payroll, benefits, HR systems, and compliance while providing hands-on support to retail teams, this HR Business Partner ensures fairness, operational excellence, and a consistent employee experience as The Travel Agency continues to grow responsibly.

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