Right-to-Work States

What right to work means

Under the National Labor Relations Act, an employer and union may agree to a union security clause: after a grace period of at least 30 days, employees covered by the contract must become union members or pay fees to the union. Section 14(b), added by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, lets states ban those clauses. States that do are called right-to-work states.

In those states, employees in a bargaining unit may decline to join or pay the union, but the union still has to represent them fairly, including in grievances, under its duty of fair representation. Everything else about collective bargaining still applies: employees can still organize, unions can still win elections and contracts still set pay and terms for everyone in the unit.

The current list of right-to-work states

As of 2025, the 26 right-to-work states are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The list does change. Michigan repealed its right-to-work law, effective in 2024, the first repeal in decades. Missouri passed a law in 2017 that voters rejected in a 2018 referendum before it took effect. Ballot measures and legislation come up most years, so check the current status before you rely on it.

For public employees the picture is different. The Supreme Court's 2018 Janus v. AFSCME decision held that public-sector employees cannot be required to pay union fees, so every state is effectively right to work for public employees. Railroad and airline workers fall under the Railway Labor Act, which preempts state right-to-work laws.

Right to work versus at-will employment

This is the most common confusion in HR. They are unrelated.

• Right to work is about union membership and dues. It only matters where employees are covered by a union contract.
• [At-will employment](/glossary/at-will-employment/) means either side can end the employment relationship at any time for any lawful reason. Every state except Montana is at will by default, with exceptions.

A state can be both, either or neither in principle. Texas is right to work and at will. California is at will but not right to work. Recruiters sometimes write "this is a right-to-work state" in job ads or offer letters when they mean at-will; that is wrong and can confuse candidates.

What it changes for employers

For a non-union employer, right-to-work status has almost no day-to-day effect. Hiring, firing, pay and policies are governed by the same federal and state employment laws as anywhere else. It is often cited in site selection, because union density tends to be lower in right-to-work states, but union organizing and NLRA rights are the same.

For a unionized employer, it changes payroll and onboarding:

• New hires cannot be told they must join the union or pay dues to keep their job.
• Dues checkoff (payroll deduction of dues) requires the employee's voluntary written authorization in every state; in right-to-work states, employees who do not join simply have no deduction.
• Multi-state employers with contracts in both kinds of states need state-specific onboarding packets and payroll rules.
• A contract signed in a non-right-to-work state cannot impose union security on employees primarily working in a right-to-work state.

In non-right-to-work states, even a lawful union security clause can only require payment of fees, not full membership. Under the Supreme Court's Beck decision, objecting non-members can limit their fees to the costs of representation.

Telling candidates and employees

Keep onboarding language neutral and accurate. In a right-to-work state, the union may present membership information at orientation if the contract allows it, and the employer should not suggest membership is required or discourage it; either could be an unfair labor practice. A short, legally reviewed paragraph in the new hire packet explaining that union membership is voluntary, and how dues authorization works, avoids most questions. This page is informational, not legal advice, and state laws change.