Right-to-Work State

jenni7 · February 2003

This is probably a stupid question but what exactly is meant by a state being a 'Right-to-work' state. Is this just a different name for Employment at will? I have searched and searched but I can't find any information on it.

Some of our employees are saying that it means that they can refuse to work overtime. Is this right?

Please help me on this one.

Margaret Morford · February 2003

Right to work is not the same thing as employment at will. It means that you do not have to belong to a union even if the employees at your company are represented by one. However, the reality is that your stuck with whatever the union negotiates for the employee group as your wages, benefits and working conditions. If a state is not a right to work state, businesses with unions are sometimes referred to as a "closed shops," meaning that the employees must join the union (pay union dues) in order to be employed.

Hope that helps.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

Terri · February 2003

Where would I find information as to whether Maine is a right-to-work state?

Margaret Morford · February 2003

I'm in Tennessee, which is right to work.

How about the Maine attorney editors weighing in on this or some HR people from Maine telling us. Speak up Maine!

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

Mike · March 2003

Maine is not a right-to-work state.

Refer to this website for a map showing all right-to-work states:
[url]http://www.nrtw.org/rtws.htm[/url]

WT · March 2003

I could be wrong but I suspect you refer to section 14B of the Taft-Hartley Law. This more or less forbids a closed shop or union shop in which all employees working where there is a union must either join the union or pay what is called an agency shop fee to the union. This would be a fee to pay for union efforts on an employee's behalf through collective bargaining and so forth. The individual state must elect to become a "right to work" state. Thus in a right to work state, an individual need not join a union or pay union dues or an agency fee even if there is a union in the work-place.

Don D · March 2003

WT: Isn't that what Margaret said?

WT · March 2003

My comments were close to what she wrote. I have found her advice to be on target but thought I would throw section 14B into the mix as that would be a place to find the text of the law.

David Nagle VA · March 2003

Greetings, Jenni. Several others have explained the differece pretty well. Employment at will is a doctrine (followed, with varying levels of exceptions, in all US states), which provides that the employment relationship is terminable at will by either the employer or employee, with or without notice or cause.

A "right to work" state is a state which has passed a law prohibiting a union shop clause, i.e., a provision in a union contract which requires that all employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement be members of the union. This is an over-simplification, but you can get more information at the website for the National Right to Work Foundation. When last I checked, the right to work states were Alabama Arizona Arkansas Florida Georgia Guam Idaho Iowa Kansas Louisiana Mississippi Nebraska Nevada North Carolina North Dakota Oklahoma South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia and Wyoming. Maine is not a right to work state.

Hope that helps. David Nagle, Editor of Virginia Employment Law Letter.

ritaanz · March 2003

Guam???

David Nagle VA · March 2003

Yes. Covered by US labor laws, but has adopted a right to work provision.

Don D · March 2003

Guam is covered by US labor laws? Just curious, isn't that one of the places Cathy Lee Gifford had children working in sweatshops? Or is that one of the labor laws they did not adopt?

Balloonman · March 2003

Those shops have the special "Cathie Lee" exemption Don! They actually don't mind the abuse as long as Cathie Lee promises not to visit them.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

jenni7 · March 2003

David,

Thanks for your explaination and the ones above too. I have now been able to find the exact Kansas Law.

Right-to-Work State

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