Is California a “Right-to-Work” State? A Labor Lawyer Explains

California is not a “right-to-work” state. Right-to-work states make it unlawful to require employees to join a union or pay union dues. Attempts to implement such legislation in California have failed.

Therefore, private California employers may require you to join a union in order to get hired or keep your job.

What is a right-to-work law?

A right-to-work law is a prohibition against employers requiring their employees to join a union as a condition of employment. It means that employers are not allowed to discriminate against an employee’s decision not to join the union or their refusal to pay dues.

In states that have right-to-work laws, you can refuse to join the union or pay dues without fear of losing your job or not getting hired.

In states that do not have a right-to-work law, your employer can make union membership or dues payments a condition of employment. If you refuse to join or pay dues, you can be fired or denied an employment opportunity.

States can pass right-to-work laws under section 14(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).¹

Does California have one?

No, California does not have a right-to-work law. Numerous attempts to make California a right-to-work state have failed. Private employers and corporations can require you to join a labor union or pay dues. A Supreme Court case, however, forbids public employers from doing so.

A version of a right-to-work law was on the ballot in 2012. Proposition 32, also called the “Paycheck Protection” initiative, would have banned unions from contributing to politicians with funds deducted from the payrolls of dues payers. It was defeated by a vote of 56.6 percent to 43.4 percent and did not become a part of California employment law.

A ballot initiative with the same policy was also voted on in 2005. Proposition 75 lost by a vote of 53.5 percent to 46.5 percent. Proposition 226 put the same issue to a vote in 1998, but that initiative was also defeated by a vote of 53.2 percent to 46.8 percent.

What are some right-to-work states?

A little more than half of the states in the U.S. have right-to-work laws. These include:

• Alabama,
• Arizona,²
• Arkansas,
• Florida,³
• Georgia,
• Idaho,⁴
• Indiana,
• Iowa,
• Kansas,
• Kentucky,
• Louisiana,
• Mississippi,
• Nebraska,
• Nevada,⁵
• North Carolina,
• North Dakota,
• Oklahoma,
• South Carolina,
• South Dakota,
• Tennessee,
• Texas,⁶
• Utah,⁷
• Virginia,
• West Virginia,
• Wisconsin, and
• Wyoming.⁸

What about public employers?

Federal law prohibits public sector employers from requiring union membership or dues payments. This covers California employees who work for the state or a local government.

In 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that requiring non-members to pay agency fees violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution’s right that guarantees freedom of speech.⁹

These agency fees were less than full union dues. They could only be used by the union for expenditures related to collective bargaining activities. They could not be used for the union’s political activities. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court ruled that they amounted to compelled political speech by non-members. The Court ruled that this violated the Constitution.

The case applies to all public sector employees and unions. This includes:

• the State of California,
• county governments, like Orange County,
• city governments, like the City of Los Angeles, and
• other municipal agencies.

What are the pros and cons of a right to work law?

Generally, employers support right-to-work laws while workers and unions oppose them.

Supporters of right-to-work laws argue that they:

• give workers the right to choose whether to join a union or pay dues without hindering their job prospects,
• prevent unions from using undue coercion to gain members or funding,
• keep non-union members or dues payers from seeing their money go towards political activity that they do not agree with, and
• reduce corruption by making it more difficult for unions to contribute to a political campaign and then benefit when their candidate takes office and directs government contracts to them.

Opponents of right-to-work laws argue that they:

• are actually designed to break apart unions by creating “free loaders” who benefit from a union’s collective bargaining and workplace safety advocacy without having to pay the dues necessary to support it, and
• reduce wages and workplace rights for both union workers and non-union workers in the long run by undermining union activity.¹⁰

How is this different from at-will termination?

Right-to-work laws are frequently confused with at-will employment or at-will termination. However, the concepts have nothing to do with each other:

• Right-to-work laws forbid mandatory union membership as a condition of employment.
• Employment that is “at-will” can be terminated at any time, by either party, for any legal reason.

Every state except Montana presumes an at-will employment relationship.¹¹

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to join a union to work in California?

In the private sector, the answer is often yes. Because California is not a right-to-work state, private employers can enter into union security agreements. This means they can make joining a union or paying union dues a mandatory condition of your employment.

Can I be fired in California for refusing to pay union dues?

If you work for a private company that has a union contract requiring membership or dues, you can legally be fired for refusing to pay. However, if you are a public sector employee (working for the state, county, or a city), you cannot be fired for refusing to pay dues due to federal First Amendment protections.

Is California an “at-will” employment state?

Yes. People often confuse “right-to-work” with “at-will” employment. While California does not have right-to-work laws, it is an at-will state. This means that an employer can fire you at any time, without notice, for any legal reason—and you have the right to quit at any time.

What is the difference between “right-to-work” and “at-will” employment?

“Right-to-work” laws deal strictly with unions, prohibiting employers from forcing workers to join a union or pay dues to get or keep a job. “At-will” employment has nothing to do with unions; it simply means either the employer or the employee can end the working relationship at any time, with or without a reason.

Are government employees in California required to pay union dues?

No. Following the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, public sector employees (such as teachers, police officers, and city workers) cannot be forced to pay union dues or “agency fees” as a condition of employment, even in a non-right-to-work state like California.

Has California ever tried to become a right-to-work state?

Yes, there have been multiple attempts to introduce right-to-work-style legislation or “Paycheck Protection” initiatives in California, most notably Proposition 32 in 2012, Proposition 75 in 2005, and Proposition 226 in 1998. However, California voters have consistently defeated these measures.

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• The Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Unionization in the United States – Journal of Political Economy.
• Does ‘right to work’ imperil the right to health? The effect of labour unions on workplace fatalities – Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
• Right-to-Work Laws and the Extent of Unionization – Journal of Labor Economics.
• Right-to-work and union compensation structure – Journal of Labor Research.
• The Right to Work and the Right to Strike – University of Chicago Legal Forum.
• Restoring Equity in Right to Work – UC Irvine School of Law.