What is a right-to-work state? HR guide for construction

A right-to-work state is a state where union membership is voluntary, even in union-covered workplaces. For construction HR teams, understanding what a right-to-work state is helps clarify whether workers can be required to join a union or pay union dues.

Right-to-work status doesn’t affect every contractor. Most construction work remains open-shop. In 2025, the union membership rate in construction was 11.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For contractors with no collective bargaining agreement (CBA), right-to-work status usually doesn’t change onboarding documents or payroll setup.

Right-to-work laws start to matter when a CBA covers the work. That can happen when a contractor signs with a union, takes on work under a project labor agreement, or moves crews between union-covered and open-shop jobsites. In those cases, right-to-work status answers one narrow but important question: Can a worker on union-covered work be required to join the union or pay fees to keep the job?

This guide explains how right-to-work laws affect construction onboarding, union dues deductions, payroll setup, and multi-state workforce records.

What is a right-to-work law?

Under a right-to-work law, companies and unions can’t force workers to join a union or pay membership dues as a condition of employment. These laws don’t ban unions; instead, they operate within union-covered workplaces to protect an individual worker’s choice regarding union membership.

Federal labor law allows certain union-security agreements, contract clauses that require workers to financially support a union. But Section 14(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) gives individual states the authority to pass right-to-work laws that limit those agreements.

Key aspects of right-to-work states

Here’s what it means to be a right-to-work state in practice:

• Union membership stays optional: Employees can choose whether to join unions. In a right-to-work state, a contractor generally can’t make union membership a condition of employment for covered work.
• The law only matters when a CBA applies: An open-shop contractor with no CBA usually doesn’t need a right-to-work workflow. The issue starts when a contractor signs a CBA, takes on union-covered work, or moves crews between union-covered and open-shop projects.
• CBA coverage can still apply: A worker can receive CBA wage rates, benefits contributions, and grievance protections even without joining the union. The contract covers the role or bargaining unit. Membership remains a separate relationship between the worker and the union.
• State law controls the rule: Each state sets its own right-to-work status, and requirements vary by location. Say a construction company has crews in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, and New York, a non-right-to-work state. HR must adjust its payroll workflows and onboarding documents for each jobsite to ensure union fee deductions are only processed where legally allowed.
• Prevailing wage is different: Prevailing wage and Davis-Bacon projects don’t automatically make work union-covered. A contractor can perform prevailing wage work with an open-shop crew if the contractor follows the applicable wage and reporting rules.

How right-to-work status changes the same construction job

Right-to-work status only matters when a CBA covers the work. The easiest way to see the difference is to compare the same contractor, same role, and same union agreement in two states.

For example, a commercial electrical contractor signs a CBA with an IBEW local and hires a journeyman electrician for covered work. The CBA generally sets the wage rate, benefit contributions, grievance process, and other job terms for those covered roles.

Those terms apply because the job falls under the CBA, not because the electrician joins the union.

In a non-right-to-work state like Illinois, the CBA can require covered workers to pay union dues or fees where federal law allows. The electrician may not need to become a full union member, but the agreement can make financial support part of the job.

In a right-to-work state like Texas, that kind of union-security requirement generally can’t force the electrician to pay dues or fees to keep the job. The electrician can still receive the CBA wage rate, covered benefits, and representation without joining the union or paying union dues.

How right-to-work status shapes HR workflows

Right-to-work status affects HR workflows only when a CBA covers the role, crew, or project. For open-shop work with no CBA, HR usually doesn’t need state-specific union dues language in onboarding or payroll.

For union-covered work, right-to-work status shows up in three places:

• Onboarding documents and offer letters: HR should explain whether the role falls under a CBA and whether union membership or fees apply. In a right-to-work state, the packet should make clear that union membership and dues payment generally remain optional. In a non-right-to-work state, the packet may need to reflect any union-security language in the CBA. 
• Payroll dues setup: Payroll needs proper authorization before deducting union dues in any state. In a right-to-work state, dues never come out by default. Without a signed authorization on file, payroll deducts nothing, and no CBA can override that choice.
• Multi-state crews: Construction crews can move between open-shop work, union-covered work, and states with different right-to-work rules. HR needs clean records for the work state, project assignment, CBA coverage, and dues authorization before payroll closes.

Right-to-work vs. at-will employment: What is the difference?

Right-to-work laws address union membership and union fees. They generally matter when a CBA covers the role, crew, or project. 

At-will employment deals with termination. In most states, it means either employer or employee can end the work relationship at any time, as long as the reason doesn’t violate the law, the CBA, or another employment agreement.

For construction employers, the distinction matters most on union-covered work. A worker can be in an at-will state and still have CBA protections, such as grievance procedures or discipline steps, that affect how the company handles separation.

What states are right-to-work states in 2026?

Right-to-work laws vary by state and can change through new legislation. For HR construction teams wondering how many right-to-work states there are, the current answer is 26 states (plus Guam). This number fluctuates over time. For example, Michigan repealed its right-to-work law in 2023 with Senate Bill 34. 

The current 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
• Wyoming

Which states are not right-to-work states?

States without right-to-work laws may allow union-security agreements where federal law permits them. That can affect union dues language, payroll setup, and onboarding documents for covered construction roles.

Union-covered construction work also tends to appear more often in non-right-to-work states than in many right-to-work states. The practical risk usually shows up when a contractor based in an open-shop market takes on union-covered work, expands into a more unionized state, or moves crews between states with different rules.

The current states without right-to-work laws are:

• Alaska
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Washington

Are there federal right-to-work laws?

There’s no universal federal right-to-work law for private-sector employers. Instead, federal law sets the broader labor framework under the NLRA, while individual states decide whether to pass their own right-to-work statutes. 

That difference can create payroll issues for construction companies working across state lines. For example, Oregon isn’t a right-to-work state, while neighboring Idaho is. A construction company with crews on covered projects in both states must handle union dues language and deduction authorization differently depending on which side of the state line the jobsite sits.

How do right-to-work laws affect construction employer risk?

Right-to-work rules can increase compliance risk when a contractor applies the wrong union rule to the wrong jobsite. That can happen when crews move between open-shop work, union-covered projects, and states with different right-to-work laws.

These laws don’t remove the CBA from covered work. A contractor may still need to follow union wage rates, benefit contributions, grievance procedures, and other contract terms. 

The risk comes from enforcement. If HR treats union membership or dues payment as a job requirement in a right-to-work state, the company may create payroll disputes and compliance issues.

What HR should tell workers about right-to-work

Construction HR teams must explain right-to-work rules clearly, especially during new-hire onboarding or when fielding paycheck questions. When talking to workers, HR should define these core concepts using straightforward language: 

• Union membership is optional in right-to-work states: Workers can choose whether to join the labor union. The company can’t make that choice a condition of employment.
• CBA coverage may still apply: In union-covered workplaces, the CBA may still set terms like wage minimums, benefits, and grievance procedures for covered roles.
• Pay rates come from a different rule: Right-to-work status usually affects dues, not the wage rate. On construction projects, pay may come from the CBA, prevailing wage rules, or the company’s own pay structure.

Managing right-to-work compliance for construction teams

Right-to-work compliance works best when HR builds it into project setup rather than scrambling during payroll review. Once HR programs the governing CBA and wage minimums into the system, the payroll team only needs to verify two points before closing the week: the physical state where the work occurred and the individual employee’s dues authorization status.

Maintaining this visibility helps HR catch errors before they turn into dues refunds, grievances, or unfair labor practice charges. When a mobile field crew moves between projects with different union rules, payroll should already show the correct work state, assign the proper union pay group, and verify whether the worker signed a dues authorization.

Miter supports this compliance infrastructure by providing a unified platform to configure union pay rate groups, track dues deductions, and prepare certified payroll documentation for jobs in any state.

With dues status and work state tied to each worker and project, payroll and finance teams can confirm the right rules applied before a single paycheck goes out.