The phrases “employment-at-will” and “right to work” are often heard in conversations regarding employment and/or dismissal. But what do these phrases mean? These two phrases are sometimes mistaken as having the same or similar meanings, but they are entirely different.
Employment-at-will means that an employer or an employee can end the working relationship at any time for basically any reason. If you quit, or are fired, no notice or reason is required. Most states are employment-at-will states, and there are a few exceptions to employment-at-will law.
For example, employers are forbidden from firing anyone for any reason protected by federal legislation: age, sex, religion, etc. If a company’s employee manual states that certain procedures be followed before firing an employee, and those procedures aren’t followed, that can be an exception to the employment-at-will laws. Additionally, an agreement with a union or intentional infliction of emotional distress may prove to be exceptions.
Right to work laws do not cover quitting or being dismissed from a job. Roughly half of the states in the United States are right to work states, meaning that job seekers have the right to work for a company without being required to join and/or financially support a labor union. In these states, it may still be required that a union represents an employee in grievances and negotiations. Railway or airline employees are sometimes not protected by right to work laws, even if they reside in a right to work state. Federal enclaves may also be exempt.
Conversely, those who do not live in a right to work state could be required to join or financially support a union as part of employment. “Unionized” jobs in these states often include railway or airline employees, for example.
In a nutshell, employment-at-will laws refer to whether reason or notice must be given if an employee is fired or quits. Right to work laws make residents of certain states exempt from being required to join a union in order to work.
Concise and excellent info. exactly what I was looking for.
Did you know that Google imbeds targeted ads into your webpage display when used to locate your info?
They are based on my last google search but ‘appear’ to be promoted by your Web page.
I wondered how it was that your page just happened to be interested in my previous web inquiry.
Well of course it is not. I opened a new browser window and entered the URL directly and viola no Google add
It is annoying and invasive and interruptive and pushy on their part. The price of Google I guess. They will make your website appear to be associated with who knows what to the average person. A good thing? probably not, but you decide.
For some reason, the comparison between the two is not very clear, like why would these two concepts be compared?
Right to work is what it is and employment at will is just another concept.
Right to work makes sure that employees are underpaid and defenseless…..
You obviously don’t understand right-to-work… It means employees don’t have to join a union if they don’t want to. It doesn’t prevent the creation of unions. If employees are “underpaid and defenseless” they can still form a union.
Workers have NO protection from retaliation and that is what they want…..intimidation……Right to work helps no workers and benefits only the corporations….defend all you care….wrong is wrong!
Here where I live we like to refer to those kinds of abortive labor aberrations as “Right To Work For Less” laws because wherever they are enacted the worker usually gets the short end of the stick.”
I would like to add that wherever these kinds of laws get stuck on the books it is usually – -(in my experience anyway) – – the work of some of the radical right wingers who lie the most about being interested in what is best for everybody.
“Right To Work” is most assuredly (In my opinion) a mechanism from the caverns of eternal darkness to put the shaft to those who work to earn their daily bread and to engorge the already obscenely rich with even more of the good things life has to offer.
I believe “Right To Work” is just one step on a ladder created by the Right Wing that leads to the eventual creation of a nation with only two classes of people . . . “Those who serve” (workers) and those who are served (The elitists who already “Have it all”, as it were.).
I don’t believe the Right Wing will rest until they have succeeded in equalizing all wages in The United States with those of most of the global economies where 50-cents-an-hour is considered to be “Excessive” by the employers who pay it.
Sad…the Southern ier of states are so backwards…..it is more about the business than the people……
BTW, wrote a comment on “sweet” but it says it is closed to comments…did you get it?
I don’t think the concepts are bad per se. A person should not be forced to join a union if they don’t want to. If the
Republicansgovernment didn’t create such high hurdles to create unions, it could work better than it does.Terrant, I do not think anyone thinks union membership should be mandatory…….but Repubs want to make it impossible for unions to finance any campaigns….but yet somehow okay that the Koch Bros do……does anyone see the lies here?
Again, you clealy don’t understand right-to-work. All it says is that union membership should not be mandatory. It doesn’t say anything about how political candidates are funded.
The right has the Koch brothers. The left has George Soros. What is your point? You clearly oppose right-to-work, but based on your comments, it may well be because you have no idea what it is.
Hi Loren and thanx for stopping by……Where is there a law that says union membership is mandatory? Union membership has never been mandatory…..
Unions create contracts that require all employees of a company to join the union. According to the contracts, you are not allowed to work for the company unless you join the union and/or pay union fees. All right-to-work says is that union contracts cannot require union membership and/or dues payment as a condition of employment. Call me cynical, but I suspect you already know this…
Hi again loren….I was a union organizer and no where did I say or imply that everyone had to join the union….and no where would I discriminate against non-union employees…as a matter of fact we work on their behalf as often as we did for union members…..I live in a right to work state and it was about money all the opposition…..companies do not feel they own anything to an employee other than a minimum amount of wages…..worker safety is not as important as it is elsewhere…..and benefits…..I know in today’s world that is a dirty word….but if you work for an hourly wage benefits are important….I am not saying that all unions are good but they are better than the alternative….
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Since you live in a right-to-work state, you may not have the experienced the alternative. My wife worked in an environment where she was forced to pay union dues and disagreed with decisions made by the union. She worked in the same group with a union organizer who organized a walk-out because he thought the company needed “jeans Friday” instead of “business casual” dress day every day. My wife went into work and was harassed for not walking the picket line. This organizer was very aggressive toward her and others. She was so frustrated she contacted HR and told them she wanted to stop having union deducted from her check, but found out she couldn’t. In a non-right-to-work state, your options are to tow the union line or quit.
Also, you mentioned union involvement with negotiating benefits. I don’t deny that unions have a valuable role to play in things like benefit negotiations and worker safety. Unions are not all bad or all good. The problem that most people have with unions, however, is that they are now viewed as more bad than good. For example, the reason that most businesses cite for union tension is related to “work rules” not compensation issues. Most (not all) companies are willing to pay a good wage for a productive employees. Many work rules, however, are designed to “make jobs” that are not necessary or intentionally make employees less efficient so that companies have to hire more people to do the same amount of work. This is what bothers most employers.
For example I heard on the radio was of a forklift driver trying to move pallets. Someone left some boxes sitting in the middle of the driving area. The driver got off his forklift and turned on the signal light so that the person designated to move boxes would come move them. The forklift driver left the forklift and attempted to find help three separate times over the course of 30 minutes. (This was all on video tape.) Work rules designated separate job descriptions for box movers and forklift drivers, but after 30 minutes of waiting, the forklift driver moved the boxes to the side so they could do their job. The next morning, they were called into the office with the supervirsor and the union rep where they were shown the video and given three days off with no pay.
Unions also have a reputations for protecting employees who are not productive. My dad worked in a union shop (aircraft company) for 50 years. He knew of an employee that was caught sleeping on the job and written up three times, but the employee could not be fired. Instead, the supervisor was reprimanded for writing the person up so much and told to back off.
I don’t believe unions are all bad. They serve a purpose and should always be an option available to the workers when they find themselves in a bad situation with an employer. My only point (and, it sound like you may agree) is that right-to-work laws are good because no employee should be “forced” to join or pay into a union if they don’t agree with what the union is doing.
Again, thanks for your thoughtful reply.
loren…..you are welcome and I always appreciate comments…..I will agree that today’s unions are nothing more than elites leading the masses……I do not like the way they a structured now and that is why I bowed out of organizing……I will always be on the side of free choice in everything…..my idea is that government needs to stay out of my decisions or be all in…thanx again for your time and comments…
Right to work~ dog eat dog ~each to his/her own
Well said…..boils it down nicely…..
The ” At will law”, is another way to oppress my people. This is the reason the black unemployment rate is so high.
I totally agree with you…..turns workers into wage slaves….thanx for the comment….chuq