Alabama is a 'Right-to-Work' State: What That Means May Surprise You

This article is for entertainment purposes only and is not legal advice. Please consult an attorney regarding any issues you may have with employment laws in Alabama.

The term "right-to-work state" is often quoted when discussing the rights of workers in Alabama. Many people mistakenly think that Alabama's "right-to-work" law gives employers the right to fire any employee without good reason. However, that is a misconception of the meaning of the law. Read on to find out what the "right-to-work" law actually means and who it protects in Alabama.

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The right-to-work law in Alabama, in a nutshell, governs the rights of employees to be able to seek work and gain employment without being required to join a union. According to findlaw.com, Essentially, "right-to-work" statutes prohibit employers and unions from requiring union membership in order for employees to get and keep a job. Alabama has long had this type of statute in its state code, declaring that it is “the public policy of Alabama that the right of persons to work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor union or labor organization.”

Alabama has had a right-to-work law since 1953. It's listed in Alabama as "Code of Alabama 25-7-30, et seq.: Right to Work." There are currently 28 states with this type of law with most of them being in the south and midwest. Kentucky was the last state to join the list, with it's right-to-work law being passed in 2017.

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Alabama made national headlines recently when workers at the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa made the decision to forego unionization. That decision brought up a lot of discussions about unions in general in Alabama. If employees there had decided to join the United Autoworkers Union, or UAW, Alabama's right-to-work law would have made it possible for anyone to work at the plant whether they belonged to the UAW or not.

The legal concept that allows employers to terminate an employee for any reason or even no reason at all in Alabama is known as an "at-will" agreement. Almost every state in the union is an "at-will" employment state. There are federal discrimination laws, however, that still override state laws with regard to an employee being wrongfully terminated. An employee, for example, cannot be fired on the basis of religion, sex, age, whistleblowing, or filing for workers compensation. For more information, consult an attorney that specializes in wrongful termination.

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