Work · Right to work
Is Georgia a Right-to-Work State?
Whether a job in Georgia can require you to join or pay a union as a condition of employment, the law that decides it, and the federal-worker situations where the state rule does not control. Cited to the statute.
What right-to-work means in Georgia
Whether union fees can be a condition of the job here, and the situations that follow a different rule.
| What the law says | What it means |
|---|---|
| The ban runs both directions | O.C.G.A. 34-6-21(a) forbids requiring you to be or remain a member of a labor organization, and equally forbids requiring you to resign from or refrain from membership. Georgia protects the choice itself, not one side of it. |
| No fee or sum of money can be required | O.C.G.A. 34-6-22 says no individual shall be required, as a condition of employment, to pay any fee, assessment, or other sum of money whatsoever to a labor organization. That flat language forecloses relabeling dues as a service or agency fee. |
| An offending clause is absolutely void | O.C.G.A. 34-6-23 declares any contract provision requiring membership or payment to be contrary to public policy and absolutely void, and it applies to contracts made before or after the law. A Georgia employer cannot cure the problem by pointing to a signed contract. |
| Dues can be deducted only with your written say-so | O.C.G.A. 34-6-25(a) permits payroll deduction of union money only on the written authorization of the employee, and that authorization may be revoked at any time at the employee’s request. The employer-union contract must carry the same condition under O.C.G.A. 34-6-26(a). |
| Where it is different | What it means |
|---|---|
| Government employers are outside the article | O.C.G.A. 34-6-20(2) excludes the United States, the state, and any political subdivision from the definition of employer. Georgia public employees get the same practical outcome from the Janus decision rather than from this article. |
| Railway and airline workers | O.C.G.A. 34-6-20(2) excludes any person subject to the Railway Labor Act, and O.C.G.A. 34-6-25(c) separately exempts a Railway Labor Act collective bargaining agreement from the dues-deduction rule. Those workers can be required to pay a union regardless of Georgia law. |
| Federal Transit Act transit authorities | O.C.G.A. 34-6-20(2) excludes any person employed by a transit authority subject to Section 13(c) of the Federal Transit Act. This carve-out keeps Georgia transit systems eligible for federal transit funding. |
| Agreements in force before 1 July 2013 | O.C.G.A. 34-6-25(b) and 34-6-26(b) preserve contracts and collective bargaining agreements in existence before 1 July 2013. That grandfather clause concerns the written-authorization requirement added in 2013, not the core right-to-work ban, which dates to 1947. |
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps if a job in Georgia raises a union-fee question. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- Know that joining and paying are both optional
In Georgia you cannot be fired or refused a job for declining to join a union or pay it any fee. If a workplace tells you union membership or dues are mandatory, that requirement is void under O.C.G.A. 34-6-23.
- Control any payroll deduction in writing
A union deduction from your pay is lawful only if you authorized it in writing, and you can revoke that authorization at any time under O.C.G.A. 34-6-25(a). Put any revocation in writing and keep a copy.
- Check whether you are covered by federal railway law
If you work for a railroad or airline, the Railway Labor Act controls instead of Georgia right-to-work, and a union-shop agreement can require you to pay. Confirm which law covers your job.
- Enforce your rights through the courts
O.C.G.A. 34-6-27 lets an affected worker seek an injunction and recover actual damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees. If you are pressured to pay a union in a private-sector Georgia job, that remedy is available.
If you are unsure whether a fee can be required, the National Labor Relations Board handles private-sector union questions and can explain your rights.
→ National Labor Relations Board · Employer/Union RightsThis is general legal information, not legal advice. Public-sector, railway, and airline jobs can follow different rules, so confirm your situation against the statute.
What workers in Georgia get wrong about right-to-work
Georgia is a right-to-work state, and its statute is unusually blunt about it. Under O.C.G.A. Title 34, Chapter 6, Article 2, a Georgia job cannot be conditioned on joining a union, on staying in one, on quitting one, or on paying it money. Section 34-6-21(a) bars requiring membership or non-membership in either direction, and section 34-6-22 bars requiring any fee, assessment, or other sum of money whatsoever. Georgia then goes further than most right-to-work states in two ways. Section 34-6-23 does not merely make an offending clause unenforceable, it declares it absolutely void as against public policy, reaching contracts made before or after the law. And section 34-6-28 makes signing an unlawful arrangement a misdemeanor for both the employer and the union. Dues can still be deducted from your pay, but only if you authorize it in writing, and you can revoke that authorization at any time. The article has real limits. Government employers, Railway Labor Act workers, and certain transit authorities are carved out of the definition of employer, and Georgia public employees get their protection from the Janus decision instead. One sourcing note belongs in the open: Georgia publishes no fetchable official HTML code, so the wording here was read from a disclosed Justia mirror and cross-checked against the official bill record. This is legal information, not legal advice.
Common questions
Is Georgia a right-to-work state?
Yes. Under O.C.G.A. Title 34, Chapter 6, Article 2, no Georgia job can be conditioned on joining a union or paying it any fee, assessment, or sum of money. Joining and paying a union in Georgia are voluntary.
Can I be forced to pay union dues in Georgia?
No. O.C.G.A. 34-6-22 bars requiring you to pay any fee or sum of money to a union as a condition of employment, and any contract clause that tries is absolutely void under O.C.G.A. 34-6-23.
Is it a crime to require union membership in Georgia?
It can be. O.C.G.A. 34-6-28 makes it a misdemeanor for an employer or a union to enter an unlawful contracting or payroll-deduction arrangement, on top of the civil remedies available to an affected worker.
Can a union still deduct dues from my pay in Georgia?
Only with your written authorization, which you can revoke at any time under O.C.G.A. 34-6-25(a). Without that written say-so, a Georgia employer cannot deduct union dues or fees from your wages.
Are there exceptions to Georgia right-to-work?
Yes. Government employers, Railway Labor Act workers such as railroad and airline employees, and certain Federal Transit Act transit authorities are excluded from the article, so those jobs follow federal rules instead.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.