Workplace where an employee, to retain his job, must join a union (representing the employer's workforce) within a certain time frame set by the employer and the union.

A union may form a union shop by negotiating for a collective bargaining agreement clause, which requires an employer to remove an employee from a union-represented position at the union's request if the employee does not join the union within a specified time. This period is often one month after hire or transfer into a position represented by the union. The clause is generally called a union shop clause and is one of several types of union security clauses historically used to ensure that employees are excluded from the bargaining unit if they either:

The states that have enacted the right-to-work laws that prohibit employers and unions from forming union shops are often called right-to-work states.

For more information, see Practice Notes: