Pandemic ‘Recall’ Laws Give Nonunion Workers Union-Style Rights

Mandates that employers must offer laid-off workers their jobs back before hiring other applicants are the latest example of workplace protections making the leap from the union bargaining table to state or municipal law.

California, Connecticut, and Nevada, along with more than a dozen cities around the U.S., have enacted “right to recall” or “right to return” laws in response to the wave of layoffs brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Each is a temporary measure, applying to workers in specific industries who were laid off in connection with pandemic health orders or business shutdowns. In some cases, they ...