Leaving your union is your right, and it will not cost you your job, your paycheck, or your client’s hours. But almost everyone who tries it makes the same mistake, and it costs them a year of dues.
Here is the mistake: quitting the union and stopping the dues are two separate actions, governed by two separate paragraphs on the form you signed. You can resign your membership by mail on any day of the year. Stopping the money is different — that is locked to a window written into your own signed authorization. This guide walks through both.
The short version
- Quitting and stopping dues are two separate acts. A letter that only says “I resign” can leave the dues running.
- Resigning membership has no deadline. Any day of the year, in writing, by mail.
- Stopping dues does have a deadline — a window written into the card you personally signed.
- Get a copy of that card first. Your signature date sets your window, and nothing else does.
- Nothing happens to your job, your pay, or your client’s hours. Membership is voluntary.
First, the rule that decides everything
When you joined, you signed (or clicked) two things at once. One was a membership agreement. The other was a payroll deduction authorization telling the California State Controller to pull dues out of your IHSS check. They are separate promises with separate exits.
California law is blunt about which one controls the money. Under Government Code § 1157.12, added by SB 866 in 2018, your employer must send any cancellation request to the union rather than handle it, must rely on what the union says about whether the cancellation was proper — and then this sentence:
“Deductions may be revoked only pursuant to the terms of the employee’s written authorization.”
That is the whole ballgame. Not the union’s website. Not a form you found online. Not what a friend in another county did. The card you personally signed sets your deadline, which is why Step 1 below is getting a copy of it.
Resigning your membership
No deadline. Any day of the year.
Ends your voting rights, meeting participation, and members-only benefits. Send written notice by U.S. mail to the union.
On its own, this does not stop the money.
Revoking the dues deduction
Window only. Set by the card you signed.
Your authorization keeps running after you resign unless you revoke it during the window written on it.
This is the one that actually stops the deduction.
Worth knowing: This also means calling the county or the IHSS Provider Help Desk will not stop your dues. By law they have to route you back to the union. Do not waste weeks on that loop.
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Get a copy of what you signed
Check your pay stub for the union name, then request your signed dues authorization in writing. You need the exact signature date and the exact revocation wording — those two facts set your deadline.
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Write one letter that does both jobs
Resign your membership and, in a separate sentence, revoke the dues deduction authorization. Ask for written confirmation of both, with the effective date of each.
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Mail it certified, keep the receipt
USPS certified with return receipt. Photocopy the signed letter, note the mail date, and check your next three pay stubs — dues run two to three months behind, so one more deduction is normal.
Step 1: Find out which union you are in — and get a copy of what you signed
Check your pay stub. The union name appears next to the dues deduction. SEIU Local 2015 generally covers the larger urban counties; UDW/AFSCME Local 3930 covers many of the smaller and mid-sized ones. If it is not clear, your county IHSS Public Authority can confirm it.
Then request your signed authorization in writing. Send it to the union, and keep it short:
“Under Government Code § 1157.12, I am requesting a copy of the dues deduction authorization you maintain for me, including the date signed and the full revocation terms. My name is ____, my provider number is ____, and my county is ____.”
- 1157.12(a) lets the union skip producing your card unless a dispute arises about the existence or terms of the authorization. Asking about the terms is how you create that dispute. Two things you need off that document:
- The exact date you signed — that date, not January 1 and not your hire date, is what your annual window is measured from.
- The exact revocation language — how many days, and measured from what.
Flag: If the union will not produce it, that is worth documenting. Keep your written request and the certified mail receipt. It becomes the core of your record if dues keep coming out.
Step 2: Write one letter that does both jobs
Do not send a letter that only says “I quit.” Union membership and dues deduction are separate; resigning one does not automatically end the other. Say both things explicitly. Your letter should contain:
- Your full legal name, mailing address, phone number, IHSS provider number, and county
- A sentence resigning your membership, effective immediately
- A separate sentence revoking your dues deduction authorization
- The date you signed the original authorization, if you have it
- A request for written confirmation of both, with the effective date of each
- Your signature and the date
Wording you can copy:
“I resign my membership in [union name], effective immediately. Separately and additionally, I revoke my authorization for any deduction of union dues, fees, or assessments from my IHSS wages, effective at the earliest date permitted under the authorization I signed. Please confirm both in writing, including the effective date of each, and stop all deductions as of that date.”
Step 3: Send it so you can prove you sent it
- Mail it USPS certified with return receipt to the union’s headquarters. Both unions’ forms specify U.S. mail. Email may work, but if the timing is ever contested, a green card with a date on it is the thing that settles it.
- Keep a photocopy of the signed letter, plus the certified mail receipt and tracking number.
- Write the mail date on your copy and set a calendar reminder for 60 days out.
- Check your pay stubs for the next three months. Dues run behind your actual hours — UDW says roughly two to three months — so one more deduction after your revocation is normal and does not mean it failed.
If you are with SEIU Local 2015
SEIU 2015’s current online IHSS membership form splits the two acts cleanly, and the terms are very different for each.
Resigning your membership
The form says membership “will be continuous, unless I resign by providing notice to Local 2015 via U.S. mail.” There is no window on this. Any day of the year.
Stopping the dues
This is the restricted part. The payroll deduction authorization states it stays in effect even if you have resigned your membership, unless you revoke it in writing by U.S. mail within 15 days before or after either:
- the annual anniversary date of the agreement — the date you signed, each year; or
- the termination of the collective bargaining agreement covering you.
That is a 31-day window, and there are two of them. It renews automatically year to year, and it survives a break in service — if you stop being a provider and come back later, the old authorization is still live.
Dues are 3% of gross wages, minimum $15.50 and maximum $45 a month.
Member Action Center: 855-810-2015, Monday–Friday 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Main office: SEIU Local 2015, 2910 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057.
Flag: SEIU 2015 also publishes a separate “Union Dues Terms” document for members who pay by bank draft rather than payroll deduction, and that one says the authorization runs until you revoke it in writing — no window at all. Two different arrangements, two different rules. Find out which one applies to you before you assume you are locked in.
If you are with UDW/AFSCME Local 3930
The membership authorization card posted on UDW’s site combines membership and dues into a single paragraph, and the terms are tighter:
“This assignment and authorization shall remain in effect until revoked by me, but shall be irrevocable for one year from the date of signature, and shall otherwise automatically continue each one year period.”
So: one year locked from your signature date, renewing every year after. Your revocation has to land during whatever gap that card allows between renewal periods — which is exactly why you need your own copy.
Dues are 3.5% of gross monthly pay, minimum $20 and maximum $49. UDW calculates them from client-authorized hours, and the calculation typically runs two to three months behind.
Member Benefits Center: 1-800-621-5016. Headquarters: UDW, 4855 Seminole Dr., San Diego, CA 92115.
Flag: In 2019 UDW ran a campaign asking every existing member to sign an updated membership card through myUDW.org, because of a federal rule change on Medicaid payroll deductions. If you signed then or later, the card you are bound by is probably not the one posted on udw.org, and its revocation terms may read differently. We were not able to verify the current card’s exact language from a UDW source. Do not plan your timing around the posted card — request yours.
| Union | Monthly dues | When you can stop dues | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEIU Local 2015 | 3% of gross wages — $15.50 minimum, $45 maximum | Within 15 days before or after your signing anniversary, or the end of your county contract. Renews yearly and survives a break in service. | 855-810-2015 Mon–Fri, 7am–7pm |
| UDW/AFSCME Local 3930 | 3.5% of gross monthly pay — $20 minimum, $49 maximum | Irrevocable for one year from your signature date, then continues automatically each one-year period. Check your own card for the exact window. | 1-800-621-5016 |
The Harris v. Quinn misunderstanding
!Don’t rely on this myth
You will read online that Harris v. Quinn (2014) lets any IHSS provider stop dues immediately, window or no window. Courts have not applied it that way.
Harris means you cannot be forced to pay a union to keep the job. It does not cancel an authorization you voluntarily signed. In Polk v. Yee (Ninth Circuit, June 8, 2022), IHSS providers with SEIU 2015 and UDW who resigned outside their windows kept getting deductions, sued, and lost.
Your leverage is the calendar and the paperwork. Get the date, hit the window, mail it certified.
You will see it said online that a 2014 Supreme Court case, Harris v. Quinn, lets any IHSS provider stop dues immediately, windows be damned. That is not what courts have done with it.
What Harris established is that home care providers cannot be forced to pay a union as a condition of the job. Real and important — it is why nobody can be compelled into this. But it does not undo an authorization you voluntarily signed.
In Polk v. Yee (Ninth Circuit, June 8, 2022), IHSS providers represented by SEIU 2015 and UDW resigned outside their annual windows, kept getting deductions, and sued. They lost. The court noted they had conceded that an earlier decision, Belgau v. Inslee, foreclosed their First Amendment claim, and it rejected their Medicaid-based claim as well. Same unions, same program, same escape-window structure.
Worth knowing: The practical takeaway is unglamorous but useful: your leverage is the calendar and the paperwork, not a constitutional argument. Get the date, hit the window, mail it certified.
What changes when you leave — and what does not
Does not change
- Your job. Membership is voluntary and is not a condition of being an IHSS provider.
- Your wage rate. The contract negotiated for your county still covers you whether or not you are a member.
- Your client’s authorized hours or services. Entirely unaffected.
- County-negotiated health benefits, if you meet your county’s hours threshold.
Does change
- You cannot vote on contracts, vote in union elections, or take part in internal union business.
- You lose members-only extras — for SEIU 2015 that includes the MetLife vision, dental, and legal plans; for UDW it includes the low-cost group dental plan and credit union access.
- You can rejoin later by signing a new card, which starts a fresh authorization and a fresh one-year clock.
If dues keep coming out after your window
- Wait three pay periods. The lag is real and most “they ignored me” cases are just the delay.
- Send a second certified letter quoting the specific revocation language from your own card and the date you mailed the first one. Ask for a refund of anything deducted after the effective date.
- If they still have not produced your signed authorization, say so in writing and cite § 1157.12(a). A dispute about the terms is exactly the trigger that obligates them to produce it.
- Talk to a lawyer if it continues. Your county bar association’s lawyer referral service or a local legal aid office is the place to start. This is a contract question about a document you signed, and the specifics of your card matter.
Where to get help
Who to call
Only the union can stop your dues — state law requires everyone else to send you back to them.
- SEIU Local 2015 — Member Action Center 855-810-2015 Monday–Friday, 7am–7pm
- UDW/AFSCME 3930 — Member Benefits Center 1-800-621-5016
- IHSS Provider Help Desk 1-866-376-7066 Can explain the deductions on your pay stub. Cannot stop them.
- Your county IHSS Public Authority Confirms your union Useful if your pay stub is unclear.
You may also see free help offered by the Freedom Foundation and optouttoday.com. Both are advocacy organizations whose stated mission is reducing public-sector union membership, and Freedom Foundation attorneys represented the plaintiffs in Polk v. Yee. Their instructions are not necessarily wrong, but their framing is not neutral — and everything in this guide you can do yourself for the price of a certified letter.
You will also find two organizations offering free help with this: the Freedom Foundation and optouttoday.com. They do provide real, no-cost assistance and pre-filled forms, and some providers have used them successfully.
Worth knowing: Both are advocacy organizations whose stated mission is reducing public-sector union membership. Freedom Foundation attorneys represented the plaintiffs in Polk v. Yee. That does not make their instructions wrong, but it does mean their framing is not neutral, and using them may put you on their mailing and organizing lists. Everything in this guide you can do yourself for the price of a certified letter.
Sources
- SEIU Local 2015 — IHSS Membership Form — the membership agreement and payroll deduction authorization language, including the 15-days-before-or-after window, automatic annual renewal, and survival after resignation or a break in service.
- SEIU Local 2015 — Membership Levels and Dues Structure — the 3% dues rate, $15.50 minimum and $45 maximum.
- SEIU Local 2015 — Union Dues Terms (PDF) — the separate bank-draft arrangement, revocable in writing with no window.
- UDW/AFSCME Local 3930 — Membership Authorization Card (PDF) — the irrevocable-for-one-year and automatic annual continuation language.
- UDW — Membership Dues — the 3.5% rate, $20 minimum, $49 maximum, structure adopted in 2021.
- UDW — “Sign Updated Card to Stay a Member” (2019) — the reauthorization campaign, which is why your card may differ from the posted one.
- UDW — Frequently Asked Questions — the two-to-three-month dues lag, Provider Help Desk number, and headquarters address.
- California Government Code § 1157.12 — employers must route cancellation requests to the union; the union must produce an authorization when its existence or terms are disputed; deductions may be revoked only per the written authorization.
- SB 866 (2018) — bill text — the legislation that added § 1157.12, effective June 27, 2018.
- Polk v. Yee, No. 20-17095 (9th Cir. June 8, 2022) — the holding against IHSS providers who resigned outside their windows, and Freedom Foundation’s role as counsel.
- CDSS — IHSS Providers — general state program information for providers.
- IHSS Connect — IHSS Union in California: What to Know About SEIU & UDW — background on each union, county coverage, and member benefits.
Government Code § 1157.12 is the controlling authority throughout. Where a union webpage and the statute differ, the statute governs — but the statute itself defers to the terms of the authorization you personally signed, which is the document that decides your deadline.
