Unemployment Resource
Phone: (800) 939-6631
File a claim
Unemployment Insurance is an employer-paid insurance program that helps workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own. It provides temporary financial help to qualified individuals, based on their previous earnings, while they are looking for other work. Employer taxes and reimbursements support the Unemployment Trust Fund. Employers cannot deduct any money from employees' paychecks to pay for this program. Apply for unemployment insurance benefits any time online or call the TWC Tele-Center nearest you.
The law governing unemployment benefits in Texas is the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act, which is Title 4, Subtitle A of the Texas Labor Code. We will call this "the Act" to save space. The Act is available in TWC offices and is also in the Vernon's law book series carried by most public libraries.
The law sets qualifying requirements in three main areas. They are your past wages, your job separation, and ongoing availability and work search. You must meet all of the requirements to receive benefits.
To establish a payable claim, you must have received enough wages to meet the requirements. We use the wages paid to you during a recent 12-month period, called the base period, to calculate your benefit amounts. The base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed your claim. (A quarter is a three-month period.) This means that when we calculate benefits we can't use earnings in the calendar quarter in which you filed your claim, or the quarter just before that. We base your weekly benefit amount on the highest quarter earnings in your base period. We divide that high quarter's total earnings by 25 to get your weekly benefit amount. We may have to change this amount to be inside the allowed range of benefit amounts in Texas. Your maximum, or total, benefit amount is the smaller of 26 times the weekly amount, or 27% of all your wages in the base period. Your weekly benefit amount will be between $53 and $328 depending upon the wages you earned.
To have a payable claim, the law requires that:
- You have wages in at least two of the four base period calendar quarters being used, and
- Your total base period wages are at least 37 times your weekly benefit amount, and
If you qualified for benefits on a prior claim, you must have earned six times your new weekly benefit amount since that time.
If you were out of work for a prolonged time during the base period because of a medically verifiable illness, injury, disability or pregnancy, you may be able to use an alternate base period. If you meet the requirements, the alternate base period could use wages you received before your illness or injury. If you qualify under both base periods, you decide which base period to use.
During each week you claim, you must:
- Make an active search for full-time work.
- Be physically able to work.
- Be available for full-time work.
- Apply for and accept suitable work.
- Be registered for work with the nearest Workforce Center or online via TWC's Hire Texas program.
- Call or report to TWC when instructed.
We will mail you a Statement of Benefits the same day we mail your benefit information packet. The Statement of Benefits tells you:
- The base period used for your claim.
- The wages your employers reported paying you during each quarter of the base period. Whether you are eligible for benefit amounts based on those wages.
If you are eligible, it will tell you the 12-month period your claim will be in effect, which is your benefit year. Your benefit year stays in effect for those dates even if you were disqualified or you have drawn all of your benefits. The statement also will tell you your benefit amounts. The weekly benefit amount is the amount we can pay you for one full week of unemployment. Your maximum benefit amount is the total amount we can pay during your benefit year. Your weekly benefit amount will be between $53 and $328 depending upon the wages you earned.
Check to make sure the social security number on the Statement of Benefits matches the number on your social security card. Look at the employer(s) and the wages listed for your base period; check to see if all your wages for that period are included. As you check the wages, keep the following tips in mind:
- The wages are listed in the quarter in which they were paid to you, regardless of when you earned the money.
- The law does not allow us to use some types of wages to establish claims. Some examples are:
- work as an elected official
- work for a foreign government
- work for a church
- work for your son, daughter, husband or wife
- most work as an insurance agent or real estate broker
The first Statement of Benefits usually does not include wages received from work for the Federal government, military service, or work in other states. We will send you an adjusted Statement of Benefits when we receive records for those wages.
If you are eligible, we will issue your first payment during the third or fourth week following your initial claim. The first payment will be for the second payable week. The Act requires us to hold the payment for the first payable week as the "waiting period week." We will pay you for the waiting week once we have paid you three times your weekly benefit amount for other benefit weeks. If you have no earnings or deductions, and remain eligible for each two-week period, your payments will be like this:
- File for the first and second weeks and be paid for one week.
- File for the third and fourth weeks and be paid for three weeks.
- File for other two-week periods and be paid for the two weeks.
You should call us if you believe there are any mistakes on the wages. The phone number is on the front of the Statement of Benefits. Mistakes might include missing wages, the wrong amount of wages, or wages that are not yours. Contact us quickly so we pay you the right amount of benefits. If you receive benefits based on incorrect wages or wages that aren't yours, you will have to repay those benefits. You may request that we correct your wages at any time during your benefit year.
Once we determine your correct wages, we will send you a new Statement of Benefits. If you disagree with the new determination of your wages, you can appeal.
It can take two to four weeks after you file to know if you can receive benefits. The amount of time depends on things such as whether we need more information about your job separation. When you file a claim, TWC will notify your last employer in writing of the reason you give for no longer working there. If the employer gives us new information that could prevent you from qualifying for benefits, we will tell you what the employer said and ask you to tell us what happened in your words. We will use information from both you and the employer to determine whether you are qualified.
If you quit your last job or your employer fired you, we will send you a decision in writing once we determine whether you are qualified. This written decision is on a Determination on Payment of Unemployment Benefits form.
If your employer laid you off or you are working reduced hours, we will send you a written decision only if your employer contacts us to confirm your layoff. Your employer has 14 days to send a response. If your employer laid you off but doesn't respond, you will not get a written decision. This would not prevent you from receiving benefits. Remember, to receive payment you must continue to meet the ongoing requirements.
Only authorized parties can receive information about your claim. We share some information with Federal and other state government agencies upon their request because Section 1137 of the Social Security Act requires it. These agencies use this information for other programs such as Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Food Stamps and Child Support. They are also responsible for keeping your claim information private. TWC also mails a written notice of your claim to your last employer. TWC may communicate with any base period or current employers about your claim.
The Determination on Payment form will tell you if we can pay you based on the issue named on the form. You will receive a separate determination for each issue on your claim. To be paid benefits, all the determinations you receive must say we can pay you benefits for the period you are claiming.
Each determination form has the following parts:
- The "Decision" section tells you the issue, the decision, our reasoning, and the law supporting the decision. The beginning and ending dates tell you the dates this decision is in effect. If there is a beginning date but no ending date, the decision will stay in effect until your situation changes; however, you will not receive a notice for each week you file.
- The section titled, "Determination of Potential Chargeback for the Employer," tells if we will charge your last employer for your benefits. The chargeback decision does not affect your claim. A charge to the employer usually means higher unemployment tax rates. Some employers receive a bill to repay TWC the amount of benefits paid.
- The section titled "If You Disagree With This Decision" tells the last day you can file an appeal to the determination. It also gives you the address and fax number of the Appeals Department.
You will need the following information to complete your claim application:
- Social security number
- Last employer's business name and address
- Date (month, day and year) you began working for your last employer
- Last date you performed work for your last employer
- If you worked this week, including Sunday, the number of hours worked and pay rate for this period
- Alien Registration Number (if not a U.S. citizen or National)
- If you filed a Texas claim for unemployment insurance in the last 12 months, you will need your Tele-Serv Personal Identification Number (PIN)
Contact your nearest Tele-Center customer service representative to apply for unemployment insurance benefits, get answers to your questions about unemployment insurance or to give TWC additional claim information.
Austin: (512) 340-4300
Dallas: (214) 252-1200
El Paso: (915) 832-6400
Fort Worth: (817) 420-1600
Houston: (713) 982-7400
McAllen: (956) 984-4700
San Antonio: (210) 258-6600
Others call toll-free: 1-800-939-6631
Telecommunications devices for deaf (TDD) users can communicate with TWC offices by using Relay Texas.
That number is 1-800-735-2989.
Source: Texas Workforce Network
