File an Unemployment Claim - Texas
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To be eligible for this benefit program, you must a resident of Texas and meet all of the following:
- Be unemployed or working reduced hours though no fault of your own, and
- Worked in Texas during the past 12 months (this period may be longer in some cases), and
- Earned a minimum amount of past wages, as determined by Texas guidelines, and
- Meet the ongoing eligibility requirements, including being able to and available for work and actively seeking work each week you are collecting benefits.
Apply for benefits online at Unemployment Benefits Services by logging on and selecting Apply for Benefits, or call a Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Tele-Center at 1-800-939-6631 to speak with a customer service representative.
TWC evaluates your unemployment benefits claim based on:
- Past wages
- Job separation(s)
- Ongoing eligibility requirements
You must meet all requirements in each of these three areas to qualify for unemployment benefits.
See the Texas Workforce Commission website for more information.
Employment benefits end when:
- The state triggers off high unemployment; or
- You exhaust your employment benefits.
Extended Benefits Qualifications
To qualify for EB, you must:
- Have exhausted your regular claim for UI benefits in Texas
- Not qualify for regular UI benefits in Texas or any other state
- Have total base period wages of your original regular UI claim that are:
- At least 40 times your weekly benefit amount or
- Equal to or greater than 1.5 times the highest quarter’s earnings
- Have no disqualifications that would prevent you from being eligible for EB
- Have at least one week in your benefit year that begins in an EB eligibility period.
You must continue to file weekly,and you must respond when contacted by the Texas Workforce Commission. You must register as a job seeker within three business days of applying for benefits on WorkInTexas.com or at a Texas Workforce Solutions office. Also, you must continue to be able and available for full-time work. You must actively seek employment, while keeping a record of your work search activities using the Work Search Log. Finally, you must accept suitable work, and this includes considering jobs that pay 75% of your normal wage by your 8th week of unemployment.
An appeal must be filed in writing, and it must be submitted within 14 calendar days from the date the decision was mailed to you. Your appeal can be submitted in person at the nearest Workforce Solutions office, or you can mail or fax your letter to the appeals department (the contact information will be on your determination letter. You can also submit your appeal online. Also, you must keep filing your weekly claims regularly because you only be paid for weeks you filed if you win your appeal. See the Texas Workforce Commission website for more information. See the Texas Workforce Commission website for more information.
