Job-loss checklist for Texas

Last checked: October 21, 2026. We are not the Texas Workforce Commission or the State of Texas. We never ask for your TWC login, Social Security number or any claim details.

1. 1. File your unemployment claim with TWC right away

   Deadline: As soon as you are out of work (the claim starts the Sunday of the week you apply)

   Apply as soon as you are out of work or your hours are cut, but not before your last workday. Your claim starts on the Sunday of the week you apply, and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) cannot pay for weeks before that date. Apply online in Unemployment Benefits Services (UBS), any time of day, in English or Spanish. If you cannot apply online, call a TWC Tele-Center at 800-939-6631 during business hours. Have ready: your Social Security number; your valid (unexpired) state driver license or state ID card number (it does not have to be from Texas); your last employer's name, address and phone number; the first and last dates you worked there; hours and pay if you worked the week you apply; the normal wage for the job you are looking for; and, if it applies, your DD Form 214 (military service in the last 18 months) or your Alien Registration number. Your benefit year lasts 52 weeks, and you can be paid for up to 26 weeks in that year. Texas holds the first payable week as an unpaid "waiting week"; TWC pays it later, but only if you ask: after you have been paid two times your weekly benefit amount and you return to full-time work or use up your benefits, choose Request Your Waiting Week in UBS or call Tele-Serv (800-558-8321, Option 2, then Option 4). TWC says checking eligibility can take at least four weeks. If your last job was through a temporary agency, contact the agency for a new assignment and wait three business days after the assignment ended before you apply. If your last job was for a staff leasing company, contact that company right away for a new assignment.

   Apply: TWC Unemployment Benefits Services

2. 2. Collect your final paycheck under the Texas Payday Law

   Deadline: Fired or laid off: within 6 calendar days. Quit: next regular payday. Wage claim: within 180 days of the date wages were due

   If you were laid off or fired, your employer must pay you in full within six calendar days of your last day (Labor Code 61.014). If you quit or retired, final pay is due by the next regularly scheduled payday. Texas law does not require employers to offer vacation, sick, holiday or severance pay; an employer has to pay unused benefits like these only if its written policy or an agreement says so. Commissions and bonuses are due under the terms of your agreement. If you are not paid, TWC suggests talking to the employer first. You can then file a wage claim with TWC online or on a paper form (by mail or fax). TWC must receive it no later than 180 days after the date the wages were first due. File a separate claim for each employer. TWC's wage claim line is 800-832-9243.

   TWC: Texas Payday Law and wage claims

3. 3. Register in WorkInTexas.com within three business days

   Deadline: Within 3 business days of the date you applied

   You must register for work search on WorkInTexas.com within three business days of the date you applied for benefits. This is a separate step from your benefits application. Use your Social Security number so TWC can verify your registration, and keep the registration active. A local Workforce Solutions office can help you register. If you live in Texas, or commute to work in Texas from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico or Oklahoma, register on WorkInTexas.com. If you live in another state, register within three business days with the job center in your state. TWC will tell you in writing if you are exempt from work search requirements.

   WorkInTexas.comTWC: work search requirements

4. 4. Request payment every two weeks, even while you wait

   Deadline: Every two weeks on your filing day (or Thursday to Saturday of the same week)

   TWC pays only for weeks you request. Do not wait for TWC to tell you whether you are eligible. TWC mails you instructions with your First Filing Date, which is usually about one to two weeks after you apply; request payment on that date and then every two weeks on your filing day. Request online in UBS (24 hours a day) or by phone on Tele-Serv at 800-558-8321 (Option 1), using your Social Security number and four-digit PIN. Your filing day is a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. If you miss it, you can still request payment on Thursday, Friday or Saturday of that same week. If you miss the whole week, request as soon as possible; if the system says you are late, call the Tele-Center at 800-939-6631. A late request can delay or deny payment. Each time, report all hours you worked and your gross pay (before deductions) for each week, Sunday through Saturday, plus severance and other pay. If you are eligible, TWC says the first payment comes about four weeks after you apply, and it usually covers only one week because of the waiting week. Payments go to a TWC debit card unless you sign up for direct deposit. Activate the card as soon as it arrives: if it is not activated within one year, the payments go back to the state and cannot be reissued.

   TWC: request benefit payments

5. 5. Do your weekly work search and keep a log

   Deadline: Every week you request payment (Sunday to Saturday)

   Unless TWC tells you in writing that you are exempt, you must make at least a minimum number of work search activities every week you request payment. Your local Workforce Development Board sets that number, so it differs by county, and TWC mails you a letter with your number and the date it starts. Rely on that letter. TWC also reminds you of the number each time you request payment. Activities that count include applying for jobs, interviewing, going to job fairs or workshops, and using WorkInTexas.com or a Workforce Solutions office. Write each one on TWC's Work Search Log (or your own log with the same details): the date, what you did, the job type, the employer's name, address and phone, who you contacted and the result. A week runs Sunday to Saturday. TWC can ask for your log for any week, so keep it for your whole benefit year or as long as you get benefits, whichever is longer; TWC's handbook says it may ask for logs up to two years from your claim start date, so keeping them two years is safest. If you work part time, keep looking for full-time work. Possible exemptions, if TWC approves them: a temporary layoff with a definite return-to-work date, a union hiring hall, TWC-approved training, Trade Act training or a Shared Work program.

   TWC: work search requirementsTWC: required work searches by county

6. 6. Sort out health coverage within 60 days

   Deadline: 60 days (HealthCare.gov: from losing coverage; COBRA and Texas continuation: from the later of coverage end or your notice)

   HealthCare.gov: losing job-based coverage, even if you quit or were fired, opens a Special Enrollment Period. Apply within 60 days of losing that coverage; coverage can start the first day of the month after it ends. When you apply you will also learn if you qualify for lower premiums, Medicaid or CHIP. COBRA (employers with 20 or more employees): you have 60 days to enroll, counted from when your coverage ends or when the COBRA election notice is given or mailed to you, whichever is later. The plan must send the notice within 44 days of the job loss. After you elect, you have 45 days to make the first payment. COBRA usually lasts up to 18 months after a job loss, and you pay the premium. Texas state continuation (insured group plans, including small employers): if your coverage ends for a reason other than being fired for cause, and you were covered for at least three months in a row, you can ask in writing to continue it within 60 days after the later of the date coverage would end or the date you get notice of this right. It lasts nine months if you are not eligible for COBRA, or six more months after COBRA ends. You pay the full premium the employer requires plus 2 percent of the group rate, and the first payment is due within 45 days after you elect it. Self-funded employer plans are not covered by state law, so ask your former employer which applies. Medicaid and CHIP: Texas Health and Human Services (HHSC) covers low-income children, families, seniors and people with disabilities. Apply at YourTexasBenefits.com.

   HealthCare.gov: if you lose job-based coverageDOL: COBRA continuation coverageApply for Medicaid or CHIP: YourTexasBenefits.com

7. 7. Apply for SNAP food benefits and ask about expedited service

   SNAP helps low-income households buy food. Benefits go on a Lone Star Card that works like a debit card. Apply at YourTexasBenefits.com. Every application is screened for expedited (fast) service. You may qualify if your household has $100 or less in cash and other liquid resources and less than $150 in gross monthly income; or if your liquid resources plus income are less than your rent or mortgage and utilities; or if you are a destitute migrant or seasonal farmworker household. HHSC's handbook (updated October 2026) says households that qualify for expedited service should get benefits the same day they apply if possible, and no later than the next business day. Other applications follow the usual 30-day processing. SNAP also has a work rule: most adults 18 to 64 with no children under 14 at home can get SNAP for only three months in a three-year period while not working, unless they work or are in a job or training program at least 20 hours a week; some people, such as those with a disability or caring for a child under 6, are exempt. For free language help, call 2-1-1 or 877-541-7905.

   Apply: YourTexasBenefits.comTexas HHS: SNAP food benefitsPayByTown: SNAP income limits by state

8. 8. Plan for federal taxes on your benefits

   Deadline: Form 1099-G mailed each January

   Unemployment benefits are taxable income on your federal return. Texas has no state income tax, so there is no Texas income tax return to file. Withholding is voluntary: you can ask TWC to withhold 10 percent of each gross payment for federal income tax when you apply, or later in UBS (IRS Tax Information) or on Tele-Serv (Option 2, then Option 5). If you do not, the IRS says you can make quarterly estimated tax payments instead. Each January TWC mails Form 1099-G with the benefits it paid you last year and any tax withheld; from mid-January you can also see it in UBS or on Tele-Serv. You can file without the form if you know the total benefits, the tax withheld and TWC's federal ID number, 74-2764775.

   TWC: federal income taxes and Form 1099-G

9. 9. If TWC says no, appeal in writing within 14 days

   Deadline: Within 14 calendar days of the mail date on the Determination Notice

   TWC sends a Determination Notice on each eligibility issue. If one says you cannot be paid and you disagree, appeal in writing within 14 calendar days of the mail date at the top of the notice; the last day to appeal is printed at the bottom. If the 14th day is a state or federal holiday, you have until the next business day. Appeal each determination separately. Appeal online in UBS (fastest), in person at a Workforce Solutions office, or by mail or fax to the Appeal Tribunal at the address on the notice. TWC does not accept appeals by phone or email. Include your name, Social Security number, address, the mail date of the notice, a copy if possible, why you disagree and any dates you cannot attend a hearing. If you are late, explain why. The first level is a telephone hearing with the Appeal Tribunal. TWC mails the hearing packet 5 to 10 days before the hearing; register your phone number 15 to 60 minutes before it starts. If you missed the hearing, you can ask to reopen the case, but you must show a good reason. If you disagree with the Appeal Tribunal decision, appeal to the Commission in writing within 14 calendar days of the date that decision was mailed. Keep requesting payment every two weeks while you wait. If you win, TWC can pay only the weeks you requested and met all requirements.

   TWC: file an unemployment appeal

10. 10. Working part time? Report every hour and dollar

    You may still get partial benefits while working part time if you report all work and gross earnings from all jobs for each week and keep looking for full-time work. TWC lets you earn up to 25 percent of your weekly benefit amount before it reduces your payment. If you earn more than 125 percent of your weekly benefit amount, or you work the usual full-time hours for your job, you cannot be paid for that week. Report earnings for the week you did the work, not the week you were paid. Once you return to full-time work, stop requesting payment, report your hours and earnings for that first week, and tell TWC (Request Your Waiting Week in UBS, or Tele-Serv Option 2, then Option 4) so you get paid for your waiting week. Not reporting work is fraud and leads to repayment plus a 15 percent penalty.

    TWC Unemployment Benefits Handbook (English)