How do you appeal an unemployment denial in Texas?

Every determination TWC sends you has to say it can pay you for the weeks you requested. If several say yes and even one says no, TWC cannot pay you, and you may appeal any determination that says it cannot.

Reading your determination and finding your deadline

TWC's decision comes on a form called the Determination on Payment of Unemployment Benefits. The date TWC mailed it is at the top of the form, and the last day you can file an appeal is at the bottom.

You have 14 calendar days from that mail date to appeal in writing. If the 14th day falls on a federal or state holiday, you have until the next business day.

The form's Decision section says whether TWC can pay you based on the one issue it addresses, and why. A decision with a beginning date but no ending date stays in effect until you act to resolve the situation. The section on your former employer's potential chargeback does not affect your eligibility.

If the determination says you are disqualified, you may be able to end the disqualification through work instead. To do that, you:

1. start a job after the disqualification begins;
2. earn wages equal to 6 times your weekly benefit amount, or work at least 30 hours a week for 6 weeks;
3. then either lose that work through no fault of your own or, if the job is part time, keep working it; and
4. give TWC proof of your work or earnings and ask it to close the disqualification.

How to file an appeal

An appeal is your written notice that you disagree with a TWC decision and want your case decided through the appeal process. You can send it:

• online in Unemployment Benefits Services (UBS), TWC's online claim system;
• in person at a Workforce Solutions office;
• by mail to Appeal Tribunal, Texas Workforce Commission, 101 E 15th St, Rm 410, Austin, TX 78778-0001; or
• by fax to 512-475-1135.

The mailing address and fax number are also on your determination. You cannot appeal by email or phone, and TWC warns not to send an appeal or appeal documents through its UI Submission Portal. TWC's appeal process is set up so that you do not need a lawyer, though you may choose to pay a lawyer or another person to represent you.

Within 2 to 3 weeks after you file, you can see your appeal's status in UBS. The Appeals Department also answers status questions at appeals.status@twc.texas.gov or 512-463-2807. To withdraw an appeal, call the Appeals Department at 512-463-8011.

The steps are in how to request unemployment payments in Texas.

What happens at the Appeal Tribunal hearing

The Appeal Tribunal is the first of TWC's 3 levels of appeal, and it holds your hearing by phone. A Hearing Officer decides your case based entirely on the evidence given at the hearing.

1. Watch your mail for a hearing information packet. It may take 6 to 8 weeks after you appeal to arrive, and TWC mails it 5 to 10 days before your hearing, so the hearing comes soon after the packet.
2. Mail or fax a copy of every document you want to present to the Hearing Officer and to the other party in your case, if there is one, as far in advance as possible, leaving out documents already in the packet. The first page of the packet gives the Hearing Officer's address and fax number and the other party's mailing address. Documents not provided in enough time before the hearing begins cannot be used.
3. Note the start time on your notice. All hearings are scheduled in Central Time.
4. Register the phone number you will use between 15 and 60 minutes before the start time. Register online at C2T Online Registration with your Case Number, or call the toll-free number on your Notice of Hearing and speak with the receptionist. If you do not register on time, you may not be allowed to take part.
5. At the hearing, you and your employer may each present testimony, witnesses, and documents about the case.
6. The Hearing Officer mails you a written decision, usually within 5 to 10 working days.

If you did not take part in the hearing and disagree with the decision, you can ask the Appeal Tribunal to reopen your case, but you must show you had a good reason for missing the hearing.

If you disagree with the hearing decision

The next level is the Commission, which rules after reviewing the Appeal Tribunal decision and listening to the recording of your hearing. After the Commission decides, you may ask for a rehearing or go to court.

Your Commission appeal deadline is also printed on the coversheet of the Appeal Tribunal decision. File the appeal in writing online, in person at a Workforce Solutions office, or by mail or fax, but not by email or phone. Mail it to Commission Appeals, Texas Workforce Commission, 101 E 15th St, Rm 678, Austin, TX 78778-0001, or fax it to 512-475-2044. To check on it, use UBS, email commission.appeals@twc.texas.gov, or call 800-432-4218.

A Motion for Rehearing asks TWC to hear your case again. TWC grants one only if you show all of these:

• important new information about your case;
• a compelling reason you did not present it earlier; and
• why it could change the outcome of your case.

File a Motion for Rehearing the same ways, using the address or fax number in the instructions with the Commission decision.

The rehearing is optional. You must finish every other appeal step TWC offers before you appeal to a civil court.

If TWC says you were overpaid

An overpayment is money TWC paid you that you are later found not eligible to receive. It stays on your record until you repay it, and TWC cannot pay you benefits while you have one. TWC lists these causes:

• not reporting earnings, or reporting the wrong earnings, when you request payment;
• a wage correction that lowers your benefit amount, because the wages used for your claim had errors or belonged to someone else;
• wrong or false information about how your job ended or about your work search;
• an appeal ruling that reverses your eligibility after TWC paid you;
• not taking part in Reemployment Services or other Workforce Solutions job programs when required;
• not registering for work search on WorkInTexas.com, or in your own state if you live outside Texas; and
• fraud.

You must repay even if the overpayment was not your fault. State law requires TWC to recover every overpayment, and there is no statute of limitations on debts owed to the state. TWC cannot forgive or dismiss an overpayment, and it makes no exception for hardship. If TWC finds the overpayment came from fraud you committed, you repay the benefits plus a 15 percent penalty on them.

You may appeal a determination that says you have an overpayment, the same way as any other determination. While that appeal is open, TWC applies each payment you are eligible for to the overpayment if you keep requesting benefits. If you are not requesting benefits, you do not have to send payments during the appeal, but you must begin repaying if the decision upholds the overpayment.

To ask why you were overpaid or to correct your claim, call 800-939-6631 or submit a Contact Request. If you received a Notice of Potential Overpayment asking you to contact Benefit Payment Control, call that department at 800-950-3592.

If someone filed a claim using your Social Security number, report it on TWC's secure online fraud portal. Once TWC confirms a claim was filed with a stolen ID, the person named on the claim does not owe any overpayment on it.

How to repay an overpayment

Within 30 days after TWC finds an overpayment, it mails you a Statement of Overpaid Unemployment Benefit Account, a billing statement with repayment instructions. About 30 days later it mails a second statement with a repayment schedule, unless your case is being prosecuted.

If you cannot repay the whole amount at once, pay the amount in the Minimum Payment Due section. The schedule takes effect without your contacting TWC. If you cannot pay the minimum, contact TWC to ask whether your schedule can be revised. If you are still requesting benefits, TWC recommends you keep submitting payment requests, so it can apply each payment you are eligible for to the overpayment until it is repaid.

You can pay:

• Online: log on to UBS, select Make a Payment on Your Overpayment, and follow the link to TWC's repayment site. E-checks are free, and Texas.gov charges a service fee for debit cards. If you are new to UBS, wait 30 minutes after creating your User ID and password before paying.
• By mail: make a check or money order payable to Texas Workforce Commission, and mail it to TWC Revenue & Trust Management, P.O. Box 149352, Austin, TX 78714-9352.

TWC does not accept payment by phone, credit card, or PayPal. For questions about repaying, contact the Benefit Overpayment Collections Unit at 512-936-3338 or special.colloverpay@twc.texas.gov, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time. If you filed for bankruptcy, call that number with your case number and filing date, and TWC pauses its collection while the case is active.

An unpaid overpayment can cost you other money. The Texas State Comptroller can hold state payments to you, such as lottery winnings, unclaimed property, unemployment benefits, and state job-related expenses, until you repay in full. Wages are not held. If you owe an overpayment caused by incorrectly reported earnings or by fraud, or a fraud penalty, your federal tax refund may also be reduced by the amount you owe. That collection starts only after the overpayment determination is final and other collection notices have failed. If TWC mails you a letter about collecting the debt from your tax refund, do one of these within 60 days of the letter's mail date to avoid that collection:

• pay the full amount;
• enter a 6-month repayment plan and send the first monthly payment;
• send proof that you already paid the debt in full; or
• send documents showing why the debt cannot be collected this way, such as a bankruptcy ruling.