How do you request unemployment payments in Texas?

You receive benefits only for weeks you request. Make your first request on the date in the instructions TWC sent you, without waiting to hear whether you are eligible.

When to request payment

TWC gives you a designated filing day, which is a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. If you miss it, you can still request payment later that same week on the open filing days: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

You request every other week. With a Monday filing day, the pattern looks like this:

To see your next request date and filing day, log on to UBS and select Claim and Payment Status, or call Tele-Serv and select Option 2.

If UBS or Tele-Serv says your request is late, call TWC's Tele-Center at 800-939-6631 to reach customer service staff. Tell the representative your request is late, and the representative tells you when to request payment next.

If UBS or Tele-Serv offers you backdated weeks, request them right then. If you don't, the system won't let you request them later, and you have to call the Tele-Center.

How to request payment

Online, log on to Unemployment Benefits Services (UBS), TWC's online claim system, and select Request a Payment. UBS is open 24 hours a day. Use the same User ID and password you use for WorkInTexas.com. By phone, call Tele-Serv, TWC's automated phone line, at 800-558-8321 and select Option 1. Have your Social Security number and the PIN you created when you first applied.

Either way, the request takes the same steps:

1. Answer the questions about your work, your earnings, and whether you met the eligibility requirements during the claim period.
2. Certify that your answers are true and complete.

If you worked, report your hours and your gross pay, before deductions, for the week you did the work, even if you have not been paid yet. That week runs Sunday through Saturday, whatever your pay period. Round the pay down to whole dollars: if you earned $100.75, report $100. The Texas benefit amounts guide covers how earnings change what you receive, and Texas unemployment eligibility covers the requirements you certify.

When your payment arrives

If you are eligible, TWC issues your first payment about 4 weeks after you apply. It is usually for only 1 week, even though your request covered 2, because the first payable week is your waiting week.

Texas law makes TWC hold the waiting week payment until you have been paid 2 times your weekly benefit amount and you either return to full-time work or run out of benefits. When you go back to full-time work, report it in one of these ways:

• Select Request Your Waiting Week in UBS.
• Call Tele-Serv at 800-558-8321 and select Option 2, then Option 4.
• Call the Tele-Center at 800-939-6631.

After your first payment, money should reach your debit card or direct deposit account within 2 business days after TWC processes your request. TWC updates its systems nightly and suggests checking Claim and Payment Status once a day. If you are paid by debit card, log on to U.S. Bank ReliaCard or call ReliaCard customer service at 800-657-6343.

How many work search activities you need

Your local Workforce Development Board, the group that runs the Workforce Solutions offices in your area, sets the minimum from job market conditions there. The number varies by county and may change. TWC's county list requires 1 to 5 activities a week, and 164 of Texas's 254 counties require 5.

TWC says to rely on the letter it mails you after you apply, rather than the county list. The letter gives your weekly number and the date that number takes effect. Whenever your number changes, TWC mails you a new Work Search Notification form (BI940). You can also confirm your current minimum on Tele-Serv, and each payment request reminds you of it.

You are not eligible for any week in which you did not make your minimum. If you work part time, you still have to look for full-time work each week.

Your work search also depends on registering within 3 business days of applying. You register on WorkInTexas.com, TWC's online job matching system, if you live in Texas or regularly commute to work there from a bordering state, and with the American Job Center in the state where you live if you do not. How to apply for unemployment in Texas explains that step.

TWC's Unemployment Insurance (UI) Division must approve any exemption from the work search, and TWC tells you in writing if you are exempt. To qualify, you must be:

• on a temporary layoff with a definite date to return to work;
• an active union member in good standing with a hiring hall that does not discriminate;
• in a TWC-approved training program that includes a work search exemption;
• in Trade Act training; or
• in a Shared-Work program.

What counts as a work search activity

Acceptable activities include these, and TWC says they are not limited to this list:

• registering on WorkInTexas.com;
• searching for jobs on WorkInTexas.com and using its Virtual Recruiter tool for alerts about new jobs that match your skills;
• getting job contacts from WorkInTexas.com or Workforce Solutions office staff, and following up on them;
• visiting, applying to, or interviewing with employers who may reasonably be expected to have openings for suitable work, with applications sent in person, online, by fax, or however the employer directs;
• mailing an application or résumé the way a public job notice instructs;
• creating a reemployment plan;
• creating or uploading a résumé on an online job board; and
• going to job clubs, job fairs, or workshops that teach skills for getting hired.

Each contact with a temporary agency counts as its own activity when it happens on a different day. Calling the agency back about the same position does not count again.

Keeping your work search log

Record at least your minimum number of activities every week, Sunday through Saturday. TWC recommends recording every work search effort in each week you receive benefits. Use TWC's Work Search Log (PDF), or make your own log with the same information. For each activity, write down:

• the date;
• what you did, such as applying online or going to a job fair;
• the type of job you are looking for;
• the employer's name, address (mail, email, or web page), and phone number with area code;
• the name of the person you contacted, if there was one, and how you contacted them, such as by mail, email, fax, or phone; and
• the result, such as an application submitted, an interview, hired, not hired, or no reply.

TWC may ask for your log for any week, or several weeks, at any time in your benefit year, the 52 weeks that start on the Sunday of the week you applied. It sends you a notice when it does. Keep every log for your whole benefit year, or for as long as you receive benefits if that is longer.

Send your log only when TWC asks for it. Enter your activities in UBS, and if you cannot submit them there, upload the log through the UI Submission Portal as a pdf, jpg, jpeg, tiff, or png file of up to 7 MB. If you cannot submit online either, send it to the address or fax number TWC gives you.

You can lose benefits if you cannot provide a log TWC requests, or if the log is missing required information. If TWC cannot verify the activities you listed, you could be ineligible for the week it asked about. TWC answers more questions in its work search log FAQ.