Eligibility & Benefit Amounts

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.

Past Wages

Your past wages are one of the eligibility requirements and the basis of your potential unemployment benefit amounts. We use the taxable wages, earned in Texas, your employer(s) have reported paying you during your base period to calculate your benefits. If you worked in more than one state, see If You Earned Wages in More than One State.

Base Period

Your base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the effective date of your initial claim. We do not use the quarter in which you file or the quarter before that; we use the one-year period before those two quarters. The effective date is the Sunday of the week in which you apply. The chart below can help you determine your base period. If you do not have enough wages from employment in the base period, TWC cannot pay you benefits.

To have a payable claim, you must meet all of the following requirements:

• You have wages in more than one of the four base period calendar quarters.
• Your total base period wages are at least 37 times your weekly benefit amount.
• If you qualified for benefits on a prior claim, you must have earned six times your new weekly benefit amount since that time.

Alternate Base Period

You may be able to use an alternate base period (APB) if you were out of work for at least seven weeks in one base-period quarter because of a medically verifiable illness, injury, disability, or pregnancy. The ABP uses wages paid before the illness or injury. To be eligible, you must have filed your initial claim no later than 24 months after the date that the illness, injury, disability, or pregnancy began. Call a TWC Tele-Center at 800-939-6631 to ask if you qualify for an ABP.

You will need to provide documentation to substantiate:

• The date and nature of your illness, injury, disability, or pregnancy. It must be medically verifiable, i.e., substantiated by a health care practitioner, a health professional, or evidenced by sufficiently strong physical facts.
• You were unable to work for a period of seven weeks in one or more quarters during your regular base period.
• You had more work in your alternative base period than in your regular base period. This may require employment and wage history.

Types of Job Separation

To be eligible for benefits based on your job separation, you must be either unemployed or working reduced hours through no fault of your own. Examples include layoff, reduction in hours or wages not related to misconduct, being fired for reasons other than misconduct, or quitting with good cause related to work.

Laid Off

Layoffs are due to lack of work, not your work performance, so you may be eligible for benefits. For example, the employer has no more work available, has eliminated your position, or has closed the business.

Working Reduced Hours

If you are working but your employer reduced your hours, you may be eligible for benefits. Your reduction in hours must not be the result of a disciplinary action or due to your request.

Fired

If the employer ended your employment but you were not laid off as defined above, then you were fired. If the employer demanded your resignation, you were fired.

You may be eligible for benefits if you were fired for reasons other than misconduct. Examples of misconduct that could make you ineligible include violation of company policy, violation of law, neglect or mismanagement of your position, or failure to perform your work adequately if you are capable of doing so.

Quit

If you chose to end your employment, then you quit. Most people who quit their jobs do not receive unemployment benefits. For example, if you quit your job for personal reasons, such as lack of transportation or stay home with your children, we cannot pay you benefits.

You may be eligible for benefits if you quit for one of the reasons listed below:

• Quit for good cause connected with the work, which means a work-related reason that would make an individual who wants to remain employed leave employment. You should be able to present evidence that you tried to correct work-related problems before you quit.
  Examples of quitting for good work-related reason are well-documented instances of:
  • Unsafe working conditions
  • Significant changes in hiring agreement
  • Not getting paid or difficulty getting your agreed-upon pay
• Quit for a good reason not related to work, under limited circumstances. Examples include leaving work because:
  • A personal medical illness or injury prevented you from working
  • You are caring for a minor child who has a medical illness
  • You are caring for a terminally ill spouse
  • You have documented cases of sexual assault, family violence or stalking
  • You entered Commission-Approved Training and the job is not considered suitable under Section 20
  • You moved with your military spouse
• Quit to move with your spouse when the move is not part of a qualifying military permanent change of station (PCS). You may be eligible for benefits but you will be disqualified for 6 to 25 weeks, depending on the situation. Your maximum benefit amount is also reduced by the number of disqualified weeks.

Labor Dispute

If you are involved in a labor dispute or strike, see more information at If You are Involved in a Labor Dispute or Strike.

Ongoing Eligibility Requirements

In addition to the past wages and job separation eligibility requirements, there are requirements you must continue to meet to stay eligible. See Ongoing Eligibility Requirements for Receiving Unemployment Benefits.

These links provide additional information for certain special types of employment or sources of wages.

• If You Earned Wages in More than One State
• If You Worked in Texas but Live in Another State or Canada
• If You Worked for the Federal Government
• If You Served in the Military
• If You Worked For a School
• If Your Last Work was Temporary Employment
• How Money from Other Sources Can Affect Your Benefits

• Learning the Result of Your Application for Benefits
• Ongoing Eligibility Requirements for Receiving Unemployment Benefits