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Severance or Wages Paid Instead of Notice of Layoff
Severance Pay
Severance pay is a sum of money that an employee is eligible to receive upon separation. Employers may have a company policy to pay severance pay.
You must report any severance pay to TWC when you apply for benefits or by calling a Tele-Center at 800-939-6631. Under Texas law, you cannot receive benefits while you are receiving certain types of severance pay. We will mail you a decision on whether your severance pay affects your unemployment benefits.
Wages Paid Instead of Notice of Layoff
Wages paid instead of notice of layoff are payments an employer makes to an employee who is involuntarily separated without receiving prior notice.
You must report any wages paid instead of notice of layoff to TWC when you apply for benefits or by calling a Tele-Center at 800-939-6631. Under Texas law, you cannot receive benefits while you are receiving wages paid instead of advance notice of layoff. We will mail you a decision on whether your wages paid instead of notice of layoff affect your unemployment benefits.
Retirement Pension
You must report any retirement pay to TWC when you apply for benefits or by calling a Tele-Center at 800-939-6631. TWC may be required to deduct your retirement pay from your unemployment benefits. We will mail you a decision on whether your retirement affects your unemployment benefits.
Retirement pay may be deductible from your benefit payments:
- Pensions, retirement pay, annuities, and other similar periodic payments are deductible only if based on wages earned from a base-period employer. They are not deductible if based on wages earned from other employers.
- Social Security Old Age Benefits (OAB) are not deductible.
- Railroad retirement is not deductible.
If we determine that your retirement pay is deductible from your unemployment benefits, then we convert the amount of your monthly pension into a weekly amount and reduce your weekly benefit payment by that amount.
Disability Insurance
You must report any disability insurance payment such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) to TWC when you apply for benefits or by calling a Tele-Center at 800-939-6631. We do not reduce your unemployment benefits if you receive SSI or SSDI; however, you may not be eligible for benefits depending on whether you are able to work. We will mail you a decision on your eligibility for unemployment benefits.
- If you have a permanent disability and receive SSDI, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits even if you work part time.
- If you receive SSI, you must be able to work full time to be eligible for unemployment benefits.
Workers’ Compensation
You must report workers’ compensation to TWC when you apply for benefits or by calling a Tele-Center at 800-939-6631. You may not be eligible for benefits depending on the type of workers’ compensation you receive. We will mail you a decision on whether the type of workers’ compensation you receive affects your unemployment benefits.
- If you receive Impairment Income Benefits (IIB), you may be eligible for unemployment benefits.
- If you receive certain types of Temporary Income Benefits (TIB), Supplemental Income Benefits (SIB), or Lifetime Income Benefits (LIB), we cannot pay you unemployment benefits.
Wages Earned While Requesting Unemployment Benefits
If you work during a week for which you are requesting payment, you must report your work and earnings. We reduce your weekly payment by the amount of your earnings. View a tutorial on how to calculate earnings
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Jury Duty
Pay for jury duty is considered a reimbursement, not wages. Do not report jury pay to TWC.
