Can I draw unemployment after leaving my warehouse job in Texas TWC?

Four weeks into my claim and this is basically what the TWC website says too. They want to know you tried to fix it first, like you talked to your supervisor about the hours before walking out. Did you do that?

Honestly I asked my supervisor twice what was going on with the schedule and both times got basically 'we're adjusting things, that's just how it is.' I should've kept those texts.

Those texts would've been huge. Even a screenshot of your schedule before and after the cut helps. Save whatever you still have.

Day 29 waiting on mine and nothing yet either. Someone told me four weeks is average but can go longer if there's something TWC needs to look into.

That's helpful to know. So they're waiting on my old employer to respond before they make a call on my case? That's kind of nerve-wracking since my employer might just say I quit voluntarily.

They'll say whatever they want to say, but TWC hears your side too. If your side is that the hours were cut drastically and you asked about it and got nothing useful back, that's your case right there.

My old job tried to say I was fired for cause when I definitely wasn't. Put everything in writing when TWC gives you a chance to respond.

My phone attempts have been rough too. I'll check that out — mostly I just want to know if there's anything I need to do on my end or if I'm just waiting.

Seventh attempt trying to reach TWC this week. Going to try that service today.

My cousin got denied even though she quit over something similar and I always wondered if she documented it right. She didn't keep any proof of what changed.

Documentation is almost everything in these cases. Without it TWC is basically weighing your word against your employer's.

Reading this thread is both reassuring and stressful lol. I have some proof but not as much as I'd like.

Even partial proof matters. Write down everything you remember right now — dates, what was said, what your schedule looked like before and after. Memory fades and you want to have that ready if TWC asks follow-up questions or if you end up at an appeal.

Wait — I already filed my first payment request last week but didn't realize I need to keep doing it every two weeks. So I need to file another one soon regardless of whether my claim is approved yet?

Exactly. Keep filing them on schedule no matter what. If you get approved they can pay those weeks back, but only the ones you actually requested on time.

This is one of the most important things in this thread. So many people stop requesting payment while waiting and then find out the hard way that TWC can't pay those skipped weeks.

TWC also lets you do it on Tele-Serv at 800-558-8321, option 1, if you don't want to do it online.

I did get one of those and did verify through ID.me. Glad I didn't ignore it.

Good. Missing that one can hold up or completely deny your claim. It's annoying but it's real.

Got mine too. The ID.me thing took maybe 10 minutes once I actually sat down and did it. It looked sketchy but it's the real TWC process.

Harris County here and yeah, five a week. I keep a spreadsheet with the employer, contact method, date, and position applied for. Makes it easy if they ever audit.

Does applying on Indeed count? I always wondered if it had to be directly on the company website.

Applying anywhere counts as an activity. The requirement is about making legitimate attempts, not which platform you use. Just log it properly.

My letter said three for my county. I was relieved because five a week feels like a lot when you're also managing the stress of everything else.

Already did that when I first filed. Didn't realize it was required but the application walked me through it.

Good. Some people miss it or think they already did it when they haven't. Worth double-checking your registration is fully complete over there.

The same User ID and password works for both which is a nice design choice for once.

So that first week is essentially held hostage until one of those two things happens? That's wild, I had no idea.

Not lost, just held. If you exhaust your benefits it gets paid then. Or if you get a new job it gets paid when you request it.

Spent a whole week thinking my payment was wrong because of this. Wish someone had told me upfront.

Important to know — the waiting week is on top of whatever weeks TWC is already reviewing. So your actual first payment usually shows up around four weeks after you apply anyway between the review time and the held week.

That 14-day clock starting from the letter date and not the received date is brutal. I've heard of people missing it by a day or two.

My letter took three days to arrive and I had 11 days left by the time I opened it. I appealed online through UBS which was way faster than mailing anything.

Hoping I don't need to appeal but good to know the clock starts on the letter date. I'll open it immediately.

The appeal itself is a phone hearing with one Hearing Officer. You present your side, your employer presents theirs. Having your documentation ready matters a lot there.

This is exactly why I tell everyone to screenshot everything the moment something at work starts feeling wrong. By the time you're filing for unemployment you won't remember which week it happened or what was said.

I did keep the text exchange where I asked my supervisor about the hours. I'll make sure I still have that accessible.

Even at the low end of hours those last few months my earnings were down. If the calculation uses a full quarter at 40 hours that'd be better for me than a quarter at 12 hours.

The base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed, so TWC looks back at a window that likely catches your full-time hours more than your reduced ones. That's worth knowing.

Might actually work in your favor. Full-time wages in earlier quarters count toward the base period even if your last few months were reduced.

Open it today. The 14-day appeal window runs from the date printed on the letter, not from today. You may already be close to the deadline.

Please open it now. If it went against you and you need to appeal, every day matters.

Okay opened it. Approved. I literally exhaled so loud my dog jumped.

That's fair but a cut from 40 to 12 hours a week is about as significant as it gets. That's not a minor scheduling change.

Agreed, 70% cut is hard to argue isn't significant. I've just seen TWC deny things that seemed obvious to me. Having the appeal option is important.

I'm going in with realistic expectations. Hoping for the best, prepared to appeal if needed.

TWC uses whatever information it has. No employer response just means your account is the main thing they're going off.

Which is both reassuring and nerve-wracking. At least there's no contradicting version of events.

In some ways that's better for you. No employer response means no one pushing back on your version of what happened.

That peace of mind sounds worth it right there. I might do the same just to confirm my employer responded and there's nothing on my end that needs action.

Just knowing there's nothing you're missing is huge. I spent so much time wondering if I'd forgotten a step.

Turned mine on the first day and it's been helpful. Keeps me from obsessively checking.

Just turned this on. Good call.

The notifications aren't always instant but they usually beat finding out by logging in. Worth having.

Getting to talk to an actual person who can look at your specific claim makes such a difference. The website gives you general info but an agent can tell you what's actually happening on your case.

I've never been able to get through on my own. Definitely going to try it.

Same situation happened to me — getting someone on the line who could pull up my file was the only way I actually understood where my claim stood.

This is genuinely encouraging to read. Fingers crossed mine lands the same way.

Congrats on the approval. The 'you can't get unemployment if you quit' myth needs to die.

Exactly. I was told that by three different people before I filed and almost didn't even try. Always worth filing and seeing what TWC says.

The worst they can do is deny it, and then you appeal. Never just assume you're not eligible.