Can unemployment see if you are working? Texas TWC explained

Oh good, that's a relief. So the quarterly reports are basically how they catch people who don't report?

That's the main mechanism, yeah. And TWC can also cross-reference other data sources. The quarterly lag is why some people think they got away with it and then get an overpayment notice months later out of nowhere.

wait so they can go back and find stuff from way earlier? that seems intense

How long did it actually take before you got connected to someone?

Maybe 45 minutes total but I wasn't sitting on hold the whole time, it called me when the agent was ready. Worth it for the peace of mind honestly.

My situation involves a severance question and I've been trying to reach TWC for days. Might try that.

does doordash count? asking for a friend lol

Doordash absolutely counts. You'd report net profit since it's essentially self-employment. Don't skip that.

okay yeah my 'friend' needs to know this immediately

What about selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace? Like old furniture not running a resale business

Okay so if my weekly amount is like $380, I could earn up to $95 without losing anything?

Exactly right. Above $95 TWC subtracts the overage from your payment. And if you earn more than your weekly amount plus that 25 percent cushion, you'd get nothing for that week. But you still report it.

I didn't realize it scaled like that. I thought it was all or nothing past some threshold.

There's no statute of limitations on overpayment recovery, TWC has to collect every overpayment regardless of when it happened or whose fault it was. And if it was intentional non-reporting that's fraud territory with a 15 percent penalty on top of repayment.

Fifteen percent penalty on top?? That's brutal.

And it's not just a fine situation either, TWC lists felony and misdemeanor theft charges, probation, restitution, jail as possible outcomes for fraud. They take it seriously.

Okay I'm going to report everything from here on out. This thread is alarming me in a productive way.

Yeah the form is actually pretty straightforward, I just panicked because my cousin made it sound like I was doing something wrong by reporting.

Your cousin was backwards on that one. Reporting is exactly what you're supposed to do.

the stress of thinking you owe money back is way worse than just being upfront from the start, been there

That tracks with how TWC describes it. Casual personal item sales are different from running a resale operation. If you're buying low and selling high regularly, that's business income.

Makes sense. I've just been selling old furniture so I think I'm fine but good to know the line.

Doesn't matter how they find it honestly. An overpayment is an overpayment, and fraud is fraud regardless of the detection method. The quarterly wage reports are just the most common way.

So even if an employer is slow to file their quarterly report, TWC will still eventually see it.

Right, the lag just delays when you find out, it doesn't make the earnings invisible.

This is actually the part I was most confused about. So if I worked Monday through Friday of one week, that all goes on that same week's request even if payday is the following Friday?

Exactly. The work happened in that Sunday-to-Saturday period so that's the week you report it. Doesn't matter when the check clears.

This tripped me up too. The payment request wording is a little confusing the first time you see it.

That's actually a smart idea. Especially since TWC can apparently ask for documentation at any time.

They usually don't come after you if you've been reporting correctly, but having your own records just means you're never caught off guard.

i do this for my work search log too. just a google sheet. way less stressful than trying to remember everything later

wait is WorkInTexas.com required or just recommended? I've been skipping it

Required. You have to register there and meet your weekly work search activity requirement. How many activities depends on your county — your area can be anywhere from 1 to 5 per week, TWC mails you a letter with your specific number.

I never got a letter about that. Would it be in my UBS account?

Check your mailed correspondence first since that letter is what officially sets your requirement. If you're not sure, calling TWC to confirm your number is the safest move.

How did you resolve it? Did you appeal or just pay it back?

I paid it back on a schedule, they set up a billing statement situation. You can pay any amount and they accept it, but it doesn't go away until it's cleared.

Did they ever conclude it was fraud or was it just an overpayment?

They treated it as an overpayment without the fraud penalty, but that determination can be appealed within 14 days of when it's mailed if you think it's wrong. I didn't appeal, just paid.

That's reassuring to hear. I think I just needed someone to confirm I wasn't doing it wrong.

You weren't. Keep doing exactly what you're doing and document everything.

Also wrong, yes. Benefits only get reduced on the amount you earn above that 25 percent of your weekly benefit amount. So small amounts of part-time work barely affect your payment at all. TWC doesn't just shut you off for picking up a few shifts.

My cousin has been confidently wrong about everything in this thread apparently

The partial earnings rules exist specifically so people can take part-time work without it completely wiping out their benefits. It's designed to encourage working, not punish it.

That's the exact scenario I'm facing now, W-2 part time plus some contractor stuff. How did they tell you to handle it?

The W-2 gross goes in as regular earnings for that week. The contractor stuff gets reported as net profit. Two separate entries basically, the agent was really clear about it.

Helpful to know there's a way to get specific answers for complicated weeks like that.

Calling the TWC Tele-Center at 800-939-6631 is the right move for that. Don't just leave it unreported hoping the quarterly data doesn't catch up. Proactively correcting it looks very different than being caught later.

Even if it was like two months ago?

Even then. The earlier you correct it the better. Proactive contact versus being notified of an overpayment are two very different experiences.

The determination letter is what matters there. Certain types of severance arrangements pause benefits while they're being received, but TWC mails a decision specific to your situation. If the letter confused you, calling to clarify is the right move.

I tried calling and couldn't get through for three days. Ended up using that service someone mentioned above and it finally connected me. The agent confirmed my severance type doesn't stop my benefits which was a huge relief.

Glad you got clarity on that. The severance rules are genuinely confusing and the determination letters don't always spell it out in plain language.

There actually is decent info on twc.texas.gov but it's spread across several pages and not in one place. The payment request instructions that come in the mail are also more helpful than people realize, most people throw them away.

i definitely threw that mail away. lesson learned.

The UBS portal at apps.twc.texas.gov has a lot of the guidance too if you log in and look around, it's just not obvious where everything lives.

They can request it at any time for any reason. Some people get through their whole benefit period without being asked. Others get a notice. There's no public formula for when audits happen but the requirement to maintain the log is real regardless.

Okay I need to get way more serious about logging my activities then. I've been kind of casual about it.

The work search log and the earnings reporting are both things where the downside of being sloppy is way bigger than the effort of doing it right. Just track everything consistently.

That summary is actually really helpful. The two-week payment request thing confused me at first because I kept thinking I had to request weekly.

Payment requests are every two weeks, though you can submit them on UBS or by calling Tele-Serv. The request covers two claim weeks and each week gets its own earnings entry.

The Tele-Serv number is 800-558-8321 if anyone wants the phone option, Option 1 for payment requests.