Do furloughed employees have to look for work while on unemployment in Texas TWC?

Appreciate this, I'm going to look into that service. What county are you in? Curious whether the agent said anything about Travis specifically.

My sister used it to get through about her payment request being stuck. It worked the same way you described, she just got a call when the agent was on the line.

The wait times right now are genuinely brutal. Calling at 8am used to get you through in under an hour and now it's anybody's guess.

Five a week feels like a lot when I'm planning to go back. So there's no exception for people who are expecting a recall?

Wait so even if your company literally has a return date they still make you apply to other places? That feels really counterproductive.

The requirement stands unless TWC specifically waives it for your situation. Without a written waiver from TWC, you do the activities. Keep a log of everything you do because TWC can ask for it at any time.

Someone told me furloughed people get put on some kind of standby status where they don't have to search. Never seen that in writing from TWC though.

Huh okay good to know, I definitely heard that from someone who I guess was wrong. Thanks for clearing that up.

That's really helpful to know the standby thing isn't real for Texas. I was halfway hoping there was some kind of workaround.

Yeah I think the standby concept comes from how certain other unemployment systems are set up, not TWC. People mix it up all the time on these forums.

That's actually a really useful reframe. I didn't realize workshops and things like that counted. So I could register on WorkInTexas.com and do some of those activities there?

Registering on WorkInTexas.com is actually required as part of your claim anyway. Once you're registered you'll see various activities you can log. Just make sure you're recording everything in your work search log with dates and contact info where applicable.

Didn't know resume workshops counted, I've just been applying to jobs I have zero interest in because I thought that was the only option. Wish someone had told me this two months ago.

This is the part that actually helped me when I was on a temporary furlough a while back. The requirement is for work search activities, not specifically job applications. Those are different things.

UBS and WorkInTexas.com use the same User ID and password. You set up one login and it works across both. When you log into UBS it also sends you a one-time code each time, that's normal.

Oh that's so much less confusing than I thought. I created two separate accounts somehow and have been fighting with the login forever.

TWC's login setup is confusing at first but once you realize it's one account for both sites it clicks. The one-time code thing threw me off for weeks.

I had no idea about the Sunday to Saturday structure for logging. I've been keeping a list but not sorting them by week. Going back to fix that now.

Definitely sort by week. If TWC audits your log and the dates don't match up with which claim weeks you requested payment for, it creates problems.

My cousin got flagged for exactly this. Her activities were real, she just hadn't organized them by TWC's week and when they asked for her log it looked like she was short on some weeks. Took forever to sort out.

That's reassuring. I guess I was worried my company would somehow find out I was applying places and think I wasn't planning to come back.

Completely understandable concern, but those two things are separate. Keep doing your activities, keep requesting your payments, and when you go back to work you just report your earnings for that week.

Also remember you report earnings for the week you do the work, not when you get paid. First week back you'd report those hours even if the paycheck comes the following week.

Three and a half months is a long furlough. Did your company end up calling you back or did it turn into a layoff?

They called everyone back but about a quarter of the team declined and found other jobs during that time. I went back but kept looking for a couple months afterward just in case.

That's actually a smart move. Even if you're planning to return it doesn't hurt to know what else is out there.

Yes, you request payment regardless of whether there's a decision pending. TWC won't pay weeks you didn't request on time. The filing window is Sunday through Wednesday, with a grace period Thursday through Saturday. Miss all five of those days and that week may not get paid.

Okay so you don't wait for the adjudication to clear before submitting your payment requests. Got it. I keep seeing people on here confuse applying for benefits with requesting payments.

Those are two completely different things and the confusion causes real problems. Applying starts the claim. Payment requests are what you do every two weeks after that to actually get the money.

That's good to hear the transition worked smoothly. How did you report the new job start date, was it through UBS or by calling?

Reported it in my payment request for that week. When it asks whether you worked during the week, you say yes and enter the hours and gross earnings. After that TWC figures out what you're owed for the partial week if anything.

And don't forget the earning rules: you can earn up to 25 percent of your weekly benefit amount without any reduction. Above that it starts to reduce your payment dollar for dollar, and if you earn more than your weekly amount plus that 25 percent you get nothing for that week.

The base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your claim's effective date. For a claim filed between October and December 2026 that covers wages from July 2025 through June 2026. Your weekly benefit amount is your highest base period quarter divided by 25, so if one quarter was stronger than the others that quarter drives your number.

My highest quarter was the spring of 2026 which was pretty good, so that makes sense why my amount is what it is. I just thought it would be based on my most recent pay.

A lot of people expect it to be based on recent pay or some kind of average and then get surprised when they look at the formula. The highest quarter thing catches everyone off guard the first time.

The number varies by county and is set by the local Workforce Development Board. TWC mails each claimant their specific requirement. The letter you get is the official word on your number, not whatever people say online or on these forums.

Right, I figured the county variation was real. Just surprised by how big the gap can be between places.

Makes sense that urban counties with more employers would have higher requirements since there are supposedly more opportunities to search.

That level of detail is more than I'd been keeping. I had dates and company names but not always the contact method or what type of activity.

Go back and fill it in while you can still remember. If TWC asks for the log and it looks thin they can disqualify weeks, which is a mess to appeal.

My log is a spreadsheet with columns for date, employer or org name, contact type, contact name or website, and activity type. That format has worked every time I've had to show it.

Keep requesting payment and doing work search activities until you're actually back at work and earning. A projected return date from your employer isn't the same thing as being employed again. Until you're back and reporting earnings, you treat every week the same way.

That makes sense. I guess I was wondering if telling TWC you have a return date coming would affect anything.

Don't volunteer information that could create confusion. When you're back and working, you'll report your earnings on your payment request. That's the natural signal to the system that your employment has resumed.

How long did it take before you were connected to the agent? I've been thinking about trying it.

Honestly didn't feel long from my end because I wasn't sitting there listening to hold music. Got a call when someone picked up. Asked my questions, got answers, done.

Side work reporting tripped me up too. Everything counts, even one-off things, and you use the week you did the work not when you got paid.

You have to actually request it once you return to full-time work. In UBS there's a spot for it, or you can use Tele-Serv, Option 2 then Option 4. Both conditions have to be met: you've been paid two times your weekly benefit amount AND you've returned to full-time work. You need both, not just one.

So it's not automatic. You have to go into UBS and claim it after you're back. Good to know, I would have assumed it just showed up.

I lost track of this during my last stint collecting and ended up not requesting it until way after returning. Got it eventually but it was confusing.

Completely agree. You're in this weird middle ground where you're technically unemployed but mentally you're just waiting to go back. Having to actively search for jobs you wouldn't take feels off.

The activities requirement is what it is though. The forum debate doesn't change the number of activities you owe each week.

Fair point. Frustrating but complying is obviously the right move.

No side work in my situation right now but good to know. My company specifically told us not to work for anyone during the furlough anyway.

Even if your company says that, freelance projects or gig stuff that you do independently still has to be reported to TWC. Your company's internal rules and TWC's reporting rules are separate things.

The overpayment thing is not something to mess around with either. TWC collects every dollar back no matter what, there's no hardship exception or way to get it forgiven.

The answer to that question is yes. Available for full-time work means you can work full-time right now if a job comes along. Being on furlough doesn't make you unavailable, you're just temporarily not working. Saying no when you're actually available could affect your eligibility.

That's the clarification I needed and didn't get until after. I said yes but I wasn't confident in that answer.

Being available and able for full-time work is a continuing requirement every single week you request payment. It's not a one-time thing you answer at the beginning of the claim.

For TWC the key question is what caused the separation and whether you're eligible. A temporary layoff where you expect to return and a furlough are pretty much the same situation in TWC's framework. The important thing is that you accurately described what happened when you applied. If TWC approved your claim without issues then how HR labeled it isn't the problem.

Okay that's reassuring. I was nervous that the word choice might matter more than the actual facts of the situation.

The facts of what happened matter way more than the specific word. As long as you accurately described your situation when you applied and your claim was approved, you're in good shape.

This is a really common thing where employers use slightly different terminology and it makes claimants think they said something wrong. If your claim is approved and processing normally, that anxiety is usually unnecessary.

That's actually my exact fear with my situation, that the furlough becomes permanent. Good to know the work search process doesn't change.

The agent was pretty matter of fact about it. The practical advice was to keep doing what you're doing: request payments, do your activities, keep your log. The claim handles both situations the same way from your side.

This is a good point. Whether it ends as a return or a formal layoff the steps you're taking right now are the same. You're not doing anything wrong by preparing for either outcome.