How many hours can I work and still get unemployment in Texas TWC?

My gross last week was around $310 so I'm definitely going to see a reduction. At least I don't lose everything. That's genuinely a relief.

The 25% rule is exactly right. And just to make sure people know — you report the earnings for the week you actually worked, even if the paycheck hasn't landed yet. The Sunday to Saturday week you did the work is what TWC cares about.

Waiting on my first payment right now and this breakdown finally makes sense to me. I kept thinking there was some hour cutoff and I was scared to take any shifts.

Rounding DOWN is important — I actually called TWC to confirm this after I saw conflicting info online. They specifically said round down, not up, not to the nearest dollar.

My second week of claiming I accidentally rounded up by a few cents and nothing happened but I corrected it going forward just to be safe.

Okay rounding down noted. I had been rounding to nearest dollar like I would on a tax form. Fixing that going forward.

My situation is similar — I do some weekend photography gigs alongside my part-time job and I wasn't sure if I report the full invoice amount or what I actually pocket after expenses. Good to know there's a way to actually reach someone.

Self-employment and gig income is net profit from what I've read — so after your direct business expenses. But confirming with an agent for anything unusual is smart.

My warehouse job is straightforward W-2 so I think I'm okay, but bookmarking that option in case anything gets complicated.

This is a really important distinction. Full-time start date ends it. Part-time calculated weekly using that 25% threshold formula.

Glad someone clarified this. I did worry that one week of heavy hours might count as 'full time' — but it's the job status not just the hours in a week?

Exactly — it's about whether you've actually taken a full-time position, not whether you happened to pick up a lot of hours in one week. At least that's how it was explained on my claim.

Work search even when working part-time — I did not know this. I figured part-time employment would pause the requirement or something.

Nope, work search keeps going until you either exhaust benefits or get a full-time job. Missing it can mess up your eligibility for those weeks.

My county requires 3 activities per week. I always do them Monday through Wednesday just to get it done.

Yes this was confirmed in my determination letter too. Gross earnings, the week worked, not the week paid. Getting that order right matters.

Payroll timing trips so many people up. You might work a week, not get paid for two weeks, and you report it in the week you worked it, not when the deposit hits your account.

My first week I reported in the wrong week because my paycheck came late. Had to call and correct it. Wasn't a huge deal but it caused a small delay.

Spreadsheet idea is a good one. I've just been trying to remember off the top of my head which is obviously not ideal.

The restaurant industry has fluctuating tips too — are you reporting tips as part of gross earnings?

Yes tips count as wages and have to be reported. I include them in my gross calculation each week.

Tips absolutely count. All wages means all wages — tips, bonuses, commissions, everything.

Each week is completely separate. TWC looks at each individual claim week on its own. A zero-earnings week gets you full benefits for that week (assuming everything else is fine). A high-earnings week stands alone too.

That's really helpful, so there's no rolling average or anything like that. Week by week.

Exactly right, week by week. Each payment request covers two weeks but each of those two weeks is calculated individually within the request.

This is accurate for self-employed folks. Net profit for the week, which can get complicated if expenses don't match the week of the income.

My photography income is lumpy — big payment one week, nothing for three weeks. So I'd report the full amount in the week I actually earned it, not spread it out?

You report it in the week the work was done, not necessarily the week you invoiced or got paid. Timing is based on when you performed the services.

That math is exactly right. Partial benefits are way better than no benefits, so as long as your hours stay manageable it's worth working.

Seeing the actual numbers laid out like that is really helpful. I did the same math for my situation and it matched what TWC paid me.

Yeah I was confused and kind of mad at first thinking they made an error, but after working through it I see it's correct. Would have been helpful if the initial paperwork explained this more clearly.

This is a real calculation people should make. Overtime pay could wipe your benefits for a week and sometimes the extra overtime pay doesn't make up for losing the full weekly benefit.

Exactly. If your WBA is high and your overtime rate isn't that much more than regular pay, you might actually come out ahead refusing the overtime.

Though obviously if you need the money immediately and the bills are due, sometimes you just take the work regardless of the TWC math.

Internal applications count as work search activities. So does submitting applications, employer contacts, attending job fairs — your letter from TWC specifies what qualifies in your area.

My letter says I need 4 activities per week. I'm in the Dallas area so it's on the higher end.

Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tarrant and Travis counties all require 5 activities per week from what I've read. Smaller counties can be as low as 1.

100% correct that the 20-hour rule is a myth. It's earnings-based not hours-based in Texas. Someone probably got that from another state or made it up.

My coworker was really confident about it too which made me second-guess myself. Had to look it up on TWC's site to confirm.

The number of states with actual hour limits versus purely earnings-based rules varies and people mix it up. For Texas it's the dollar formula, full stop.

Good to know — mine should be arriving this week then. I had been checking my mailbox every single day.

I switched to direct deposit after my first month and it's faster and less stressful than waiting on the card.

You can switch to direct deposit in UBS. Under payment options. I wish I had done it from the start.

This catches a lot of people. Each of the two weeks covered in a payment request is handled individually. They ask about each week because the earnings calculation applies per week.

Exactly — I had one week with earnings and one without, and I accidentally said I worked in both weeks the first time. Had to call and get it corrected.

You can do payment requests in UBS at https://apps.twc.texas.gov/UBS/security/logon.do or on Tele-Serv. Either way the two-week format is the same.

Writing it out that way is a great idea. I kept trying to do it in my head and kept second-guessing myself.

For a $487 WBA the ceiling is $608.75 and the no-cut threshold is $121.75. Keep earnings under $121.75 and you're golden. Over $608.75 and you get nothing for the week.

This is the clearest explanation I've seen in this thread. Ceiling and floor, easy to remember.

This is so important and I'm glad someone said it. Keep making your payment requests no matter what — adjudication, appeal, whatever is pending. The requests have to be there for TWC to pay them when things resolve.

My adjudication resolved in my favor and all my requested weeks got paid out. If I had stopped requesting I would have lost those weeks permanently.

Never stop requesting. Even if TWC is saying they can't pay you right now, the payment request still needs to be filed.

Vehicle expenses, phone expenses related to the work — those can be deducted as direct business expenses before you calculate your net profit. Keep receipts.

I actually used claimyr.com a few weeks ago to get through to a TWC agent and ask specifically about which delivery-related expenses count. The agent gave me a clear answer in one call. Worth it if you have a complicated expense question.

Good tip. The deductible expenses question for gig work is specific enough that it's worth confirming directly rather than guessing.

Child support withholding can take up to 50% of your payment. Any court orders on your account?

Oh. Actually yes I do have a child support order. That would definitely explain it.

That's almost certainly what it is. Court-ordered child support is deducted directly from TWC payments, up to 50% of the weekly amount.

Mystery solved I guess. Frustrating but at least it's not an error on my claim.

This is reassuring. One week above the threshold doesn't blow up the whole claim, it just zeros out that individual week.

Exactly. Your claim keeps going, you just get nothing for that specific week. Business as usual the next week.

I had one of those weeks too from a catering event. Came back the next week to normal partial payments. It's annoying but it's the correct outcome under the rules.

Signing bonus reported in the week received, interesting. I would not have thought about that edge case.

Me neither until it happened. The agent was clear that it goes in the week the bonus was paid.

Logging this for future reference. Bonuses, commissions — all in the week received not the week earned.