How much will my unemployment be while working part-time in Texas TWC?

This is exactly the breakdown I needed, thank you. So at 20 hours times $18 that's $360 gross a week, meaning I'd get $608 minus $360 which is $248 from TWC? That math seems right?

$360 gross minus $121 (the 25% threshold) equals $239, then subtract that $239 from your $487 WBA. Wait let me redo this. $487 plus $121 is $608. $608 minus $360 is $248. Yeah your math checks out.

One thing to double check - are your hours consistent week to week? Because 20 hours at $18 would be $360 and that's below the $608 ceiling so you'd still get a partial payment each week.

Hours vary a bit week to week so I'll have to calculate each payment request separately it sounds like.

My pay period is biweekly so I've been stressing about how to split it up. Do you just divide by two or do you actually track which hours fell in which claim week?

The agent told me you go by when the work was actually done. So if you worked Monday through Friday and your TWC claim week ends Saturday, all five days count in that one week. You don't pro-rate a paycheck, you track the actual hours worked each Sunday-Saturday period.

Claimyr got me through for a totally different issue - my adjudication had been sitting for three weeks and I needed to know if there was anything I had to do on my end. Agent said I just had to keep submitting payment requests on schedule and wait. That was actually a relief to hear.

Oh wow I definitely would have reported net without thinking about it. How do you correct something like that once it's submitted?

Called the Tele-Center and explained what happened. They walked me through it. The earlier you catch something like that the better, don't sit on it.

This is a really common mix-up. Gross is the number before anything comes out of your paycheck. If you're hourly it's just your rate times hours. Report that number rounded down to the nearest whole dollar.

I don't do gig work but good to know for other people reading this. What counts as self-employed - like if you sell stuff online?

Reselling things for profit counts. If you're buying things cheap and selling them at a markup, that's income. Social media income too if you're monetized. The line TWC draws is whether you're doing it for profit.

Okay so I sell things on marketplace occasionally but it's mostly getting rid of old stuff from my house, not buying to resell. I always wondered if that counted.

Random personal items you're clearing out are different from running a reselling operation. Use your judgment but if it's a one-time thing of selling an old couch it's not really a profit-generating side hustle.

Yes you still have to meet your work search requirement every week you're claiming benefits. Part-time work doesn't waive it. The number of activities you need each week depends on what county you're in - TWC mails you a letter with your specific number and that letter is the one to go by.

I never got a letter like that, or maybe I didn't pay attention to it. I'm in Travis County, is there a standard number?

Travis County is five work search activities per week. But seriously look for the letter TWC mailed you - it's official and that's what they'd hold you to if they ever asked for your log.

Don't guess on that number - if you got a letter that said something different from what anyone here says, the letter wins. Keep your work search log current regardless because TWC can ask for it whenever.

Payment requests cover two weeks at a time? I thought you filed every week.

Nope, every two weeks. You get a date to start requesting on your mailed instructions, then it's every two weeks after that. Miss the Sunday through Wednesday window and you can still file Thursday through Saturday of that same week but not after.

I haven't gotten those instructions yet, do they come separately from the determination letter?

Yes, different mailing. The determination letter is about whether you're eligible. The payment instructions are a separate piece of mail that tells you your first request date.

The base period for a claim filed right now would be the first four of the last five complete calendar quarters. So for a claim from October through December 2026, that's July 2025 through June 2026. If your earnings were low in that window because you were between jobs or had a gap, your WBA reflects that. Unfortunately you can't swap in different quarters just because they were better.

So there's no way to use my earlier higher-earning quarters even if the base period ones were lower?

There's an alternate base period but it's only for people who were out of work at least seven weeks in a base period quarter because of a medically verifiable illness, injury, disability or pregnancy. It's not a general option for people who just had lower wages. You'd have to call a Tele-Center and ask if you think you qualify.

My wages varied a lot too and the base period really did make a big difference. I was frustrated at first but honestly my current WBA still makes the partial benefit worthwhile even if it's lower than I hoped.

Yes you still submit for that week. You're not choosing to skip it - you report accurately and TWC calculates you out. Skipping payment requests can mess up your eligibility timeline.

That's what I figured but I was second-guessing myself. Good to know skipping it would have caused problems.

This is a thing people mess up pretty often. Submit the request, report the earnings honestly, and let the system calculate. Even a zero-payment week is still a claimed week on your record.

The requirement is that you're able and available for full-time work every week you claim. If a full-time job is offered at suitable pay and you turn it down without good cause, that could affect your eligibility. The threshold is 90% of your normal wage during the first eight weeks of your claim, then 75% after that.

What counts as suitable - like does it have to be the same kind of work I was doing before?

TWC looks at the pay level primarily, based on those percentages of your prior wage. The nature of the work and your skills and experience factor in too but the wage threshold is the clearest measure. If in doubt about a specific offer, call the Tele-Center.

I had the same question about suitable work. My old job was specialized and I was nervous about whether I had to take anything that came along.

You can switch to direct deposit through UBS - look for the payment option settings in your account. The card arriving doesn't lock you in. Future payments will go to whatever you designate.

Found it, thank you. The card is confusing because I already have so many debit accounts and didn't want another one to track.

I kept the card because I didn't want to mess anything up by changing it midstream, but now I kind of wish I'd done direct deposit from the start. Much easier to see everything in one bank account.

Call the Tele-Center at 800-939-6631 as soon as you catch it. If that unreported income means you were overpaid, you need to get in front of it rather than wait for them to find it. TWC takes overpayments very seriously even if they weren't intentional.

I called and they flagged it on my account. They sent a determination letter about the overpayment amount and I owe it back but at least it's not classified as fraud since I self-reported before they contacted me.

This is making me worried about my own reporting. Is there a way to review what I reported on past payment requests?

Log into UBS and check your payment history. It shows what was reported each week. I'd recommend doing that regularly just to catch anything early.

Severance was confusing me too. I got two weeks of severance pay when I was let go and had no idea if that meant I had to wait before my benefits started.

The agent said certain types of severance stop benefits while they're being received and TWC mails you a decision on your specific situation. There's no one-size answer, it depends on how the severance is structured.

My severance came as a lump sum not a weekly payment and I had no clue whether that made it different. Sounds like calling is the only real way to get clarity.

The maximum benefit amount is set at the lower of those two, yes. But partial payment weeks still draw down your maximum because each week you receive some payment counts. Getting partial payments each week means you'll reach your maximum faster than if you were getting full weekly payments.

So working part-time actually shortens how long benefits last? That's kind of the opposite of what I assumed.

Not necessarily. You're drawing down the balance more slowly in terms of dollar amount per week but you're still using claim weeks. The balance from which weeks get subtracted versus the 26-week clock both matter.

This thread just saved me from a wrong assumption. I thought partial benefit weeks didn't count the same way.

A spreadsheet works fine as a log. TWC can ask for it at any time so just make sure it's current and accurate. The specifics of what to include are on your work search requirements letter but company, date, position, and method of contact are the basics.

My county requires three activities per week. I've been doing mostly online applications. Does everything count or only certain types?

Various activities count - job applications, employer contacts, attending job fairs, using WorkInTexas.com. Your requirements letter usually specifies. When in doubt, logging an actual application to an actual employer is the safest bet.

Ten business days is the window, so if you're at eight calendar days you might still be within range depending on weekends and when in the day the payment processed. If it goes past that, call U.S. Bank directly about the ReliaCard - they handle the card itself, not TWC.

Good to know it's U.S. Bank not TWC I should call. I was about to try to get through to a Tele-Center about it.

Mine came on day nine, I was nervous around day seven too. The tracking on it is basically nonexistent which doesn't help.

The partial benefit calculation is the same regardless of whether the reduced hours are with your original employer or a new one. You report your gross earnings during the claim week and TWC runs the math. The separation reason matters for your initial eligibility determination but once you're approved and in partial payment mode it's the same system.

My hours got cut because they lost a contract, not for performance reasons. That's why I qualified right? Or am I misunderstanding how that works?

A reduction in hours that isn't your fault is a qualifying reason to file. You're right that it's not performance-related - you essentially have a partial separation from full employment. That's exactly what partial benefits are designed for.

My situation was the same, company lost a client and my hours went from 40 to 22. I was hesitant to file because I still had a job but the Tele-Center person said this is one of the most common reasons people use partial benefits.

UI benefits are taxable federal income. Withholding isn't automatic - you have to opt in to 10% federal withholding through UBS if you want taxes taken out as you go. Otherwise you'll receive a Form 1099-G in January showing what you were paid and you'd sort out what you owe when you file your federal return.

Ten percent optional withholding seems low depending on your tax bracket. Good to know I need to actively opt in rather than it happening by default.

I had no idea about the voluntary withholding option. Just logged into UBS and found the tax settings. Turned it on before I forget and get a surprise bill in April.

Texas not having a state income tax makes this simpler at least. Only federal to worry about for unemployment income.

A single week earning too much to receive a payment doesn't reset anything. Your benefit year runs 52 weeks from the Sunday of the week you filed, and that clock doesn't stop or restart based on earnings in a given week. Just keep submitting payment requests on schedule and reporting your earnings honestly each week.

Okay that's a relief. I was nervous that one weird week might mess up everything I'd built up.

Had the same thing happen in week six. Filed normally, reported the higher earnings, got zero that week, then next week was back to partial. No issues whatsoever.

In my experience the agents do explain things step by step if you ask. When I used it for my income question the agent walked through the actual numbers with me rather than just saying yes it counts. Worth trying.

That's what I figured. I'll tell him to have his WBA and his expected earnings ready so the agent can run the numbers with him.

Having your determination letter with the WBA on it in front of you makes the call way more productive. The agent can verify your numbers and give you an actual dollar estimate.

UBS online tends to be easier for most people because it shows you the prompts on a screen and you can review before submitting. Tele-Serv at 800-558-8321, Option 1 works fine too but it's purely audio prompts and you can't go back if you make a mistake. For partial benefit weeks where the earnings questions matter, most people find the visual confirmation in UBS helps reduce errors.

UBS it is then. I always worry about phone systems where I can't see what I just entered.

Tele-Serv is reliable for simple full-week requests but yeah when you're entering specific dollar amounts for partial earnings, the online version is less stressful. You can see what you typed.