How to stop unemployment benefits in Texas TWC when you go back to work

My new job started Monday the 14th and that falls in the middle of a claim week. So for that week I report what I earned at the new job and that's it? And then I just don't request payment after that?

Exactly right. For the week your job started, you report the gross earnings you made in that week (Sunday to Saturday), and TWC will calculate whether you get anything for it based on your weekly benefit amount. The week after, since you're fully employed, you just don't file a payment request at all and your claim naturally goes inactive.

I want to add one thing — make sure you're rounding DOWN to whole dollars when you report earnings. TWC specifically says gross earnings rounded down, not up. Small thing but good to get it right.

Wait so I report the earnings before I even get paid? That feels weird. What if my paycheck is different from what I calculated?

Yeah, report what you earned in that Sunday-to-Saturday week even before the check arrives. If there's a small difference it's usually fine, but the rule is about when the work happened, not when you got the money.

This is the thing that gets people into overpayment situations most often. Work done this week gets reported this week on the payment request, full stop. The paycheck date doesn't matter to TWC at all.

Confirmed this is accurate. TWC is very clear that you report earnings for the week the work was performed. Got caught on this once myself.

That's actually really reassuring. I was worried I had to call and officially tell them I found a job or something.

You do still want to report any income during the transition weeks though. Don't just go silent on the payment request you owe — file it and answer the earnings questions correctly for each week.

Yep exactly what the person above said. File the payment request you have coming up, answer honestly about the weeks in question, and you're done. No special calls needed unless something complicated is going on.

Okay this is the clearest explanation I've seen. So there's a sweet spot where you can still get a partial payment even if you worked your first week back?

Exactly. Depends entirely on what you earned vs your weekly benefit amount. Some people get a small payment for their first partial week back, some get nothing. Just do the math before you assume.

I didn't know the 25% threshold thing at all when I went back to work. I assumed any earnings would zero out my payment for the week. Would have been nice to know I might have been owed something for that partial week.

The payment request itself is how you tell them. Each request asks week by week whether you worked, and you report your earnings right there. That's the reporting mechanism. If you answered those questions honestly on your most recent requests, you're fine.

Oh thank god. I did report the earnings. I just panicked because someone made it sound like there was a separate call you had to make.

No separate call required as long as you reported accurately on your payment requests. The confusion usually comes from people who either stopped filing requests without reporting anything, or who filed and said they didn't work when they did.

My filing day is Sunday, so I should be able to do the transition week payment request this weekend through UBS?

Yes, Sunday through Wednesday are the regular filing days. You'll see the two claim weeks listed and can answer the work questions for each one. If you miss Sunday through Wednesday you can still file Thursday through Saturday of that same week.

Just make sure your WorkInTexas.com registration is still current. I know you're employed now but keeping the account in good standing doesn't hurt and it's tied to your UBS login anyway.

If your benefit year is still open (it runs 52 weeks from the Sunday of the week you first applied), you can reopen the claim rather than starting over. If the benefit year has expired you'd need to file a new application. And TWC needs to see that you've earned enough since the prior claim — specifically at least six times your weekly benefit amount in new wages.

That six times the weekly amount rule is interesting. So someone who worked a few weeks and got laid off again might not qualify to reopen?

Correct. If you didn't earn at least that threshold since the prior claim ended, you won't qualify to reopen. That's why timing matters — a very short stint back at work might not reset your eligibility the way people expect.

This happened to a coworker of mine. She went back to work for about three weeks, got laid off again, and TWC told her she hadn't earned enough since her last claim to restart. She had to wait it out or look at whether a new benefit year had opened.

I hadn't even thought about this. So for my transition week — the week I started the job — I should have done my work search activities even though I already had the job?

For the weeks before your start date, yes, definitely. The week you actually started might be your last request week, so just check what your letter says. The number of required activities varies by county and TWC mails you your specific number.

I made the mistake of stopping work search activities the week I accepted the offer rather than the week I started. Got flagged and had to explain it. Keep the log going until you file your last payment request.

Mine is a completely new employer so I assume even simpler. Good to know rehires are handled normally too.

Yep, new employer is clean and simple. Just report honest gross earnings for the week you started working.

This is an important distinction. Going quiet on future payment requests (after your transition week) is fine. But going quiet on a pending payment request you should have already filed is different and can cause problems.

Exactly. File the one you have outstanding, report everything accurately, and THEN stop. That order matters.

So to summarize what I need to do: file my Sunday payment request this weekend, report that I worked in week 2 of that request period, enter my gross earnings from my start week, and then just don't file any more payment requests after that. Is that the whole thing?

That's pretty much it. Keep your work search log for those weeks too in case TWC ever asks. After that one last payment request, you're done and the claim goes inactive.

The card stays active. If you ever reopen your claim or file a new one, payments will go right back to it unless you change to direct deposit in UBS. No action needed either way — it just sits there.

Good to know, I'll leave it alone then. Didn't want to do something that would mess up future access.

Mine was straightforward thankfully, no adjudication issues. Everything showed as payable from the start. But that's good to know for anyone who had complications.

Lucky! Mine took forever to clear. If your claim is clean you're in great shape — just file that last request and you're out the door.

An unresolved determination can definitely follow you into a future claim. Worth checking UBS to make sure nothing is flagged before you go fully inactive, just for peace of mind.

Yeah it trips a lot of people up. The way I explained it earlier is the clearest I've found: earnings up to 25% of your weekly benefit amount don't reduce your payment at all. Above that, whatever is over that threshold gets subtracted from your benefit. So it's not all-or-nothing until you're earning more than your weekly amount plus 25%.

That math actually makes working part-time while claiming make more sense now. If I'd understood it earlier I might have picked up some gig work during my search without being scared it would tank my whole payment.

Oh I didn't know this at all. I might have a waiting week being held. So I should log into UBS and look for a 'Request Your Waiting Week' option before I file my last payment request?

Yes exactly. It's listed as 'Request Your Waiting Week' in UBS. You can also do it through Tele-Serv, Option 2 then Option 4. Just make sure you've already returned to full-time work before requesting it, because you need both conditions — you need to have been paid at least twice your weekly amount AND be back at full-time work, or have exhausted benefits.

I did not know you could get the waiting week released when you go back to work. I always thought it just went away. That's money people are leaving on the table.

A lot of people don't know and TWC doesn't exactly advertise it loudly. You have to actively request it.

Really hoping mine sticks but good to know the reopen option exists. How long did a fresh application take to get sorted?

About four weeks before first payment came through, which is pretty typical from what I've seen. The hardest part was making sure I'd started requesting payments right away even before the determination came through, because TWC only pays for weeks you actually requested.

This is so real. I kept a spreadsheet with the date, company name, how I applied, and the contact info. Overkill maybe but zero stress if TWC ever asks.

Spreadsheet is the move. The more detail the better. TWC doesn't tell you in advance that they're pulling your log.

This is basically exactly the checklist I needed. File final payment request, report transition week earnings accurately, check on waiting week in UBS. Got it.

That's it. The system isn't friendly but it's not trying to trap you either. Report accurately and you're fine.

Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tarrant and Travis are all 5 per week. Smaller counties can be as low as 1. The letter TWC sends you is the authority on what your number is.

Exactly. Don't take anyone else's word for it including mine. Find YOUR letter or call TWC to confirm YOUR requirement.

Mine said 3 per week and I've been doing that the whole time. Good reminder to keep going through the transition week.

TWC sends a 1099-G for any amount you received during the year, doesn't matter how short the claim was. Even two months of payments will show up. It'll also be in UBS under IRS Tax Information if you need it before the paper one arrives.

Good to know. Didn't want to miss it at tax time. I opted for 10% federal withholding so hopefully it won't be a big surprise.

The 10% withholding is smart. Benefits are taxable federal income, and a lot of people get caught off guard by it if they didn't opt in.

How would I even know if there's a discrepancy? Would it show up in UBS?

Check your payment history in UBS and see if anything looks off — wrong amounts, flagged weeks, anything like that. If something looks strange, that's your signal to call.

My UBS payment history had an error once that I didn't catch for weeks. Worth logging in and reviewing it carefully when you file your last request.

This is genuinely what I needed to hear after all this. I reported everything right, I'll file the last request correctly, and then I move on with the new job. Thanks everyone — this thread answered every single question I had.

Good luck with the new job. Keep that work search log somewhere safe just in case, and check UBS one more time after the last payment processes to make sure everything cleared cleanly.

The fact that you're asking all these questions up front means you're being careful. That's exactly the right approach.