If I get fired can I get unemployment in Texas TWC?

Filing right away was the right call. The claim week starts on the Sunday before you file, so you want to get it in before too much time passes - TWC can't go back and pay weeks before that Sunday. As for getting fired and qualifying: it really comes down to whether what happened counts as misconduct in TWC's eyes. They look at things like whether you broke a company rule, whether you just weren't doing the job well enough even though you were capable of it, or whether you were neglecting your responsibilities. A vague 'performance issues' reason with no documentation in your file could actually work in your favor - TWC asks the employer to explain what happened, and they only get 14 days to respond. File online through UBS at https://apps.twc.texas.gov/UBS/security/logon.do and be specific when describing your side of the story.

Needed to sort out a question about my own claim involving a termination situation - I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual TWC agent on the phone. It just holds the line for you and connects you when someone picks up, since getting through to a live person on your own is basically impossible some days. The agent I talked to explained that TWC looks at both sides - what you say and what the employer says - and makes a call from there. She said the determination letter will spell out exactly what they decided and why, and if you don't like it you have 14 days from the date on the letter to appeal. Watch the demo at https://youtu.be/V-IMvH88P1U if you want to see how it works before trying it.

Performance issues is one of those reasons that can go either way honestly. If you just weren't hitting targets but were genuinely trying, that's different from someone who could do the job but just wasn't bothering. TWC sees that differently. What they really care about is whether you were doing something you knew you shouldn't be doing, or whether you were just struggling.

Quick correction on something I see people get wrong a lot - misconduct and poor performance aren't always the same thing to TWC. Somebody told me once that any firing counts as misconduct and that's just not true. TWC has specific examples: breaking company policy, breaking the law, ignoring your job duties, or failing to do the work when you actually had the ability to do it. That last one is key - 'ability to do it' matters. If you were trying but just not hitting the mark, that reads differently than deliberately not caring.

wait so if you get fired does the employer like HAVE to prove something to get you denied or is it automatic?

Something I wish I'd known before my first claim: the payment requests start before TWC finishes reviewing your case. The instructions letter they mail out tells you when to start - usually about one to two weeks after you apply. Don't sit there waiting for an approval notice before you request payments. If you miss your request window you can still file Thursday through Saturday of that same week but after that it gets complicated.

Also worth knowing about work search - once you're collecting, you have to log a certain number of job search activities every week. How many depends on the county you live in, and TWC mails you a letter with your specific number. Harris, Dallas, and a few other big counties require five activities a week. Keep a log of everything because TWC can ask to see it at any time. And you need to be registered on WorkInTexas.com - that's part of the requirements.

My situation was similar - fired from a logistics company, nothing in writing, just a conversation with HR saying it wasn't working out. Filed the same week and got approved about a month later. The employer apparently didn't contest it, which I think helped. You have no way of knowing upfront whether your old company will push back or just not respond.

FOUR WEEKS is so long to wait when you have bills stacking up. I went through this last spring and the stress of that waiting period was rough. At least file for benefits on the state's other assistance programs in the meantime if you need to bridge the gap.

One thing that caught me off guard - TWC sends separate determination letters for each issue on your claim. So if there are multiple questions about your eligibility, each one gets its own letter, and if even one of them says 'cannot pay' you don't get anything until that's resolved. So keep an eye on your mail and your UBS inbox after you file.

got let go last month for similar vague reasons and honestly the whole system feels designed to confuse you into giving up. applied anyway and it's been 5 weeks with nothing resolved yet. adjudication still pending. trying not to lose my mind

My cousin went through a termination claim last year and was confused about the difference between adjudication and an appeal. Adjudication is what happens automatically when TWC investigates your claim - you don't initiate it. An appeal is what you file yourself, in writing, within 14 days of a determination you disagree with. They're completely different stages and a lot of people mix them up.

Appealing can be done through UBS under 'Submit An Appeal', in person at a Workforce Solutions office, or by mail or fax. What you cannot do is appeal by email or by calling in - TWC won't accept those. The first round is a phone hearing with one hearing officer. You'll get a packet mailed to you five to ten days before the hearing date, and the whole hearing setup can take six to eight weeks from when you file the appeal.

My layoff claim was straightforward but I had a friend who got fired and his employer submitted a ton of documentation against him. He ended up at the appeal hearing stage. He said the hearing itself was actually pretty reasonable - just him on the phone with the hearing officer going through what happened. No lawyer needed. He lost the first determination but won at the appeal level.

Random but useful - TWC updates its systems overnight so if you're obsessively refreshing UBS looking for status changes during the day, stop. Check once in the morning and you'll actually see any updates that happened.

My termination claim had an identity verification step that added time I wasn't expecting. When TWC sent the ID verification notice, I had to verify through ID.me online. Worth knowing that if you get one of those notices you just go through ID.me and select 'Allow and Continue' - don't ignore it because it can delay or stop your benefits.

Something about the weekly benefit amount that might help with planning: it's based on your highest earning quarter in your base period divided by 25. The base period is roughly the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. So your most recent earnings might not even be in it depending on when you filed. If your numbers were higher in an earlier quarter that might actually work in your favor.

Needed to follow up on my own fired-for-vague-reasons claim and finally got through to a live agent using Claimyr. I'd been trying to call TWC for days. The agent confirmed my adjudication was because my employer had submitted something at the last minute within that 14-day window and TWC was reviewing it. At least I finally knew what was actually happening instead of just staring at a pending status.

To answer the original question directly since it's gotten a little spread out: yes, being fired does not automatically disqualify you from unemployment in Texas. It depends entirely on why you were fired and whether TWC classifies it as misconduct. Plenty of people who were terminated collect benefits without any issue. File, tell your honest story, and let TWC make the determination.

Last thing - once you do get approved and start collecting, you have to report any earnings if you pick up any work, even a one-day gig or freelance thing. You report gross earnings for the week you did the work, not when you got paid. You can earn up to 25 percent of your weekly benefit amount without any reduction. Above that it starts cutting into your payment for that week. Under-reporting earnings is treated seriously by TWC so just report everything accurately.

Honestly found Claimyr super useful when I was trying to get a straight answer about whether my termination situation would affect my claim. I'd been going back and forth trying to interpret the determination language on my own and just needed someone at TWC to walk me through it. Getting through to an agent made all the difference for my specific situation.