TWC approved my claim but first week of July not counted as waiting week - why?

The waiting week is determined by when you actually filed your claim, not when you became unemployed. Since you filed on July 14th, your benefit year began that week, and the waiting week would be the first week you requested payment after filing (which would be the second week of July in your case). TWC can't backdate a waiting week to before you actually filed your claim. So unfortunately, even though you were unemployed the first week of July, since you didn't file until July 14th, that first week isn't counted in your claim at all.

same thing happened 2 me last year, the date u file is what matters not when u got laid off. its dumb but thats how they do it

This is a common misunderstanding about TWC claims. You can only claim benefits from the Sunday of the week you file, not retroactively from when you became unemployed. And yes, the waiting week is always the first eligible week after you file your claim - during which you qualify for benefits but don't receive payment. If you filed on July 14th, your claim was effective from the Sunday of that week (July 12th, 2025 assuming). So your waiting week would indeed be the second week of July, not the first week. Unfortunately, you cannot receive benefits for weeks prior to your application date. That's why TWC always recommends filing immediately after separation, even if you think you might get another job soon. You can always stop requesting payment if you find employment, but you can't go back and claim weeks before you filed.

The waiting week rules are so frustrating!! When I filed last year, I got confused about the whole process and nearly missed out on two weeks of benefits. Has anyone figured out if there's a way to get TWC to backdate your claim if you had a good reason for not filing right away?

After getting laid off last month, I was having the SAME problem trying to reach TWC about my waiting week issue. Kept getting busy signals for DAYS. Finally tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) after my brother-in-law recommended it. They got me connected to a TWC agent in about 20 minutes! The agent explained my waiting week situation and helped sort out some other issues with my claim. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/V-IMvH88P1U?si=kNxmh025COIlIzKh. Way better than spending hours redialing TWC's number.

Just want to add something important - even though you don't get PAID for your waiting week initially, you should still request payment for it. After you receive 3 times your weekly benefit amount and request payment for that week, TWC will go back and pay you for your waiting week. A lot of people don't know this and miss out on getting that week paid eventually.

Ugh the waiting week rule is so stupid. Why should people who JUST lost their jobs have to wait an extra week for $$? As if being unemployed isn't stressful enough! The whole system seems designed to make things harder than they need to be.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - if you had ANY income during that first week of July (like final paycheck, severance, vacation payout, etc.), that could have affected which week was designated as your waiting week. TWC won't count a week where you had earnings equal to or greater than your weekly benefit amount as your waiting week. Could that be what happened?