TWC benefits stuck in limbo after severance check - 4 weeks, no payments or denial letters

wait till u get the severanc check. they wont pay till after that date and u report it on ur payment request

The previous comment isn't completely accurate. Here's what's happening: TWC is likely processing your claim and determining how your severance impacts your benefits. Severance pay usually delays the start of your benefits, but they should have sent you a determination letter explaining this. You should definitely keep requesting payments every two weeks even though you're not getting paid yet. Once they've processed everything, they'll backpay eligible weeks (minus any offset for the severance). But you absolutely should have received something by now. After 4 weeks, you need to speak with a TWC representative to check if there are any issues with your claim that aren't showing online.

I had almost the exact same situation last year!! The silence is NORMAL but super frustrating. My severance was smaller (like $3k) but TWC wouldn't tell me ANYTHING for like 5 weeks. Then suddenly I got 3 letters on the same day - one about my base period earnings, one about the severance delay, and one about my weekly benefit amount. Two weeks after that, payments started showing up. Just keep requesting payment and doing your work searches!!!

The severance is definitely the issue. TWC treats lump sum severance payments as if they were regular wages, so they'll typically delay your benefits until after the severance "period" is over. They calculate this by dividing your severance amount by your weekly wage. For example, if you made $1,300/week and your severance is $5,200, they might consider that as 4 weeks of continued pay, which means your unemployment benefits wouldn't start until 4 weeks after your last day. However, you absolutely should have received a determination letter explaining all of this. Have you checked both your online correspondence inbox AND your physical mail? TWC sometimes sends important notices through regular mail that don't appear online.

lol welcome to the wonderful world of texas unemployment! they do whatever they want whenever they want. i was on hold for 3 hours yesterday and then got hung up on. third time this week. the system is completely broken

I understand your frustration. After helping dozens of people with similar situations, I can tell you that your case isn't unusual, but you SHOULD have received some communication by now. Here's what I recommend: 1. Keep submitting your payment requests on schedule 2. Continue your work search activities (3 per week) and document them 3. Most importantly, you need to speak with a TWC representative I know reaching TWC is nearly impossible right now. After the latest layoffs in tech and healthcare, their phone lines are swamped. I recently discovered a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to TWC when I was in a similar situation. They basically hold your place in the phone queue and call you back when an agent is available. Their demo video shows how it works: https://youtu.be/V-IMvH88P1U?si=kNxmh025COIlIzKh Check them out at claimyr.com - it saved me literally days of calling and hanging up.

You know what? I'm gonna say what everyone else is thinking - TWC is DELIBERATELY making this process difficult! They don't want to pay benefits so they create these ridiculous bureaucratic mazes. The same thing happened to my brother-in-law and they ended up denying his claim for some totally bogus reason after making him wait 6 weeks. He had to appeal and wait ANOTHER 2 months! The whole system is designed to wear you down so you give up.

UPDATE: I used the Claimyr service that someone recommended here, and I FINALLY got through to a TWC representative today! For anyone curious, here's what they told me: 1. My claim was indeed on hold because of the severance payment 2. They're treating my $5,200 severance as 4 weeks of regular pay (just like someone here predicted) 3. The reason I didn't get any letters is because there was a mailing address error in my file The agent fixed my address and said I should receive my determination letters within 7-10 days. They also confirmed that I'll be eligible for benefits after the severance period ends, and that all my payment requests are in the system. Such a relief to finally know what's happening! Thank you all for the advice and support.