TWC investigator gave my employer deadline to respond - will I be disqualified if they don't answer?
I had my interview with a TWC investigator last week about my unemployment claim. He asked for my side of the story again and said he would contact my former employer for their statement. When I called TWC today to check on my claim status, someone told me that my employer hasn't responded when they called, and that they have until Friday to reply. I'm really worried - if my employer doesn't answer by Friday, will that automatically disqualify me from receiving benefits? Has anyone been through this situation before? I worked at this restaurant for over 2 years and they fired me for being 10 minutes late after my car broke down (first time ever being late). I'm worried they're ignoring TWC calls on purpose.
20 comments
Join the conversation
StarSeeker
No, you won't be automatically disqualified if your employer doesn't respond. In fact, it usually works in your favor! If the employer doesn't respond by their deadline, TWC typically has to make their determination based only on the information they have - which would be your statement. Just make sure you've provided all the documentation they asked for about your separation.
0 coins
Anastasia Sokolov
•Thank you so much! That's a relief to hear. I did give them all the info they requested including text messages showing I notified my manager about my car breaking down. I was so worried they were ignoring TWC on purpose to mess up my claim.
0 coins
Sean O'Donnell
The EXACT same thing happened to me!!!! My employer had 14 days to respond to TWC and when they didnt call back the TWC rep told me they would make a decision based on MY statement only. I got approved 3 days later! Make sure you keep requesting payments on your scheduled days even while you wait for this to be resolved.
0 coins
Anastasia Sokolov
•That's awesome to hear! I'll definitely keep requesting payments. Did you have to do anything special when they approved your claim? I'm worried I might miss something important.
0 coins
Zara Ahmed
Don't get your hopes up too much. My employer missed the first deadline and TWC gave them an extension without telling me. Then when they finally responded 3 weeks late, TWC still used their information to deny me. Had to file an appeal and wait ANOTHER 6 weeks. The whole system is designed to make you give up.
0 coins
Luca Esposito
•This is why documenting EVERYTHING is so important. Save every email, take screenshots of texts, write down names of who you talked to at TWC and when. The system doesn't work in our favor but good documentation helps.
0 coins
Nia Thompson
I went through this exact process in January. Here's what happens: if your employer doesn't respond by the deadline, the investigator will make a determination based solely on your statement and any evidence you provided. In most cases, this results in approval since there's no contradicting information. However, there's an important detail - even after a decision is made, your employer still has 14 days to appeal if they disagree with the determination. So don't spend any benefits right away if possible. Also, being fired for a one-time tardiness incident (especially with documentation that you notified them about car trouble) generally doesn't meet the misconduct standard required to deny benefits.
0 coins
Anastasia Sokolov
•I didn't know about the 14-day appeal window! Thanks for letting me know. I'll definitely be careful about spending anything until that appeal window closes. I just hope this gets resolved soon because I'm really struggling to pay bills right now.
0 coins
Mateo Rodriguez
I was in a similar situation and got so frustrated trying to reach TWC to check on my status! Busy signals for days until I found this service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual TWC agent in less than 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/V-IMvH88P1U?si=kNxmh025COIlIzKh. Their website is claimyr.com - it was honestly such a relief to actually talk to someone instead of getting busy signals for days. The agent was able to tell me exactly what was happening with my employer's response and my claim status.
0 coins
GalaxyGuardian
•does this actually work? i've been trying to reach twc for 2 weeks now and keep getting disconnected after waiting on hold for like an hour
0 coins
Mateo Rodriguez
Yes, it definitely works! I was skeptical too but it got me through right away. The TWC agent I talked to was able to see notes on my account that weren't showing up in the online portal.
0 coins
Zara Ahmed
•I tried this too after waiting for 3 days with no luck calling directly. Got through in about 15 minutes. The agent told me my employer had requested more time to respond but couldn't explain why I wasn't notified about the extension. At least I knew what was happening instead of being in the dark.
0 coins
Luca Esposito
If ur employer doesn't respond it usually means auto-approval! But don't forget to keep doing your work searches (3 per week) and requesting payment on your assigned days even while waiting for a decision!!! Some people miss this and lose benefits they shouldve gotten.
0 coins
Anastasia Sokolov
•Thank you for the reminder about work searches! I've been doing them but wasn't documenting them properly - just fixed that today. Definitely don't want to mess up my claim over something like that.
0 coins
GalaxyGuardian
wait i thought they only give employers like 10 days to respond not a whole 2 weeks? anyone know the exact timeline?
0 coins
Nia Thompson
•The standard initial response time is 10-14 days (it varies slightly depending on the specific situation), but TWC can grant extensions in certain circumstances. The TWC Unemployment Insurance Law states that employers must respond to a Notice of Initial Claim within this timeframe, but they can request additional time if they need to gather more information. However, if they fail to respond without requesting an extension, the determination proceeds without their input.
0 coins
Sean O'Donnell
Anyone saying this is automatic approval is WRONG! My employer didn't respond and I still got denied because the investigator said i was fired for a good reason. I had to appeal and wait forever. Don't count on anything with TWC!!!
0 coins
StarSeeker
•This is true - no response doesn't guarantee approval. The investigator still has to determine if the separation was qualifying based on the information they have. Being fired for a one-time tardiness incident WITH notification should qualify, but it ultimately depends on how the investigator interprets Texas workforce rules about misconduct.
0 coins
Anastasia Sokolov
UPDATE: Just checked my claim status online and it now says "pending adjudication" - does anyone know what that means exactly? Is that good or bad? The waiting is killing me.
0 coins
Nia Thompson
•"Pending adjudication" means your claim is still under review. This is normal while waiting for the investigator to make a determination. It's neither good nor bad - just means they haven't made a decision yet. Keep requesting payments on schedule and doing your work searches. Once a determination is made, it will change to either "eligible" or "ineligible." If Friday is the deadline for your employer, you might see movement early next week.
0 coins