Knowing Your Eligibility
ELIGIBILITY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT
In Texas

Eligibility for Benefits
For more information, please refer to the pages in parentheses.
To receive unemployment insurance benefits, you must:
• Be totally or partially unemployed.
• File an application for benefits.
• Have worked at a job where your employer paid unemployment insurance tax on your wages.
• Lost your job through no fault of your own.
• Be monetarily eligible (see page 2).
• File weekly certifications (see page 5).

When will I receive my first benefit payment?
• You can expect your first payment to be made three to four weeks after you apply for 
unemployment benefits.
• You will receive payment if all eligibility requirements are met.
• You will not receive benefits if you are disqualified for any reason.
• You will receive a notice in the mail when you have satisfied your non-paid waiting week.
• You will receive a notice in the mail when your first payment has been issued.
When will I receive my weekly benefit payments?
• Payments are made two business days after filing your weekly certification if no issues are 
raised when your certification is filed.
• Holidays will delay payments.
What if I change my address?
Our mail cannot be forwarded to a new address by the post office, so you must contact us with your 
new address immediately.

Wage Requirements and Benefit Amount Information
What are the wage requirements?
To qualify for benefits, you must have been paid wages for insured work, for civilian employment with 
the federal government, or for active duty in the military service in two or more quarters of your base 
period. Wages from another state(s) can be used to establish a combined wage claim. 
How are benefit amounts calculated?
• Your weekly benefit is 1/26th of the wages paid in the highest quarter of your base period, up 
to a maximum amount determined by the state’s average weekly wage. Your wages in this high 
quarter must be at least $728.
• Also, your wages in the other three quarters of your base period must be at least 20 times your 
weekly benefit. The maximum amount payable in your benefit year is one-third of your total base period wages, but not more than 26 times your weekly benefit.

What is the base period?
The regular base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the effective date of your new claim for unemployment insurance benefits.
If you file a new claim, and are not eligible using the regular base period, you may be determined 
monetarily eligible under an alternative base period that uses more recent wages. 
There is also an alternate base period for persons who are not monetarily eligible because they 
have not worked for an extended period due to a work-related injury. This base period is the first four 
of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the injury and can only be used if a claim is filed 
within 24 months after the injury. 

Seasonal Wages
Seasonal wages are wages earned with an employer who customarily suspends operation for a period of five months or more within a calendar year. To be eligible for a seasonal designation, an employer requests the designation and then must be approved by the Department of Labor and Regulation.
Seasonal wages are used to determine your weekly benefit amount. However, the only time you can 
draw against seasonal wages is during the period the employer would normally be open for business.
You are notified on your monetary determination if you have seasonal wages. 
How will I know if I meet the wage requirements?
You will receive a monetary determination indicating your weekly and maximum benefit amounts. 
This determination is usually mailed within five days after your new claim is filed. Missing wages may 
cause a delay in the mailing of a monetary determination.
This is the first step in determining your eligibility. You may be disqualified depending on the reason 
you became unemployed or you may be denied benefits if you do not meet other eligibility requirements.

Can I cancel my claim?
If for some reason you want to cancel your claim, you have fifteen days from the date the monetary 
determination was mailed to submit a written request for cancellation. However, you cannot cancel 
your claim after a determination disqualifying you from receiving benefits has been issued.
When do I have to reopen my claim?
You must reopen your claim under the following circumstances:
• If you return to work and then separate from that employment, even if it is for one day or less. 
(You must reopen the claim immediately following the separation from employment or   
you may lose benefits.)  
• If you have not filed any weekly certifications for a period of four or more weeks.

When do I file a weekly certification?
You may submit your weekly certification anytime during the calendar week following the week you are requesting benefits. For example, if you want to file a weekly certification for the week of January 1 through January 7, you would file your weekly certification between 12:01 a.m. on January 8 and 11:59 p.m. on January 14.

Do I have to look for work?
You must actively seek work while receiving benefits, starting with the week in which you file your 
claim, unless we instruct you otherwise. An active work search includes the following:
• Making a minimum of two job contacts in each week you are requesting benefits. This includes 
the non-paid waiting week. 
• Contacts should be made using a method customarily required by the employer. Contacts by 
telephone are not valid.
• Your work search must be a reasonable and honest effort to find work. Contacts with close 
relatives and spouses are not considered reasonable. 
• You must be willing to accept the going wage in your area for the job or occupation in which 
you have the most experience or training. If there is no work or there are limited opportunities 
for you in your usual job, then you must be available for work you are capable of doing at the 
going wage for that type of work.
• Repeat job contacts with the same employer are not acceptable unless 30 calendar days have 
elapsed between the job contacts.

Can I use employment agencies as job contacts?  
Contacting your local Department of Labor and Regulation office or other employment agencies cannot be used to satisfy the requirement of making two job contacts each week.

Deductions from Benefits
Can I work part of the week and still be eligible for benefits?
You may be eligible for partial unemployment benefits if you continue to work. In order to be eligible for partial benefits you must report your hours and earnings for the calendar week which you are filing for and make an active search for work. Earnings will reduce your benefits. Seventy-five percent of earnings over $25 will be deducted from your weekly benefit amount. (See page 5) 
       • You will not be eligible for benefits if your gross earnings are equal to or more than your weekly benefit amount. 
• You will not be eligible for benefits if you worked 40 hours or more, regardless of the amount of earnings.
Extended Training Benefits
Extended training benefits may be available to you if you have exhausted all other unemployment benefits and are enrolled in full-time school prior to the end of your benefit year. These benefits provide up to 26 weeks of additional benefits. To be eligible, you must be separated from employment 
in a declining occupation, or have been involuntarily and indefinitely separated due to a permanent reduction of operations at your previous employment. You must also be enrolled in a training program approved by the Department of Labor and Regulation for entry into a high-demand occupation.

Equal Opportunity Employment Rights
It is against the law for this recipient of federal financial assistance (the Department of Labor and 
Regulation) to discriminate on the following bases against any individual in the United States: race, 
color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation or belief; and against any beneficiary of programs financially assisted under Title 1 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), on the basis of the beneficiary’s citizenship/status as a lawfully admitted immigrant authorized to work in the United States or his or her participation in any WIA Title 1 financially assisted program or activity. 
The recipient must not discriminate in any of the following areas:
• Deciding who will be admitted, or have access, to any WIA Title 1 financially assisted program   
or activity.
• Providing opportunities in, or treating any person with regard to, such a program or activity.
• Making employment decisions in the administration of, or in connection with, such a program   
or activity.

1.  What are unemployment insurance benefits? 

Unemployment insurance is a program that provides temporary, partial wage replacement to formerly employed people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. In general, to qualify for benefits you must be actively seeking work and must be available to work, but unable to find work. 

The requirement that you be “available to work” means that you must be physically and mentally able to work. In most states, if you are injured because of domestic or sexual violence and cannot work, if you are in hiding and/or staying at a shelter that prohibits you from working, or if you must care for your children full-time because they are too young or you do not have child care, you are not “available to work” and you may not be eligible for benefits. However, some states have exemptions to certain requirements for victims of domestic or sexual violence (see section 2 below for more information). 

Each state has its own rules to determine who is eligible, how much unemployment insurance compensation an applicant receives, and how long she can receive benefits. These rules generally consider such factors as the length of time you worked, how many hours you worked, how much money you made in your last job, and why you lost your job. 

2. If a domestic or sexual violence situation makes it dangerous for me to continue working and I quit my job, can I collect unemployment benefits? 

Eligibility for benefits: “good cause” requirement: Most states will pay benefits only to an employee who quits her job for “good cause.” What is considered “good cause” varies from state to state. Generally “good cause” is something that affects your ability to perform your job. In California, for example, “good cause” is defined as “a real, substantial, and compelling reason of such nature as would cause a reasonable person genuinely desirous of retaining employment to take similar action.” 
Examples of “good cause” include can an employee’s fear for his or her health and safety or an employee’s need to accompany her spouse when he receives a new job in a different part of the state or country. If an employee quits her job without “good cause” she will be denied benefits on the basis that she “voluntarily quit” his or her job. 

Domestic or sexual violence as “good cause”: Many states now recognize that an employee who is a victim of domestic violence has “good cause” to quit her job when she does so to protect herself, her family, or her co-workers. A few of these state laws also explicitly apply to sexual assault or stalking victims; some other states laws have definitions of “domestic violence” that are broad enough to cover sexual assault or stalking. As of January 2005, the following states have passed laws that expressly make victims of domestic violence who have quit their jobs due to domestic violence eligible for unemployment compensation in certain circumstances: 

•  Arizona    •  California   •  Colorado   •  Connecticut
•  Delaware   •  District of Columbia   •  Illinois   •  Indiana
•  Kansas   •  Maine   •  Massachusetts   •  Minnesota
•  Montana   •  Nebraska   •  New Hampshire   •  New Jersey
•  New Mexico   •  New York   •  North Carolina   •  Oklahoma
•  Oregon  •  Rhode Island  •  South Dakota  •  Texas
•  Washington  •  Wisconsin  •  Wyoming

For more information on the laws in these states (and to determine whether additional states may (and to determine whether additional states may have passed relevant laws) can be found at the UnemploymentOrg.

In states that do not explicitly list domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking as a reason an employee would have “good cause” to leave her job, a domestic or sexual violence victim may still be eligible for benefits by proving that she quit her job for “good cause.” Health and safety concerns as “good cause”: An employee who is forced to quit her job because of her fear for her health and safety at the workplace may be found to have “good cause” for quitting and may be eligible for benefits. 

Most states recognize that quitting your job because the work endangers your health, safety, or comfort is good cause for quitting. Examples of dangerous workplaces are those where an employee is required to work on a dangerous machine or in a work environment made stressful by sexual harassment, when the harassment continues in spite of complaints to supervisors. An employee who experiences physical or mental injuries due to workplace dangers may be found to have “good cause” for quitting her job and may collect unemployment benefits. So, for example, if the abuser is your coworker and he harasses you at work, and your supervisor ignores your complaints about the harassment, you may be eligible for benefits if you leave because you are afraid for your safety. 

Court decisions in several states have addressed abused women's eligibility for unemployment benefits with mixed results. Please contact Legal Momentum if you are denied benefits. Eligibility for Unemployment Insurance Benefits

3. Can I qualify for benefits if I am fired from my job? 
In general, you are eligible for unemployment insurance if you are fired from your job for a reason unrelated to your work performance. For example, if you are fired because you are a victim of domestic violence, you are presumed eligible for unemployment insurance benefits in a few states, including Maine and New Jersey. However, in most states you will probably be ineligible for unemployment benefits if you are fired for an act of “misconduct” as that term is defined in your state's unemployment insurance law. For example, if you are fired because you missed several days of work without an excuse or if you have failed to complete your job requirements, even if it is because of domestic or sexual violence, you may not qualify for benefits because of your “misconduct.” 
On the other hand, if you are completing your job responsibilities and you have only missed days of work that were covered in a sick leave policy or you obtained permission to miss work according to a work policy, you may be eligible for benefits. 
Again, each state has different laws, so it is important to contact the unemployment agency in your state to determine eligibility requirements. 
4. How do I apply for unemployment insurance benefits? 
To apply for unemployment insurance benefits, you must contact the agency in your state that administers the unemployment insurance program and ask to apply for benefits. 
A representative from the agency will set up a time for you to come to their office for an interview or to conduct a phone interview. It is important to cooperate with the state agency and to provide 
them with detailed information about your job loss. For example, if you left your job because an abuser repeatedly threatened to come to your workplace and hurt you and your employer refused to help you, you should tell the state representative all of these details. It may seem that your domestic or sexual violence situation is irrelevant and you may decide you don't want to tell the state 
representative. However, this is very important information that can determine whether you will receive benefits. Be honest and carefully describe the details of your situation. Before the end of your interview, be sure to ask the state representative about any work training funds or relocation assistance that may be available to you. 
5. What if I am denied unemployment insurance benefits? 
If you apply for unemployment insurance benefits and you are initially denied benefits, you should appeal the decision. An appeal gives you another opportunity to present your argument for why you should receive benefits. If you receive a notice that you have been denied benefits, call the state department or agency that mailed you the notification and ask them about how to appeal the decision. It is important to do this immediately, It is important to do this immediately, because in most states, the time in which you may appeal the decision is limited.

Glossary of Terms
Adjudication — Process used to determine whether a claimant is eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits.
Administrative Penalty — Imposed when a claimant knowingly failed to disclose facts or provided incorrect information to obtain, or increase, benefits.
Alternate Base Period — A different period of wages to consider when calculating a claimant’s monetary eligibility for benefits. This is used when an individual has suffered a work-related injury and does not qualify using the current base period. The claimant must apply for unemployment benefits within 24 months of when the work-related injury occurred.
Alternative Base Period — A different period of wages to consider when calculating a claimant’s monetary eligibility for benefits. South Dakota’s alternative base period is the last four completed calendar quarters preceding when an individual applies for unemployment benefits.
Appeal — Formal request by a claimant or employer to have a decision, determination or notice reconsidered by the next higher level of authority.
Benefit Section — Part of the Department of Labor and Regulation that administers the Unemployment Insurance program.
Benefit Year — The 52-week period beginning with the week in which an application for benefits was made.
Benefit Year End (BYE) — The ending date of a claim. BYE dates are always on a Saturday. The BYE date 
can be found on the monetary determination of benefits notice that a claimant receives after applying for unemployment benefits.
Civil Action — A lawsuit between two or more individuals or corporations involved in a dispute and usually seeking a judgment awarding monetary damages.
Claim Week — A period of seven consecutive days beginning at 12:01 a.m. Sunday and ending at 11:59 p.m. the following Saturday.
Combined Wage Claim — A claim established using wages from South Dakota and one or more states.
Commencing — Starting/beginning.
Covered Wages — Wages an employer pays to an employee that are subject to unemployment taxes.
Discharge — To terminate an individual from employment. 
Effective Date — Start date of a new claim for unemployment benefits. This date will always be the Sunday date of the week the claimant applied for unemployment benefits. An earlier effective date can be requested and may be allowed if there is good cause for backdating the claim.
Excessive Earnings — Gross earnings during a claim week that meet or exceed a claimant’s weekly benefit 
amount (WBA).
Fraud — Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.
Full-time Work — Work that is 40 or more hours per week.
Garnishment of Wages — A court order to withhold a certain amount of your wages as repayment for debt.
Initial Claim — A newly filed claim which establishes a benefit year.
Issue — A situation or potential situation that prevents an individual from being eligible for benefits.
Insufficient Wage Credits — Defines a claim that does not have enough covered wages during the specified base period to be eligible. 
Job Search Assistance Program (JSAP) — A service provided by local Department of Labor and Regulation offices to assist individuals with writing a resume, mock interviews and other tips to find employment.
Job Contacts — Contacts with employers to submit an application for employment. Method of contact is in person unless the employer requires application by some other method, such as Internet.
Maximum Benefit Amount (MBA) — The maximum amount of benefits a claimant is eligible to receive during his or her benefit year. This amount is listed on the monetary determination of benefits notice.
Misconduct — Failure to obey orders, rules or instructions. Substantial disregard of the employer’s interests 
or employee’s duties and obligations to the employer. Willful or wanton disregard of employer’s interest due to deliberate violations or disregard of standards of behavior the employer has a right to expect. Recurring carelessness or negligence. 
Misrepresentation — Deliberately making an untrue statement or withholding information needed to make a proper determination.
Monetary Determination — A written determination of monetary eligibility of benefits based on covered wages earned by the claimant in the base period. This monetary determination also includes the weekly benefit amount, maximum benefit amount, effective date and benefit year end date. Please keep your copy of this 
document.
Monetary Eligibility — Eligibility for benefits based on covered wages during the base period. This is the first step of the unemployment process. A determination will also need to be made by the Benefit Section based on the reason the claimant is no longer employed.
Non-Monetary Determination — A written determination of eligibility regarding a specific issue or circumstance other than monetary eligibility that may affect a claimant’s eligibility for benefits.
Notice of Claim — The notice an employer receives after a claimant has applied for unemployment benefits. 
This notice allows the employer to provide the Benefit Section with a reason a claimant is no longer employed. 
Under most circumstances this notice is mailed the business day directly after the day an application for benefits was made. An employer is then given a 15-day period of time to return the notice to the Benefit Section.
Overpayment — A payment of benefits that a claimant was not entitled to receive.
Partial Benefits — The amount of unemployment benefits a claimant could receive if he/she continues to work while filing for unemployment benefits. 
Personal Identification Number (PIN) — A four-digit number used for identification and security purposes along with the claimant’s Social Security number, used when filing through the IVR system.
Re-Employment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) — A Department of Labor and Regulation program designed to help claimants return to work as quickly as possible. Each participant receives an unemployment eligibility assessment and a customized re-employment plan. The plan may include job referrals, job search skills, workforce training and other services.
Re-Employment Services (RES) — A Department of Labor and Regulation program designed to help claimants return to work as quickly as possible. Each participant receives a customized re-employment plan. The plan may include job referrals, job search skills, aptitude testing, workforce training and other services.
Separation — The reason the claimant is no longer working. This can be due to being discharged (fired/suspended), voluntarily quitting or being laid off due to lack of work. 
Severance Pay — Payment given to an employee by an employer after the employee separates from employment.
Suitable Work — Work for which the claimant is qualified or has experience in, and for which the wages offered are the going rate for work in the claimant’s area.

©UnemploymentOrg “Knowing Your Eligibility” 2012