What Are My Ongoing Eligibility Requirements?
Once you apply for UI benefits, there are certain things you must do:

1. Make an Active Search for Work

Your most important focus right now is to find another job as soon as you can. We can pay you only for weeks in which you actively seek a job. You must diligently look for work and also register for work online at www.texasworkforce.org, (click on WorkInTexas), or with the nearest workforce center within 3 business days of filing a UI claim.

Make your work search your full-time job! Unless TWC exempts you from this requirement, you must make your assigned minimum number of work search activities each week to be eligible for UI benefits. If you are uncertain about your minimum number of required weekly work search contacts, call a UI Tele-Center. You will want, of course, to make as many contacts as it takes to get a job. Try to get at least one in-person interview each day. Make thorough, well-planned contacts to get the results you want--a job! Use the following tips in your work search plan:



• Learn as much as you can about finding a job: Your local workforce center offers a full array of employment and training services to assist you. Services and resources offered through the Center may include: job listings and referrals; job search assistance; a career research library and labor market information; access to telephones, fax machines, copiers, and computers including Internet access, online job banks and résumé writing software; job search/job club workshops and seminars; as well as information on education and training services. You may also access a variety of information and resources at www.texasworkforce.org.
  
  
• Prepare: Make a list of your background and experience. This list can help you fill out job applications, prepare résumés, or provide information during job interviews.
  
  
• Search out job leads: Ask friends and relatives if they know of job openings. Most job leads come from word-of-mouth referrals. Check newspaper ads, employment and temporary agencies, libraries, career centers, colleges or schools, and community organizations. Follow up quickly on leads.
  
  
• Organize your time: Make a daily "to do" list of job search activities.
  
  
• Sell yourself: First impressions are important. Arrive on time for interviews. Dress appropriately for all interviews and employer contacts, even if you may only pick up a job application. Go alone.
  
  

Make job contacts that count--for your claim and for success.



• Review the Guidelines For A Productive Work Search, or go to www.texasworkforce.org, where you can find other job-hunting links such as the Texas Job Hunter's Guide.
  
  
• Complete an application or provide a résumé if the employer requires this as the first step in the hiring process.
  
  
• Call the employer for information about the proper way or place to apply. Don’t just ask if they are hiring. Follow up on any instructions the employer gives you.
  
  
• As your period of unemployment lengthens, consider accepting lower wages or alternative suitable work. To remain eligible for UI benefits, you may be required to lower your wage demand and look for work in other occupations or areas in which you qualify.

Keep good records! Failure to look for, apply for, or accept suitable work will keep you from receiving benefits. Protect your eligibility by writing details about all the work search activities you make. TWC verifies work search activities. We may ask for evidence of your work search efforts. Questions about your work search can come up at anytime during your benefit year, so be sure to keep good records. If you cannot provide TWC evidence of work search efforts, which includes sufficient details that TWC can verify, you will be ineligible for payment, and TWC will ask you to pay back any benefits you received. Work search record details depend on the type of work search activities, but they should include what you did; how you did it; the date you did it; where you went; and the name and phone number of any person contacted.  If you called an employer, you should include the phone number; if visited in person, include an address; if sent an e-mail or fax, include the address or fax number; if made an Internet contact, give the Web address.  Be detailed and specific.  If you do not have all of these details, you should explain why the information is not available.  If you respond to a "blind ad' with no employer details, you should specify, "blind ad," and give contact information.  If you do not provide your log when requested, or if an employer or other contact you listed disputes your report of a contact, your eligibility to receive benefits may be affected and you would be required to repay any benefits paid to you.

To record detailed information about your job search activities, you may use the TWC Work Search Log we mailed you, making copies as needed. You may also download a copy from the Internet at www.texasworkforce.org, or you may choose to keep your detailed records in some other format but it must contain the same information the TWC log form requests. In addition to providing information you may need for TWC, your work search record can be useful in planning your follow-up activities with employers.

2. Be Available for Work

TWC considers individuals available for work if they are ready, willing, and able to accept any suitable full-time work. To be available for work, you must:


• Have adequate transportation and child care arranged
  
  
• Be available for job interviews
  
  
• Be willing and able to work all the days and hours required for the type of work you are seeking
  
  
• Be willing to accept the usual rate of pay for a person of your qualifications and experience
  
  
3. Be Able to Work

You must be physically able to work full-time.


4. Register for Work Search with TWC

You must register for work search either through the Internet or with your nearest workforce center. Registering for work search is separate and distinct from filing a claim for UI benefits. If you do not complete work search registration within 3 business days of filing a claim, TWC will hold you ineligible for benefits and ask you to refund any benefits received.  TWC may give you permission not to register if any of the following applies:


• You are on temporary layoff and will return to work soon
  
  
• You are an active member in good standing of a union with a hiring hall
  
  
• You are on a shared work program (see "If Your Employer Has a Shared Work Program")
  
  

NOTE: You can complete a work search registration and search for jobs through TWC's Web site, at http://www.texasworkforce.org (Click on WorkInTexas). Registering for work search involves filling out an online job application.

5. Be Available to TWC

Contact TWC or your local workforce center as instructed. You must respond to requests regarding both Unemployment Insurance and reemployment services. Failure to respond will result in delay or denial of benefits.


6. Request Payment for Weeks of Unemployment

Request UI benefit payments every two weeks.  You may request payment any day of your claim week at www.texasworkforce.org (click on Payment Request), or go directly to http://www.twc.state.tx.us/ui/paymentrequest.html.  Or, call Tele-Serv.   Failure to call within your scheduled week and request payment will cause a delay or denial of your payment. If TWC instructs you to file paper certification forms, mail or fax paper claim forms every two weeks.
7. Participate in Required Reemployment Activities

Federal law requires states to determine which new claimants are most likely to exhaust their unemployment insurance benefits. TWC uses a statistical model to identify individuals who may need additional reemployment services. Federal law also requires TWC to deny benefits to claimants who fail to participate in required services. Your local workforce office will contact you if you are a candidate for particular required services.

What Happens If I Refuse a Job While Receiving Benefits?
If you refuse to apply for or accept a suitable job, we will not be able to pay you UI benefits. Some of the factors TWC considers in determining whether work is suitable are:

• Your experience, qualifications, and training
  
  
• The working conditions and pay for similar work in your area
  
  
• Any risks to your health, safety or morals
  
  
• The distance to work from your home and local commuting patterns
  
  
• The length of your unemployment
  

How Can I End a Disqualification?
If you received a disqualification for a job separation or work refusal, you may be able to end the disqualification through work or earnings. A disqualification period may end only after you do all of the following:

• Enter employment after your disqualification begins
  


• Earn wages equal to six times your weekly benefit amount or work at least 30 hours a week for six weeks
  


• Become unemployed through no fault of your own, or continue a part-time job
  


• Give TWC proof of your work or earnings and request we close the disqualification
  

TWC cannot pay you benefits for the time between the beginning of the disqualification and the time that you meet the requirements to end the disqualification.

You can use work or wages from most types of employment for this purpose. You cannot use types of work the Act excludes from its definition of "employment." Some examples of work you cannot use are work performed for your son, daughter, or spouse; work for a church; work as an insurance agent for commission only; or most self-employment.

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