Unemployment
Unemployment Compensation Insurance (UCI) is an employer-funded insurance program that helps workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own.
It provides temporary financial help to qualified individuals, based on their previous earnings, while they are looking for other work.
No, not everyone who applies receives benefits. All benefit determinations are made by the Texas Workforce Commission.
A claimant's eligibility to receive benefits is based on:
- base period wages,
- job separation or the reason a claimant is no longer employed, and
- their ability and availability for full-time work.
A claimant must qualify in all three areas to receive unemployment benefits. To learn more about qualifying for UCI benefits, see the Texas Workforce Commission's Unemployment Benefits Handbook.
You may contact the nearest Texas Workforce Commission Tele-Center for Unemployment Services:
- Telephone: (800) 939-6631
- Apply for unemployment
- Information in Spanish
Student Employment
A student who is employed at a school, college, or university, and enrolled and regularly attending classes at a school, college or university, may not meet the Texas Labor Code definition of employment. If services provided are not defined as "employment" per section 201.069 of the Texas Labor Code, Service of Student, wages earned may be excluded from the claimant's base period and therefore may not be used to determine if the claimant qualifies for benefits or in the determination of their weekly benefit amount. You can learn more about Texas Labor Code, section 201.069, Service of Student.
Learn More
To learn more about Unemployment Compensation Insurance and better understand your rights and responsibilities, you may go to the Texas Workforce Commission's website or download the TWC's Unemployment Benefits Handbook.
UCI information is taken from the Texas Workforce Commission website.