Unemployment Benefits
Labor Code 212.053 — 14 days to appeal, and what disqualifies
A claimant is disqualified from Texas unemployment benefits after being discharged for misconduct connected with the last work, or after leaving the last work voluntarily without good cause connected with the work. Either disqualification lasts until the person returns to work and either works six weeks or earns wages equal to six times the weekly benefit amount.
- A medically verified illness of the person or the person's minor child, where no reasonable alternative care was available and the employer refused reasonable time off.
- Injury, disability or pregnancy.
- Moving with a spouse in the armed forces on a permanent change of station of more than 120 days or a tour of more than one year.
- A partially unemployed person who resigns to take work reasonably believed to pay a higher weekly wage.
Fourteen days, at each step. An examiner's determination is final unless the claimant or the last employer files an appeal no later than the 14th calendar day after the copy is mailed. After the appeal tribunal, a commission decision becomes final 14 days after it is mailed unless a party files a written motion for rehearing first, and judicial review in a county court at law or district court is brought no later than the 14th day after the decision is final.
Leaving to move with a spouse, other than a military spouse, carries a disqualification of six to 25 benefit periods rather than the six week rule. What counts as misconduct or good cause is decided case by case.
Sources for this section (5)
- Labor Code 212.053 — Examiner's determination final unless appealed
- Labor Code 207.045 — Voluntarily leaving work
- Labor Code 207.044 — Discharge for misconduct
- Labor Code 212.153 — Finality of commission decision
- Labor Code 212.201 — Commencement of judicial review
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Texas attorney.