I was surplussed October 19 (last day on payroll) and filed an unemployment claim in the state of Texas. I was ultimately declared ineligible to receive unemployment benefits since I received a severance payment. Has anyone else in Texas been denied unemployment as well or has anyone been able to get approved to collect unemployment even though we received severance? If approved, what was the determining factor? I appealed the decision and have a hearing scheduled.
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In Texas, union negotiated severance pay is not considered for unemployment benefits (key words "collective bargaining agreement"). If you are management, then that provision does not apply. I was union, got my severance and still able to collect unemployment benefits based on income earned from last year of employment. Had a manager who called me because they got denied for that reason (non-union negotiated).
Ok, makes sense about the union vs management regarding UI. if management you will probably need to wait out your severance period before collecting UI in Texas.
The difference in the determination may be if you are management or union. Union serverance is negotiated in the contracts i.e. collective bargaining agreement. The way this is written serverance received under a Union contract is not considered Remuneration per the State of Texas:
Sec. 207.049. RECEIPT OF REMUNERATION.
(b) In this section, "severance pay" means dismissal or separation income paid on termination of employment in addition to the employee's usual earnings from the employer at the time of termination. The term does not include any remuneration received by an employee under:
(2) a written contract, including a collective bargaining agreement, negotiated with the employer before the date of separation from employment of the employee.
Issue: Remuneration-Additional Payment
Decision: We cannot pay you benefits for the period below.
Reason for Decision: The additional payment you received from your last employer disqualifies
you from receiving benefits during the period
Law Reference: Subsections 207.049(a)(1) and 207.049(a)(2) of the Texas Unemployment
Compensation Act.
Issue: Overpayment-Nonmonetary Determination
Decision: You have been overpaid unemployment benefits. We cannot pay you benefits until you
repay this overpayment.
Reason For Decision: We obtained new information and after investigation foundyou are not
eligible for the benefits we already paid you. For an explanation of why we cannot pay you,
please refer to the DETERMINATION ON PAYMENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS we mailed you.
Law Reference: Section 212.006 of the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act.
( once my 6 months sev pay was over i would be eligible for payment. )
They told me the only time you could collect UI for the period is if the opposite : for WAGES IN LIEU OF (in place of) NOTICE = YES. In other words, if you had no idea your job was about to end and they came to you one day and gave you a check for 4 weeks to leave that day.
I think you could also have a different answer from many different people from that train wreck of an agency. It sounds like some people did get payments and maybe this situation is not treated uniformly.
Again, I am not discouraging you from appealing - best of luck. Maybe I just had a bad UI officer. I appealed and it felt more like I was on trial than anything. I entered my sev agreement as evidence and they did not accept it as a "written agreement." The whole thing just stunk. If anything they wasted my time looking or a new job more than anything.
@kdr How did you answer this TWC question in regards to the severance payment: Was the payment given in exchange for a release of claim or as the result of a settlement with the employer?
This is where TWC determined I was ineligible:
Their rationale: additional payment not given due to release of claim or written/negotiated agreement. Additional pay raise POT to deny.
Their Conclusion: remuneration-additional payment-closed period ineligibility.
Doesn't the General Release and Waiver that we signed in order to receive severance release all claims against AT&T that TWC states was not the case? I plan to use this in my appeals hearing but others have mentioned they stated this and were ultimately denied UI.
@ kdr - yes, i did all of the above and the denied UI
I am in Texas & I received unemployment payments from day 1. I had no problems collecting. I applied & 4 days later TWC called & said AT&T approved claim. AT&T also informed TWC that I would be receiving severance in the next few weeks. I was told to call in once I received the severance check & report it as income. I did, TWC asked several questions regarding the payment- specifically if THE PAYMENT was WAGES IN LIEU OF (in place of) NOTICE. Answer NO- it was an amount determined & agreed on in advance.
I received notice a few days later that severance DID NOT affect Unemployment Benefits.
Key Point is WAGES IN LIEU OF NOTICE. That would be if AT&T told you to leave TODAY or say Friday & they are going to pay you “ X “ amount as a consolation.
So were those the steps you followed & how did you answer the questions? Do you have your severance communication from the company showing the day it was presented to you vs the last day on payroll.
Texas. Peers and friends of mine in same situation received max benefits. Some surplussed, retired or both.
Texas. Peers and friends of mine in same situation received max benefits. Some surplussed, retired or both.
I tried using the same argument with TWC regarding signing the "general release" and they did not agree with me. You may or may not have a different outcome depending on who handles your case and their conclusion. I still disagree with their decision based on the wording of the law. Best of luck.
I was surplussed last year retired at same time received severance and max UE benefits in Texas.
Response from another state: UI will not go into effect until you use up your severance funds. Once your six months pass, you can receive unemployment if you do not find another job for another six months. You have to commit to job searching 32 hours a week (networking, classes, resume creation) to get unemployment. Any payment you receive to make ends meet are deducted from your payment, but unemployment can be delayed to the end of your term. If you volunteer, you can meet your “working hours” and get paid because you earned $0.
yes, in texas they determine you are being paid for the duration of your severance period. after that period ends you should be able to collect. i think they rewrote the law several years back to make it look like there is low unemployment in texas.
It is my understanding that Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is looking at two things: 1) wages in lieu of notification (which AT&T does not affect AT&T since we are given a surplus notification and 2) severance pay (which we do receive).
I found this on the TWC website: Other types of post-termination payments that are neither severance pay nor wages in lieu of notice: an incentive paid to obtain a release or waiver of liability from the departing employee with regard to the Civil Rights Act of 1991 - a payment like that will not affect unemployment benefits.
Since we had to sign the General Release and Waiver in order to receive the severance payment, does this fall under the category above? If it does, then I plan to use this statement during my appeal hearing.
Not from Texas, but a very quick search show:
https://twc.texas.gov/businesses/unemployment-benefits-basics-employers
"A laid-off employee who receives wages instead of notice or most other severance pay is eligible for benefits after the weeks covered by those wages."
My guess is that, say you had 10 weeks of severance pay, on the 11th week, you could start collecting unemployment. That helps keeps any experience surcharge levied against the employer lower.