An unemployed individual who has no current benefit year and who wishes to claim benefits shall report to an office of the commission, or to a representative of the commission at an itinerant service point or such other place or in such other manner, including telephonic or electronic means, as the commission may approve, register for work, and file a claim for benefits.

1. (1) In case of a mass layoff by an employer, if a group of individuals or its representative and the last employing unit involved make an appropriate request, the commission may accept, in lieu of an initial claim or a registration for work form from each individual, a list furnished by the last employer of the individuals to be laid off and who wish to file initial claims for benefits. Such list shall reflect with respect to each individual all information normally required on the initial claim by the commission, except the reason for separation. If the commission approves the request, the listing may then be used by the commission both as an initial claim and as a registration for work with respect to each individual, and the provisions of these sections which require a personal appearance at an employment office or a signature by the claimant with respect to an initial claim or work registration, shall not be required of such individuals.
2. (2) After an individual files a valid initial claim which fixes his benefit year, he may, during such benefit year, file subsequent continued claims, weekly, or biweekly, in person or by mail or by other means, including telephonic or other electronic means, as the commission may approve, unless he must be permitted to file a claim by mail or by other means, including telephonic or other electronic means, as the commission may approve, in accordance with the terms of this rule, but at intervals no less than periods of seven consecutive days. If at any time during such benefit year more than 30 days have elapsed since he filed his last previous claim, he shall again register for work and shall file a claim for benefits. An individual who exhausts his regular benefits may file continued claims for extended benefits in the same manner in which he filed claims for regular benefits, but his claims for extended benefits may be for benefit periods subsequent to the end of his benefit year.

3. (3) An individual who files a claim for benefits shall comply with all requirements of the public employment office in which he files an application for work that are necessary to establish a valid registration for work in that public employment office and shall do those things requested by a commission representative, either orally or in writing, that are reasonably designed to inform him of his rights and responsibilities in filing a claim for benefits. He shall also:

   1. (A) present evidence, when requested to do so, to establish his correct social security account number;
   2. (B) file all claims in the manner directed by the commission, whether on commission-provided forms or by telephonic or other electronic means approved by the commission for claims purposes;
   3. (C) supply all information within his knowledge which is necessary to determine his right to benefits under the Act;
   4. (D) sign all provided claims forms personally for those claims that are filed in person or by mail;
   5. (E) personally present all claims to a commission representative during the scheduled hours of service at an office of the commission, or at an itinerant service point or such other place as the commission may approve, unless he files them by mail or by other approved means, including telephonic or electronic means, in accordance with the terms of this rule; and
   6. (F) submit all claims filed by mail or by other means, including telephonic or electronic means, as instructed by the commission.

4. (4) An individual must be permitted to file a claim by mail or by other means, including telephonic or electronic means, as the commission may approve, in any of the following circumstances.

   1. (A) He is, in the opinion of the commission, located in an area requiring the expenditure of an unreasonable amount of time or money in traveling to the nearest facility established by the commission for filing claims in person.
   2. (B) Conditions make it impracticable for a commission representative to take claims in person.
   3. (C) He has returned to full-time work on or before the scheduled date for his filing a claim, unless provisions are made for in-person filing at a time and place that does not interfere with his employment.
   4. (D) The commission finds that he has good cause for failing to file a claim in person.

5. (5) An individual, other than one who must be permitted to file by mail, may be permitted to file a claim by mail, except that he shall file in person any claim, when requested to do so, because a question about his right to benefits is raised by circumstances such as the following:

   1. (A) the conditions or circumstances of his separation from employment;
   2. (B) his answer to a question on a claim filed by mail or by other approved means indicates that he may be unable to work or that there may be an undue restriction on his availability for work or that his search for work may be inadequate or that he may be disqualified;
   3. (C) his answer to a question on a claim filed by mail or by other approved means creates uncertainty about his credibility or indicates a lack of understanding of the applicable requirements; or
   4. (D) his record shows that he previously has filed a fraudulent claim.
6. (6) An individual who is required to file a claim in person shall continue to file claims in person each week (or biweekly) until the commission determines that the reason which caused him to be required to file a claim in person no longer exists.

7. (7) The following provisions shall apply to the disqualification provisions of the Act, Chapter 207, Subchapter C, concerning disqualification for benefits.

   1. (A) The term "employment" in the Act, Chapter 207, Subchapter C, shall be interpreted and applied to mean employment as defined in the Act.
   2. (B) The disqualification to be imposed against an individual who has left work to move with a spouse, as provided in the Act, §207.045(c), shall be construed to mean both a benefits (money payments) and a benefit period (time period) disqualification; and such disqualification shall be restricted in its application to apply only to the range from six weeks to 25 weeks.
   3. (C) Commission employees are authorized to administer oaths to claimants in an effort to verify that the requalifying requirements of the Act, Chapter 207, Subchapter C, concerning employment or earnings, have been satisfied.
   4. (D) An employer identified as the employer by whom the claimant was employed, for purposes of satisfying the requalifying requirements of the Act, Chapter 207, Subchapter C, shall be afforded 14 days within which to respond to notice by the commission of the filing of an additional claim by the claimant.
   5. (E) In order to satisfy the requirement of the Act, Chapter 207, Subchapter C, concerning returning to employment and working for six weeks, a "work week" shall be defined as a consecutive seven-day period during which the claimant has worked at least 30 hours.
   6. (F) The fact that a disqualification was imposed on the basis of a given separation under the Act, §207.044, §207.045, or §207.051 in a previous benefit year shall not prevent a disqualification on the basis of that separation if it is the last separation from work prior to the filing of an initial claim establishing a new benefit year. On filing an initial claim for benefits, a claimant shall not be subject to any disqualification under the Act, §§207.044, 207.045, 207.047, or 207.051 unless such disqualification is based on that claimant's separation from his or her last work prior to the filing of the initial claim, or in the case of the Act, §207.047, such disqualification is based on events during the current benefit year established by the initial claim. The provisions in the preceding sentence shall not prevent disqualifications under the Act, §§207.044, 207.045, 207.047, or 207.051 beginning during a benefit year and based on events occurring during that benefit year. If a new initial claim is not in order at the end of a benefit year but extended benefits are available beyond the end of the benefit year, then a disqualification imposed under the Act, §§207.044, 207.045, 207.047, or 207.051 will continue beyond the end of the benefit year until extended benefits are terminated or the claimant qualifies to file a new initial claim, or until the disqualification is terminated in accordance with the terms of the subsection under which it was imposed.
8. (8) An individual shall be eligible to receive benefits with respect to any week only if the individual demonstrates the availability for work required by Texas Labor Code, §207.021(a)(4), by participating in re-employment services, such as, but not limited to, job search assistance services, if the individual has been determined to be likely to exhaust regular benefits and need re-employment services pursuant to a profiling system established by the commission.

9. (9) Withholding From Benefits for Federal Income Tax.

   1. (A) An individual filing a new claim for unemployment compensation shall, at the time of filing such claim, be advised that:

      1. (i) Unemployment compensation is subject to federal, state and local income tax;
      2. (ii) Requirements exist pertaining to estimated tax payments;
      3. (iii) The individual may elect to have Federal income tax deducted and withheld from the individual's payment of unemployment compensation at the amount specified in the Federal Internal Revenue Code;
      4. (iv) The individual shall be permitted to change a previously elected withholding status.
   2. (B) Amounts deducted and withheld from unemployment compensation shall remain in the unemployment fund until transferred to the Federal taxing authority as a payment of income tax.
   3. (C) The commission shall follow all procedures specified by the United States Department of Labor and the Federal Internal Revenue Service pertaining to the deducting and withholding of income tax.
   4. (D) Amounts shall be deducted and withheld under this section only after amounts are deducted and withheld under any other provisions of the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act.

Source Note:The provisions of this §815.20 adopted to be effective July 27, 1982, 7 TexReg 2630; amended to be effective November 17, 1982, 7 TexReg 3919; amended to be effective December 7, 1994, 19 TexReg 9391; transferred effective June 1, 1996, as published in the Texas Register June 18, 1996, 21 TexReg 5606; amended to be effective January 1, 1997, 21 TexReg 2404; amended to be effective October 6, 1998, 23 TexReg 10049.