Unemployed will not have to report job search requirement per storm week

Austin — The Texas Unemployment Relief Agency announced that it will suspend the job search requirement for the next two weeks due to blackouts caused by the extreme winter event, giving Texans relief during an extraordinary week in which millions of people in the been several days without electricity.

In a prominent announcement on its website, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) indicated that its operations, including the call centers that process unemployment insurance claims, had been affected by the weather contingency.

“To help our customers, TWC will extend the timelines for any delays that may occur due to the winter storm,” the announcement reads.

“(The) job search requirement will be suspended statewide for the weeks ending February 20 and 27.”

Texans receiving unemployment insurance payments must show that they are looking for work in order to receive their check every two weeks.

This requirement will be canceled for this week and next.

Rick Levy, president of the Texas AFL-CIO, had harshly criticized the state Wednesday for maintaining the requirement when millions of people in the state were without power and called on Gov. Greg Abbott to suspend it.

“They shouldn’t have reinstituted the job search requirement in the middle of the pandemic anyway, so having to deal with this is an additional burden that people shouldn’t have to bear,” Levy said Thursday.

“We are pleased that they have lifted the requirement for now, but hopefully from now on we will not put up more barriers for people to receive the assistance they desperately need.”

Still under the economic impact of the pandemic, in mid-February Texas continues to make more than 1.1 million unemployment assistance payments.

But unemployed Texans will not have to worry about not receiving their unemployment benefit if they cannot claim payment this week, commission officials said.

Texans whose application dates were Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday but did not have a phone or internet will still receive their insurance payment for as long as they are entitled to it.

But those beneficiaries will have to make their request for payment as soon as their electricity or internet service is restored and they will be able to do so on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

If the power is still out after Saturday, February 20, unemployed Texans are invited to call a TWC representative to help expedite their request at 1-800-939-6631.

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