Unemployment recipients will have to start documenting their efforts to find a new job July 6, with the first reports due July 19, the Texas Workforce Commission announced in a news release.
This requirement had been suspended temporarily during the ongoing economic downturn related to the coronavirus pandemic.
People will continue to receive benefits after the July 6 date. The commission recommended that unemployment recipients keep “good records” of their work searches and save related documents in case the state requests them.
The state said more than half a million job listings are available on the state’s jobs portal.
“Let me be clear: we are not over it,” TWC Executive Director Ed Serna said. “But we’re seeing employment opportunities begin to bounce back in Texas as our economy restarts. There are opportunities out there, and getting Texans back to work and businesses up and running again will create even more.”
Furloughed employees who are set to return to work within 12 weeks of the start of the furlough will not be required to document any job search efforts.
Benefit recipients who are self-employed must either take steps to reopen their business or apply for jobs.
Texans can receive up to $521 per week in state unemployment benefits, plus another $600 per week from the federal stimulus law. Those supplemental payments from the federal government are set to expire July 31.
