Just laid off in Texas? Here's your playbook.

The first 72 hours after a layoff

• Your final paycheck. Under the Texas Payday Law, if you're laid off or fired your final wages are due within six calendar days. (If you quit, they're due by the next regular payday.)
• File for unemployment right away. The Texas Workforce Commission pays up to $591 a week (minimum $74) for up to 26 weeks — and there's no state income tax, so more of it stays with you. File at twc.texas.gov.
• Sort out health cover through HealthCare.gov (a job loss lets you enroll outside open enrollment) or continue your employer plan via COBRA.
• Don't rush to sign severance — it usually asks you to give up the right to sue. Read it, and have it reviewed, first.

Your rights when you're let go in Texas

• Strongly at-will. Texas is a firmly at-will state — but you still can't be fired for an unlawful reason like discrimination or retaliation, handled by the Texas Workforce Commission's Civil Rights Division and the federal EEOC.
• Layoff notice. Texas has no state WARN law, but the federal WARN Act can require larger employers (100+ staff) to give 60 days' notice of a mass layoff or plant closing.
• Severance isn't required by law.

General information, not legal advice. For your situation, use the official Texas resources below or an employment attorney.

Money and leverage while you search

• Claim unemployment the day you're let go (above). Report part-time or gig income and you may still get a reduced benefit.
• Texas doesn't require employers to post pay. There's no state pay-transparency law, so you'll often have to find the market rate yourself — check comparable postings, Glassdoor and Levels.fyi, and it's fine to ask for the range early. Our free tools help you read what a role really values.

Your résumé for the Texas market

Texas hiring is ATS-first, especially in Austin and Dallas tech. Mirror the posting's exact keywords, keep the formatting clean, lead with achievements and metrics, and skip the photo, birth date and age.

Then tune it to your metro and sector:

Do it in minutes with our free Job Description Decoder and résumé keyword checker. The app's team — Wren, Scout and Ace — is free to start.

Where to look in Texas (free and official)

Start with the public, no-cost help most people never use:

• Texas Workforce Commission — unemployment
• WorkInTexas — job search (state & private)
• TWC Civil Rights Division — discrimination
• US EEOC — workplace discrimination

The part nobody talks about

A layoff is a genuine shock, and it's not a verdict on your worth. Take a beat, then take the next small step. In the app, Juno is there for the low days, and Scout and Ace help you get moving when you're ready.

Where the jobs actually are — the big US boards

Hiring managers in Austin, Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio post across the big national boards — so start your search here, then use your free career team to win the roles you find:

• Indeed — The largest US job board — one-click apply, alerts, reviews.
• LinkedIn Jobs — Get found by recruiters and apply through your network.
• ZipRecruiter — AI job matching and one-click apply across industries.
• Glassdoor — Salaries, reviews and reported interview questions.
• Monster — Long-established board with resume posting and alerts.
• USAJOBS — The official site for US federal government jobs.

Frequently asked questions

Written and reviewed by the Career Agenting System team at Culture & Clarity Limited · Last reviewed August 2026 · Sources: Texas Workforce Commission (unemployment & Payday Law) · US DOL — WARN Act · US EEOC · Our editorial standards