A TWC Wage Claim is a process by which you ask the Texas Workforce Commission to decide whether you have a legal right to unpaid money from your current or former employer. If the TWC ultimately determines you are owed money, the TWC may also have authority to force the employer to pay up. You initiate a TWC Wage Claim by filling out this form, getting it notarized, and sending it to the TWC, along with relevant documents for your claim. The big thing about TWC Wage Claims is that you can only claim unpaid wages from the previous 180 days. If, for instance, you wait more than 180 days to file a Wage Claim for your final paycheck, you have probably lost your right to recover that through a Wage Claim.

The initial investigator sends a notice to the employer and gathersTexas Workforce Commission Logo information and documents from both sides. The investigator will then issue a Preliminary Wage Determination Order (PWDO) that says how much the investigator determined that you’re owed – or that you’re not owed any money at all. Either party can appeal that PWDO, in which case a telephone hearing is set with the Special Hearings Department at the TWC. A hearing officer will hold a telephone hearing where you present your evidence (documents, witnesses and your own testimony) and question the opposing party’s witnesses. The employer does the same in their defense. The hearing officer will issue a formal written decision. That decision can be appealed to Commission Appeals, who, in most cases, simply reviews the hearing recording and evidence from the Special Hearings Department. After that, either party can seek “judicial review” in court. There are a lot of considerations and conditions that apply as you appeal to the next level, so if you are thinking of doing so, don’t let this brief blurb on the process be all you review.

Sometimes Wage Claims can be useful, and sometimes they can be harmful – or at least, they can leave you short-changed.