By Evan Lange
Don’t sign anything on the spot, especially a severance agreement or release. Write down exactly what happened while it’s fresh, save documents you’re allowed to keep, and confirm your final paycheck, which is due within six calendar days in Texas when you’re fired or laid off. Apply for unemployment with the Texas Workforce Commission right away, because being fired doesn’t automatically disqualify you. Check your health insurance options, ask what your employer will tell future employers, and watch the deadlines: discrimination charges generally must be filed within 180 days with the TWC or 300 days with the EEOC.
Losing a job is a shock, and the first two days are when people make the mistakes that are hardest to undo: signing a release under pressure, deleting messages, missing a deadline, or assuming that “at-will” means they have no rights. Here’s a step-by-step checklist from a Houston employment law firm, with links to our detailed guides on each issue.
Many employers hand over a severance agreement in the termination meeting. It almost always includes a release of legal claims. You’re usually allowed time to review it, and if you’re 40 or older and part of a group layoff, federal law generally gives you 45 days to consider it and 7 days to revoke.
Read what a typical severance package includes and why to have a severance attorney review it before you sign.
If you were recently put on a performance plan, see what a PIP means in Texas. If they said you were fired “for cause,” read termination for cause in Texas.
Under the Texas Payday Law, final pay is due within 6 calendar days if you’re fired or laid off. Unused vacation is owed only if a written policy or agreement provides for it. Bonuses and commissions follow the terms of your plan. See whether a bonus can be withheld.
File with the Texas Workforce Commission as soon as possible. Being fired disqualifies you only if it was for misconduct connected with the work, the employer generally has to prove it, and poor performance alone usually isn’t misconduct. Severance or pay in lieu of notice can delay when benefits start. Read collecting unemployment if you were fired.
Texas is at-will, but a firing is illegal if the real reason was discrimination, retaliation or another protected reason. Warning signs:
Learn more about retaliation in the workplace and at-will employment in Texas.
Discrimination charges generally must be filed within 180 days with the Texas Workforce Commission or 300 days with the EEOC. Wage claims with the TWC must be filed within 180 days of when the wages were due.
Don’t sign anything immediately, write down what happened, save documents you’re allowed to keep, confirm your final pay, apply for unemployment and talk to an employment lawyer about whether the firing was legal.
Under the Texas Payday Law, final pay is due within six calendar days of being fired or laid off.
Often, yes. Texas disqualifies claimants fired for misconduct connected with the work, but the employer generally must prove misconduct, and poor performance alone usually is not misconduct.
No. Severance agreements usually include a release of legal claims. Take the time you’re given to review it, and have an employment lawyer look at it before signing.
Generally 180 days with the Texas Workforce Commission or 300 days with the EEOC from the date of the firing.
The Lange Firm represents employees in Houston and across Texas. Attorney Evan Lange can review your termination, severance offer and timeline, and tell you whether you have a wrongful termination claim.
The first 48 hours shape everything that follows.
Slow down, document, and get advice.
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