Background

• The unemployment insurance program in Texas, as in all states, restricts eligibility for benefits to unemployed workers who are not at fault for losing their job. Voluntarily leaving a job usually is grounds for disqualification, but Texas and other states make exceptions if they consider your resignation from work to be for good cause. Along with possible issues such as an intolerable work environment, the Texas Workforce Commission looks at whether medical issues compelled you to resign.
  
  

Good Cause

• The Unemployment Insurance Benefits Handbook, published by the Texas Workforce Commission, cites quitting for "medically documented" reasons as a circumstance in which you still could receive unemployment benefits. If you suffer from stress that triggers a serious illness and forces you to quit your job to seek treatment, you still can receive benefits as long as you earned enough in wages to meet the monetary requirements for eligibility. As implied by the phrase "medically documented," you likely will have to present a written diagnosis from your doctor or another health care provider as evidence of your condition.
  
  

Ongoing Eligibility

• Qualifying to receive unemployment benefits in Texas does not automatically entitle you to receive benefits for the full 26 weeks -- or longer if federal extensions are in effect. As in most states, you have to maintain eligibility by engaging in a search for full-time work. If you have an illness that prevents you from fulfilling the work-search requirement, the state could suspend your benefits until you are able and available to work again.
  
  

Penalty

• If you quit your job in Texas and lack the proper documentation, or the state otherwise disputes your claim of a medical disability, you cannot receive benefits unless you find employment for at least six weeks or earn wages equal to six times your weekly benefit amount. Keep in mind that you subsequently would have to lose that job through no fault of your own.
  
  

Alternative

• Under federal laws that apply in Texas, you might be able to take time off from work to deal with your stress-related illness and remain employed. The Family and Medical Leave Act allows you up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave per year for reasons that include serious health conditions, which generally are medical issues that require continuing treatment by a doctor or another health care professional. The provisions do not apply to employers with fewer than 50 employees, however.