Has your employer been accommodating with your medical appointments at all? if they havent been working with you on your schedule after you provided doctors notes, you might have an ADA complaint too. my sister got unemployment after quitting because her boss refused reasonable accommodations for her medical condition

After reading through this entire thread, I think you have a reasonable case for benefits regardless of whether you quit or are terminated, BUT you need to be strategic in how you navigate this. Here's my comprehensive advice: 1. If you decide to resign, make it explicitly clear in writing that you are resigning due to medical necessity, not to avoid termination. Provide copies of medical documentation with your resignation. 2. When filing with ESD, focus on the medical reasons, not the attendance issues. The attendance problems were a symptom of the underlying medical needs, not misconduct. 3. Be prepared for adjudication - almost all voluntary quits go through this process. During adjudication, provide all documentation showing: - Medical necessity (doctor's notes) - Any attempts to work with your employer on accommodations - The timeline of events including your return from maternity leave - Any evidence that your employer was unwilling to accommodate medical needs 4. Consider also exploring PFML as others have suggested, especially if your or your child's medical issues are ongoing. 5. If denied initially (which happens frequently), immediately appeal and request a hearing where you can present your full documentation. Your situation involves several overlapping areas: maternity leave protections, medical necessity, and potentially ADA considerations. With proper documentation and clear explanation of the medical basis for separation, you have a reasonable path to benefits.

Based on your follow-up comment about finding something in the Decisions tab about availability, here's what likely happened: Even though Commissioner Approved Training (CAT) does waive the standard availability requirements, you still need to be considered "able" to work and available for suitable work that accommodates your training schedule. It sounds like there might have been a miscommunication between the Training Benefits Unit and the regular claims processing team. For your appeal, make sure to specifically address: 1. That you were approved for CAT (include approval letter) 2. That you understood this approval waived standard availability requirements 3. That you remained able to accept suitable work around your training schedule 4. That you continued to perform required job searches Also consider reaching an agent by phone as another commenter suggested - sometimes these issues can be resolved without a formal appeal if you get to the right person.

Thank you all for the helpful responses! I've decided to take a two-pronged approach: 1) I'll try to reach an ESD agent directly to see if this can be resolved without waiting for an appeal hearing, and 2) I'll file a formal appeal before the deadline just to be safe. I'm gathering all my documentation now - approval letters, training enrollment verification, job search logs, and screenshots from my eServices account showing I was filing properly. This whole situation is so stressful, especially since I've been counting on this money to get through my training program. Will update once I make some progress!

dont forget they take taxes out if u selected that option when u filed! my backdate amount was way less than i expected

mine took 10 days once and only 2 days another time... its totally random lol

Just a quick tip for the future - once you're established in the system, payments usually follow a very consistent schedule. Mine always shows as paid on Tuesdays and hits my account on Wednesdays around 9am. The predictability helps a lot with budgeting. I hope you see your payment soon!

Update: The money hit my account this morning at 6am! You were all right - just needed to be patient. Thanks everyone for the reassurance and helpful info. Definitely less stressed about my future claims now that I know what to expect!

my cousing got a job 4 months into his claim but then they fired him after 2 weeks and he cudnt get his old benefits back had to start all over again and got less money

Update: I talked to my potential employer and found out I'll be a W-2 contract employee through their staffing agency, not a 1099 contractor. That sounds like good news based on what everyone has said! One last question - does anyone know if I need to do anything special with my job search activities in the final week before I start the new job? Do I still need to complete and document 3 job search activities that week?

Just a heads up - if you're getting close to using all your regular UI, make sure you understand what happens after. When I exhausted my regular UI last fall, I thought I'd automatically qualify for extended benefits, but that program isn't active right now since unemployment rates aren't high enough in Washington. Really caught me off guard! Start applying to more jobs now even if you have weeks left.

anybody know if seasonal workers get less weeks? my brother works construction and said he only got like 20 weeks

my cousin works at esd and he said they r really backed up right now so even if u report it they might not even look at it for weeks lol

Whether they review it immediately or not is irrelevant - the legal requirement is to report it accurately. If they discover an unreported job refusal during a later audit (which they regularly conduct), benefits can be retroactively denied and overpayments assessed with penalties.

my cousin had his claim stuck in somethin called adjudication for like 2 months and never got paid until he finally got thru to some1 on the phone. ESD system is broken

To summarize what everyone has said: ABY = "Able and Available: Yes" which means you correctly certified that you were able and available for work during that week. It's a positive status code that indicates your weekly claim was properly filed in terms of the availability requirement. As long as you're meeting your job search requirements (3 activities weekly) and don't have other issues, your claim should process normally with this status.

btw dont forget u have to file for unemployment withing liek 4 weeks of quitting ur job or u might not be elligible anymore!! i waited too long once and they told me i filed too late :/

Thank you everyone for all this helpful information. I'm going to make an appointment with my therapist tomorrow to discuss getting proper documentation. It sounds like I should: 1. Apply ASAP rather than waiting 2. Be completely honest about quitting both jobs 3. Get detailed documentation about my condition 4. Request a job search waiver if my therapist supports it 5. Be prepared for possible denial and appeal I'm still really anxious about the whole process, but at least I have a clearer picture now of what to expect. It's comforting to know others have been through similar situations.

Here's what I recommend you do: 1. Apply for UI benefits right away online at esd.wa.gov 2. In your application, clearly explain that you were on medical leave, that your benefits expired, and that your employer is requiring you to take a leave of absence or resign because they cannot accommodate your temporary restrictions 3. Gather documentation: doctor's note with return date, communications from your school about the leave of absence requirement, any written policies about returning to work 4. If you get denied initially (which is common in complex cases), immediately file an appeal - you'll have 30 days to do so 5. While waiting for UI, also apply for PFML if you haven't already to see if you qualify for that program 6. Consider requesting a determination interview with ESD where you can explain your situation in detail The key issue is demonstrating that your unemployment is not your fault and that despite having "reasonable assurance" for next school year, you're being forced into this gap in employment.

did u check if ur eligible for disabillity benefits? might be easier than dealing with ESD and all their rules about school employees...