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Also remember that any freelance income you earn while collecting benefits needs to be reported on your weekly claims. They'll deduct it from your benefit amount, but you won't necessarily lose all benefits unless you earn over a certain threshold.
The bottom line is you won't know for sure until you apply. The worst they can say is no, and if you do have qualifying wages, you could be missing out on benefits you're entitled to. The application process will walk you through everything.
I keep getting disconnected after waiting for 2+ hours. It's like the system just hangs up on you automatically.
Has anyone tried calling the employer hotline by mistake? I did that once and got through immediately, but they couldn't help with my claim obviously.
Been through this process twice now and the waiting never gets easier. But once you get that first payment, the relief is incredible. Hang in there!
The whole system seems designed to confuse people. I wish Washington ESD would just put out clearer guidance about gig work and unemployment benefits.
Bottom line: you can absolutely drive for Uber while collecting unemployment benefits. Just report all earnings honestly, keep good records, and continue your job search activities. Thousands of people do this successfully.
Miguel Castro
One thing that might skew your data - a lot of women who lost jobs didn't file for unemployment because they weren't eligible (didn't work enough hours, were contractors, etc.) or because they became full-time caregivers instead of actively job searching.
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Zainab Abdulrahman
•Good point - the unemployment rate only counts people actively looking for work. If you drop out of the labor force entirely, you don't show up in those statistics.
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Miguel Castro
•Exactly, so the real impact on women's employment might be even bigger than the unemployment numbers show.
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Connor Byrne
I used that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier when I needed to update my job search log with Washington ESD. Saved me literally hours of trying to get through on the phone. They're pretty efficient at navigating the phone system.
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Yara Elias
•Is it worth it for routine stuff like updating your job search contacts, or more for complex issues?
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Connor Byrne
•I think it depends on how urgent your situation is and how much your time is worth. For me, it was worth it to avoid the frustration of busy signals and dropped calls.
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