I'm so glad I found this thread! I was literally about to call ESD tomorrow to ask about this exact same thing before starting with Instacart next week. Reading everyone's experiences has saved me from potentially getting the same wrong information from an agent. It's really concerning how many people have gotten conflicting advice from ESD representatives about gig work classification. You'd think they would have standardized training on something as common as delivery apps by now! Based on all the advice here, I'm planning to: - Report everything as self-employment from day one - Keep detailed records with screenshots from the app - Track my miles for tax purposes - Report gross earnings including all tips and bonuses One thing I'm still wondering about - has anyone had experience with ESD ever questioning or auditing their gig work income reporting? I'm a bit paranoid about making sure I do everything perfectly from the start to avoid any issues down the road. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences. This community is so much more helpful than trying to navigate ESD's phone system!

I'm jumping in as someone who's been doing various gig work (Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats) while on unemployment for about 6 months now. The agent you spoke with was absolutely wrong - all these platforms treat their workers as independent contractors, not employees. Here's my tried-and-true process for reporting gig income: 1. Log into your weekly claim and select "self-employment" 2. Report your TOTAL gross earnings for that work week (including base pay, tips, bonuses, everything) 3. Report it for the week you actually worked, not when the payment cleared 4. Keep screenshots of your weekly earnings from each app you use I learned the hard way that some ESD agents really don't understand gig work classification. I got burned early on by following bad advice from a phone rep and had to spend weeks sorting it out. Now I just follow the written guidelines and ignore what individual agents tell me unless they can point me to specific documentation. The silver lining is that with the 75% earnings deduction rule for self-employment, you can still collect partial benefits even when doing decent gig work. Just stay under your full benefit amount if you want to receive something that week. Pro tip: Download the Stride app for automatic mileage tracking - you'll need it for taxes and it makes everything so much easier than manual tracking!

Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful for understanding how to handle this situation properly! As someone who's been navigating unemployment benefits for the past few months, I really appreciate seeing the detailed experiences everyone has shared. One thing I'd add that hasn't been mentioned yet - if you do decide to decline the job, make sure you also document any safety concerns with your unreliable vehicle making that long of a commute daily. ESD considers safety as part of the "suitable work" determination. If your car has had breakdowns or has known issues that could leave you stranded on a 40+ mile commute (especially in winter weather here in Washington), that's definitely worth documenting. Also, I noticed someone mentioned checking if the employer offers any transportation assistance or commuter benefits. Some larger companies have shuttle services, carpooling programs, or transit subsidies that might change the calculation. It's worth asking before you decline, and documenting their response either way shows ESD you explored all options. The consensus here seems clear though - 40+ miles with an unreliable vehicle and no public transit would almost certainly be considered unreasonable by ESD standards, especially when you factor in the economic impact. Your proactive approach of calling ahead and documenting everything thoroughly is definitely the smart way to handle this. Best of luck with whatever you decide!

Wow, this thread has been incredibly informative! I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - got offered a job that's 36 miles away and was really stressed about whether I could decline without losing my benefits. Reading everyone's experiences, it seems like the key is really thorough documentation. I'm going to follow the advice here and create a detailed breakdown of all costs (gas, wear and tear, time, etc.), document my car's reliability issues, and call ESD ahead of time using that Claimyr service someone mentioned. One question for those who have been through this - did anyone have success stories with distances in the 30-35 mile range? Most of the examples here have been 38+ miles, so I'm curious if there's anyone who declined something closer to that 30-mile threshold that gets mentioned and how it went. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this community is so helpful for navigating ESD's complicated system!

honestly the whole ESD system is a mess right now. my friend had her worksource meeting and they never even checked if she was doing her job searches. then 2 months later she got audited and almost lost benefits cause she wasnt keeping good records!!! so unfair

I just went through this same process last month as a first-time claimant! I was also terrified about messing something up. Here's what helped me prepare: For the virtual meeting itself - they sent me a Zoom link about 24 hours beforehand via email. The meeting was pretty straightforward, mostly educational about WorkSource services and job search requirements. They didn't collect any documents during the session. Since you're filing by phone like I was, here's what I did for my job search logs: - Started using a simple notebook to track everything (date, company, position, how I applied, result) - Took photos of each page with my phone as backup - Asked a friend to help me type them up digitally once a week The most important thing I learned: keep doing your 3 job search activities every week and document EVERYTHING. The random audits are real - my neighbor got selected 6 weeks into her claim and had to submit all her logs within 5 days. One tip that saved me stress: I called ESD ahead of my WorkSource meeting to confirm exactly what I needed to bring (which was nothing) and what to expect. It took forever to get through, but it was worth the peace of mind. You've got this! The construction industry is tough right now but there are resources to help. Don't let the bureaucracy intimidate you.

Just went through this exact scenario myself in February! One thing I'd add is to be prepared for potential confusion on ESD's end about the bonus vs severance distinction. Even after I clearly documented everything, they initially coded my entire lump sum as severance and spread it over way more weeks than it should have been. I had to call back twice to get them to separate out the performance bonus (which should only affect one week) from the actual severance pay. Also, pro tip - when you upload your documentation to eServices, include a cover letter or note clearly explaining which dollar amounts are which. The more explicit you can be, the better chance they'll process it correctly the first time. Good luck!

I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - got laid off in June and expecting a severance/bonus combo payment next month. This thread has been incredibly helpful! One question I haven't seen addressed yet: does the timing of when you actually RECEIVE the payment matter for reporting purposes? Like if the payment is dated for a Friday but doesn't hit my bank account until the following Monday, which week should I report it on? I want to make sure I'm reporting it on the correct weekly claim to avoid any issues. Also, has anyone had experience with ESD asking for bank statements to verify when you actually received the funds vs when they were issued?

If you need help with the weekly claims process later, there's tons of good info in this forum. Lots of helpful people here.

I went through this exact same situation last year! Having multiple jobs actually worked in my favor because it gave me higher qualifying wages. Just make sure you have all your employment dates, wages, and employer contact info ready before you start the application. The online system will walk you through entering each job separately, but it's all part of one single claim. Don't stress too much about it - Washington ESD deals with this all the time and their system is designed to handle multiple employers.