Bottom line - file your claim and see what Washington ESD calculates. With your salary range you should get a decent weekly amount, probably in the $400-600 range like others mentioned.

Based on what I've seen here, it looks like Washington ESD uses a pretty standard formula - highest quarter wages divided by 26 for your weekly benefit amount. With your $52k annual salary and steady employment, you're probably looking at somewhere in the $400-600 range that others mentioned. The tricky part is figuring out which quarters count as your "base year" since they don't use your most recent wages. I'd recommend having all your pay stubs organized before filing since any delays in verification can really slow down the whole process. Good luck with everything!

Just want to add my experience - I accidentally DIDN'T include my quarterly commission in my reported income and had no problems for months until suddenly ESD sent me a letter saying I had an overpayment of $2,800. Had to appeal and everything. So definitely report ALL income including bonuses!

I went through this exact same situation last year! I had a $5,000 signing bonus that I wasn't sure about including. I called ESD (took forever to get through) and they confirmed that ALL compensation from your employer needs to be reported as gross income - base salary, bonuses, commissions, overtime, everything. The rep told me that it's much better to over-report than under-report because they can always adjust down, but if you under-report and they catch it later (which they will when they verify with your employer), you'll face overpayment issues. So definitely include that $7,200 bonus with your base salary for a total of $75,700. Better safe than sorry!

Final reminder - your weekly claim certification is basically you confirming you're still unemployed and looking for work. Be accurate with your answers because they do check these things during audits.

I had the same confusion when I first started! One thing that helped me was creating a simple calendar reminder that says "File UI weekly claim for [previous week dates]" every Sunday. Also, if you ever miss a week by accident, don't panic - just file as soon as you remember and call Washington ESD to explain. They're usually understanding about honest mistakes as long as you don't make it a habit.

Just wanted to follow up - were you able to get through to ESD? What did they say about your situation?

This is really encouraging to hear about the 10-day grace period! I had no idea that existed. For anyone else reading this thread, it sounds like the key takeaways are: 1. You CAN still apply for Training Benefits within 10 days of your regular UI exhausting 2. Using a service like Claimyr can help you actually get through to ESD (their phone system is brutal) 3. Make sure your training program is on the approved in-demand occupations list 4. The approval process takes 2-3 weeks, so apply ASAP if you're in this situation @Amara Nnamani - really hope your Training Benefits get approved! Your situation will definitely help others who find themselves in the same boat. It's frustrating that this grace period isn't better publicized, but at least there are options for people who miss the deadline by just a few days.

Just wanted to add something important about the school/training situation. If these classes are directly related to improving employability (which they clearly are), your husband should document everything. Keep emails from the potential employer stating the classes are required, save enrollment confirmations, etc. This documentation will be CRUCIAL if ESD ever questions his availability for work. Also, when he reports the classes on his weekly claim, there's usually a follow-up question asking if he would quit school for full-time work. The answer needs to be YES to avoid issues with unemployment eligibility.

Just wanted to share my recent experience since it might help. I was in a similar situation last month - got terminated and had PTO payout confusion. Here's what I learned: definitely report that PTO payout on the weekly claim for the week you received it. I made the mistake of not reporting mine initially because I thought "I earned it while working" but ESD sees it as income received during unemployment. Had to correct it later which was a headache. For the community college classes - I actually did something similar. I was taking an Excel certification course (2 evenings per week) while on unemployment. As long as you can honestly say you'd drop the classes for a full-time job offer, you should be fine. Just be completely transparent about it on your weekly claims. One tip: if you do get approved for Commissioner Approved Training, it can actually be better than regular unemployment because you don't have to do job search activities while in the program. But the application process takes time, so don't wait if these classes are starting soon. Hope your husband's adjudication goes smoothly! Performance issues are often not considered disqualifying misconduct, so fingers crossed.