I went through this exact same situation about 8 months ago - ESD denied my CRO petition twice for "voluntary quit" even though my employer cut my hours from 40 to 12 per week. I was so frustrated but the OAH appeal was actually much better than dealing with ESD directly. The judge actually listened to my evidence and understood that I had no choice but to quit when my income dropped 70%. One thing that really helped at my hearing was bringing printed copies of everything - pay stubs showing the hour reduction, emails with my supervisor about needing more hours, even my rent/utility bills to show the financial hardship. The judge said having physical documentation made it much easier to follow my timeline. Also definitely keep filing your weekly claims like others said! I almost made that mistake too. The whole process took about 2 months from filing the OAH appeal to getting my first back payment, but it was so worth it. Hang in there - you have a strong case with that level of hour reduction and the documentation you mentioned.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this - the whole ESD system seems designed to exhaust people into giving up! I'm currently waiting for my OAH hearing date after two denied CRO petitions too. It's really frustrating how they don't seem to actually read the evidence you submit. From what I've learned lurking here, the OAH judges are much more fair than ESD's initial reviewers. Your situation with a 70% hour reduction sounds like a slam dunk case - that's way above the 25% threshold everyone mentions. One thing I wanted to add that I don't think anyone mentioned yet - make sure you get copies of your entire ESD file before the hearing. You can request this and sometimes there are notes from your employer that you haven't seen that could be helpful (or harmful, so you want to know what they said). Also echoing what others said about continuing to file weekly claims. I made that mistake early on and had to go back and file for all the missed weeks. It's such a pain but necessary if you want full back pay when you win. Keep us posted on how your appeal goes - there are a lot of us going through this same nightmare process and your experience could help others!

Not yet - it's been 5 business days since the hearing and 3 days since the status changed to completed. Based on everyone's comments, I'm going to wait until next week before I start calling. Thanks for checking back!

I went through this same anxiety-inducing wait last year! The "completed" status is actually misleading because it just means the hearing transcript is finished, not that your decision is ready. In my experience, the actual decision letter took about 8 business days to arrive after the status changed to completed. The decision will be a detailed document (mine was 12 pages) that includes the judge's findings and reasoning, not just a simple win/lose notification. Hang in there - I know the waiting is brutal when you're worried about rent, but you should have your answer soon!

Make sure to file your weekly claims during this entire process, even while waiting for appeals. I've seen too many people win their appeals but then not get all their back benefits because they stopped filing weekly claims during the appeal period.

Hang in there! I went through something very similar last year - employer contested, lost at ALJ level, then appealed to Commissioner. The whole thing took about 8 months total but I did eventually get all my back benefits. The key thing that helped me was being super persistent about the benefits pending appeal. I had to call ESD multiple times and reference that specific RCW statute before they finally started my payments. Also, when writing your response to their Commissioner appeal, really hammer home the point that they had their chance at the ALJ hearing and chose not to participate. The Commissioner's office doesn't like employers who game the system like this. Document everything and don't let them wear you down - that's exactly what they're hoping for.

One important point I forgot to mention: If you're experiencing severe financial hardship (like potential eviction or utility shutoff), you can request an expedited processing of your OAH decision implementation. Call the ESD claims center and specifically ask for a "hardship escalation" for your appeal implementation. You'll need to provide some proof of the hardship, but it can potentially speed things up significantly.

Just wanted to share my recent experience for anyone else in this situation - I won my OAH appeal in February and it took exactly 12 business days for ESD to implement the decision and release my back pay. Like others mentioned, there was zero communication from ESD during the wait - no letters, no status updates in my online account, nothing. Then one Tuesday morning I logged in and boom, all my back benefits were there dating back to when I first filed. The key things that helped me: I kept filing my weekly claims religiously even though my account still showed disqualified, and I had my OAH decision letter saved as a PDF on my phone in case I needed to reference the case number. The wait was stressful but it did eventually get resolved. Hang in there @Ethan Wilson - sounds like you're doing everything right!

just wanna say i feel ur pain... ESD is the WORST!!! moved from seattle to phoenix last year and had to deal with them remotely for 2 months. nightmare. good luck!!!

I went through something similar last year when I moved to Oregon but still had to deal with my Washington ESD claim. A few things that helped me: 1. The messaging system through eServices actually works better than people think - I got responses in 3-4 business days consistently when I was specific about what I needed. 2. For the "additional information" status, check if there's a letter or document request in the "Correspondence" tab. Mine was buried in there and I missed it for weeks. 3. Since you're out of state, make sure his mailing address is updated in the system. Sometimes they mail important documents that never reach you if the address is wrong. 4. I had better luck calling around 2:30-3:00pm PST (5:30-6:00pm your time) - seems like fewer people are trying then. The phone system is still terrible, but don't give up. It took me 6 weeks to resolve my issue, but once I finally got through to someone, they were actually pretty helpful. Keep having him file his weekly claims no matter what - that's crucial!