I'm an HR professional, and I can tell you that your situation sounds like what we call a "constructive discharge" in employment law. When your employer changes working conditions in a way that makes it impossible for you to continue working, it's not truly a voluntary quit. A few tips for your hearing: - Keep your testimony focused on FACTS rather than emotions - Be specific about dates and times of schedule changes - Explain exactly why the new schedule made continued employment impossible - Describe any attempts you made to negotiate an alternative schedule - Bring written documentation of everything BUT - be aware that if you were hired with the understanding that you might need to work various shifts, your case may be weaker. The judge will consider whether schedule flexibility was a known condition of employment from the beginning.

One more important thing based on my experience - make sure to submit all your evidence at least one week before the hearing! There's a deadline and if you miss it, the judge might not accept your documents. You can email them to OAH or upload through their portal. Also, write out a clear timeline of events and practice explaining your case in a logical order. The judges really appreciate when people are organized and to-the-point.

To answer your question about cross-examination - yes, I did have to question my former employer. The judge will explain how it works at the start of the hearing. You'll each get to make opening statements, present your evidence, and then ask questions of each other. When it was my turn to question my employer, I focused on getting them to admit facts that supported my case rather than trying to catch them in lies. Simple questions like "Is it correct that on [date] you changed my schedule without notice?" or "Do you agree that the company policy states [X]?" worked well. Stick to facts rather than emotions. And if they say something untrue, don't interrupt - write it down and address it when it's your turn to speak again.

I'm going through something similar right now! Have you received the official hearing packet yet? Mine came about 10 days before the hearing date and included all the evidence ESD and my employer submitted. Going through that packet was super helpful because I could see exactly what they were claiming and prepare my responses. If you haven't gotten it yet, keep checking your mail carefully!

i had soemthing similar happen but turned out they were sending approval letters for different WEEKS not for my overall claim if that makes sense. one approval was for week ending 1/15 and the other for week ending 1/22 but my overall eligibiilty was still in question. might want to read the fine print on those letters.

After your hearing (which u will probably win based on those approval letters), make sure u ask about getting interest on ur backpay. Washington state law says they have to pay interest if benefits r delayed more than 30 days after approval. Most people dont know this and ESD never volunteers this info!!!

My neighbor works for ESD (not saying this to brag just giving context lol) and she says September is when they do a lot of quarterly reviews. Apparently they're going through and checking everyones job search logs right now so that might be it. Do you upload your job search logs or just keep track of them yourself?

Just checking in - any updates on your situation? Were you able to reach ESD?

did u check ur spam folder in email?? esd sent me an important message that went to spam and i almost missed the deadline to respond!!

Good idea! Just checked spam and found nothing from ESD, but I did add esd.wa.gov to my safe senders list to make sure future emails don't get filtered. Thanks!