Just an update for anyone in a similar situation: I've seen appeal decision timelines vary significantly over the past year. The official OAH guideline is that decisions should be issued within 30 days of the hearing, but system backlogs can extend this timeline. Some factors that might affect your timeline: 1. Complexity of your case (simple eligibility issues tend to be faster) 2. Whether additional evidence was submitted after the hearing 3. Current OAH caseload and staffing 4. Whether the judge needed to research specific legal precedents If you reach the 30-day mark, I would definitely recommend contacting OAH directly rather than just ESD. Their contact info is on the hearing notice you received.

UPDATE: I followed the advice here and called OAH directly. The representative was actually really helpful! She checked my case and said the decision was made yesterday and is being mailed out today. She couldn't tell me what the decision was, but at least I know it's coming soon. Such a relief to know it's not lost in the system somewhere. Thanks everyone for the support and advice!

I used to work in a call center (not ESD but similar system) and this happens because they allocate specific staff for Spanish lines. So if 20% of staff is on Spanish lines but only 5% of callers use Spanish, of course those lines are more available. Wish they would just create a fair unified queue system but government tech is always 10 years behind. BTW if u have adjudication issues make sure to also check your ESD secure message portal daily. Sometimes they send questions there instead of calling, and if you don't respond in 5 days they can deny your claim automatically. Same with document upload requests.

lol i tried the spanish line trick 2day and when they called back the guy was like "¿Hola, cómo puedo ayudarte?" and i panicked and hung up 🤣 guess ill try again tomorrow and just say "english please" right away haha

u might want 2 contact ur state representative too!! my mom had a similr problem with L&I (not ESD but similar) and was getting nowhere for MONTHS!!! then she emailed our state rep and suddenly got a call back from a supervisor within 2 days. worth a try since its not costing u anything.

I'm confused about one thing - how much is the overpayment? If it's less than $1,000, sometimes it's not worth all this hassle and might be easier to just set up a small monthly payment plan. But if it's several thousand, definitely pursue the waiver aggressively. Also, check if they added penalties or interest to the original amount, as those can sometimes be waived separately from the principal amount.

I was in your exact situation last year. After my hearing, I had to wait almost a month for payment. What ended up working was contacting the Unemployment Law Project - they have advocates who can sometimes intervene with ESD. Also, I found that calling on Wednesday afternoons was somehow better than other times. Less busy for some reason? Hang in there!

UPDATE: I finally got through using the Claimyr service someone mentioned above! The ESD agent told me my case was flagged for "manual processing" due to the appeal decision, but it hadn't been assigned to anyone yet. She expedited it and said I should see payments within 5-7 business days. She also backfilled all my weekly claims that were in limbo during the appeal process. What a relief! Thanks everyone for your advice.

I hope your brother knows that the WA unemployment system is COMPLETELY BROKEN right now. I've been trying to resolve an issue for MONTHS with zero help. They'll probably deny him initially because that's what they do to EVERYONE these days!! And good luck getting anyone on the phone - the whole system is designed to make people give up. I'd tell him to apply but be prepared for a NIGHTMARE experience. And they don't care if you have bills to pay!!

One more thing I wanted to mention - once your brother starts receiving UI benefits, he should connect with WorkSource. They can help him find suitable work within his medical restrictions, and some of their workshops count toward his required job search activities. This can be especially helpful for someone transitioning to a different type of work due to medical limitations.