not to be contrarion but are you SURE the owner was taking tips illegaly? lot of restaurants have tip sharing that is legal where tips are distributed among staff including kitchen which is legal under WA tip pooling laws. if it was a legal tip pool and you quit over that, youre appeal will probaly be denied again. just saying to make sure you have your facts straight

I went through an appeal hearing last month for a completely different reason, but I learned a lot about the process. The most important thing is to BE PREPARED! The judge will give you and ESD each time to present your case. Have your evidence organized and practice explaining your side clearly. My hearing was over the phone and lasted about 45 minutes. The judge was actually pretty nice and let me fully explain my situation. The ESD representative mostly just read from their original decision document and didn't seem that prepared to counter my new evidence. I won my appeal, and I think you have a strong case too! Good luck!

One thing that helped speed up my adjudication was submitting very detailed job separation information. My claim was stuck for weeks until I uploaded a detailed letter explaining exactly why and how I was separated from my employer, with dates, supervisor names, and relevant company policy information. Within days of uploading this documentation (using the document upload tool in my ESD account), my claim moved forward. The more specific information you can provide upfront, the less the adjudicator has to investigate.

anybody else notice wen u finally get thru to ESD they act like ur bothering them?? lady i talked to was so rude like im just trying to feed my family here not trying to scam anyone

Thank you everyone for the helpful advice. I've uploaded my statement and text message screenshots to eServices. I also called ESD using Claimyr this morning and actually got through! The agent told me my employer hasn't responded to their inquiry yet, which is partly why it's still in adjudication. They said if there's no response by December 15th, they'll likely rule in my favor. Such a relief to finally get some information. I'll keep filing my weekly claims and update here when there's a resolution.

That's great news! The fact that your employer hasn't responded yet often works in your favor. Keep doing what you're doing, and I'm glad you were able to get through to someone for a status update.

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'll stop filing for those two weeks and then resume when I get back. Good to know my claim will stay active. Really appreciate all the helpful responses!

where r u going on vacation?? i need one too lol

One more important tip I forgot to mention - the identity verification system they use now (ID.me) is much faster than in 2020, but some people still have issues with it. If you have a state-issued ID that's not expired and access to a smartphone with a camera, you should be fine. But if your verification gets stuck, that will hold up your entire claim. Also, they're much stricter now about checking that you're using Washington State's job search resources specifically. Make sure at least one of your three weekly job search activities involves WorkSource or the WorkSourceWA.com website. They're automatically cross-referencing those systems.

Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences - this has been incredibly helpful! It sounds like things have definitely improved since the COVID chaos, but I should still expect some delays if anything triggers adjudication. I'm going to file tomorrow (Wednesday) morning per the advice here, make sure my separation reason is clearly documented, and start my job searches right away. Fingers crossed my healthcare employer doesn't contest anything! Also, I'm saving that Claimyr info just in case I need to actually reach someone. Last time I literally never got through on the phone lines despite trying for weeks.