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this is why i always do my claims online never by phone. the phone system is garbage and makes these kinds of mistakes way too easy. not helpful for ur current situation i know but for future reference. also try calling right at 7am thats when u have best chance of getting thru
Just checking back - were you able to get this resolved? For the benefit of others who might encounter a similar issue, it would be helpful to know what eventually worked. The phone-based weekly claim system does have these quirks that can cause problems, especially when a call is interrupted.
We finally got through! It took 3 days of calling right at 7am, but we finally connected with someone yesterday. They could see the partial claim in the system and fixed it on the spot. Payment should come through next week with no reduction. For anyone else with this issue - persistence is key! Also, the agent told us that hanging up mid-claim is actually quite common and they have a specific procedure for fixing it. Thanks everyone for your advice!
To answer your original question - today (March 15, 2025) isn't a federal banking holiday, but there are sometimes processing delays due to month-end reconciliation periods at some financial institutions. If your payment normally appears Wednesday morning and ESD shows it as 'paid,' I would expect it by tomorrow at the latest. For future reference, here's the process: ESD typically processes payments 48 hours after you submit your weekly claim. Then it goes through the ACH banking system which can take 1-3 business days depending on your bank's processing schedule. If you don't see it by Friday morning, that's when I'd contact ESD to investigate further.
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
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.
Kaitlyn Otto
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you start working full-time (even if it pays less than your benefits), you'll become ineligible for ANY unemployment, so at that point you should indicate that on your last weekly claim. The system will ask if you're working full-time now, and you'd select "yes" which will end your claim properly. But for part-time work, definitely keep filing and reporting your earnings! The formula ESD uses is: They subtract 75% of your earnings from your weekly benefit amount. So if your weekly benefit is $500 and you earn $300, they deduct $225 (75% of $300) from your $500, leaving you with $275 in partial unemployment benefits!
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Melody Miles
•Thank you so much for the detailed explanation! This makes perfect sense now. I'll definitely keep filing my weekly claims and report my part-time income accurately. My weekly benefit is $650 and I'm only making about $400 at the part-time job, so sounds like I'll still get some help while I work toward full-time.
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Nathaniel Mikhaylov
One more thing to be aware of - make sure you're still doing your required job search activities each week (3 job search activities) even while working part-time. Many people forget this step and end up having benefits denied. You're still required to look for full-time work while collecting partial benefits.
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Melody Miles
•Thank you for the reminder! I'll make sure to keep doing my 3 job search activities each week. I'm actually already applying to full-time positions at the same company, so I guess those would count toward my job search requirements.
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