My daughter is currently receiving unemployment after working in the dental field for 2 years. She's recently decided she wants to switch to nursing and might go back to school for it. I've been helping her navigate the ESD system (it's so confusing!) and we realized she might be eligible for training benefits while studying. But apparently her 'chosen career' needs to be updated on her claim first? We can't figure out how to change this anywhere in her eServices account. Has anyone gone through this process before? The ESD website is impossible to navigate and we've been on hold with their customer service for hours with no luck. Any help would be really appreciated!

I just got a notice that my ESD claim was disqualified because I had to take time off to care for my son who has autism. They're saying I wasn't "able and available" for work during this period, but I literally couldn't find appropriate childcare for his needs when my regular provider quit suddenly. I've filed an appeal and have a phone hearing scheduled for next week. Does anyone know roughly how long these phone hearings typically last? I need to make arrangements for someone to watch my son during the call. Also, has anyone successfully appealed a disqualification based on caring for a child with a disability? The notice mentioned something about "good cause" exceptions but wasn't clear about what qualifies. Any advice would be really appreciated!

I'm in a really frustrating situation with my unemployment claim. I worked at a large brewery/event venue for 8 months before being laid off in February. When I filed for unemployment, ESD calculated my benefit amount WAY lower than it should be because my employer apparently never reported my tip income - which was about 40% of what I earned! I have my own records showing I made around $2,800 in tips over my last 3 months there, but ESD's system only shows my hourly wages. When I called my former manager about this, they first said they'd send documentation to ESD, then claimed they already did, then stopped responding completely. My weekly benefit is now $187 instead of what should be around $350. Has anyone dealt with unreported tip income affecting their ESD claim? Can I submit my own proof of income somehow? The adjudicator assigned to my case hasn't responded in 3 weeks.

Just finally won my unemployment appeal on January 28th after ESD initially denied me back on November 1st. Feeling relieved but still stressing about money. Has anyone been through this before? The judge at the hearing ruled in my favor, but my eServices account still shows the same status and I haven't received ANY payments yet. Do I need to call someone or will they automatically process my backpay? And how long does it usually take for the money to hit my account after winning an appeal? I'm getting really anxious since I've been without income for months waiting for this!

I'm at my wit's end with ESD's overpayment collection practices! I've been on a $50/month payment plan for almost 2 years faithfully paying back an overpayment from when they miscalculated my benefits. In December, with holiday expenses piling up, I missed ONE payment (first time ever missing one). Instead of allowing me to catch up, they've completely voided my entire payment plan! Last week they withheld $267 from my unemployment check without warning. Fine, I thought that was my punishment for missing December. But today I checked my most recent weekly claim and they took ANOTHER $267! At this rate, I'll barely have anything to live on! I called their overpayment line and spoke with possibly the rudest representative ever who basically said "too bad" - that missing one payment voided my entire payment agreement and now they can take whatever they want each week. But here's what makes zero sense: even WITHOUT a payment plan, regular overpayment collections are supposed to be MONTHLY, not weekly. How are they justified in taking $267 EVERY WEEK now? That would be over $1000 a month when my original plan was just $50! Has anyone dealt with this? How do I get my payment plan reinstated? I'm seriously panicking about how I'll pay rent next month if this continues.