the whole unemployment system is designed to wear you down so you just give up! they WANT you to miss deadlines or forget to file weekly claims so they can save money. stay strong and keep fighting!!

One thing to keep in mind: OAH decisions are dated when the judge signs them, but it can take 2-3 additional business days for them to be mailed out. And then another 2-4 days for USPS delivery. So the actual time from hearing to having the decision in your hands can be considerably longer than the official decision timeframe. If it's been more than 20 business days (about a month total), you can request an update directly from OAH through their online portal by submitting a message through your case. They're generally good about responding to these inquiries within 48 hours.

IMPORTANT: If you don't hear by Monday, start calling IMMEDIATELY! I waited too long thinking they were working on it, and my claim got stuck in what they call "adjudication purgatory" where it's not actively being processed but shows as "in progress" in the system. The squeaky wheel gets the grease with ESD unfortunately.

UPDATE: I got approved!!!! Just checked my eServices account and my status changed from "adjudication in progress" to "paid" for all my back weeks! Haven't received the decision letter yet, but the money should be in my account in 1-2 business days according to the portal. I'm literally in tears right now. Thank you all for your support and advice through this process!

I'm an employment lawyer (not giving legal advice, just general info). For your hearing, organize your thoughts around these points: 1. Unsafe working conditions (uncertified forklift operation) 2. Employer's failure to remedy after reasonable notice 3. Documentation of injuries resulting from unsafe conditions 4. Timeline showing you attempted resolution before quitting During the hearing: - Answer questions directly and briefly - Don't interrupt the judge or your former employer - When describing events, stick to "I observed" or "I experienced" rather than assumptions about others' motives - If your employer makes false statements, wait for your turn to respond, then calmly present contradicting evidence I've seen many employees win these cases when they have clear documentation of safety violations that weren't addressed after being reported.

One more important tip: Be very specific about the timeline leading up to your quit. The judge will want to know: 1. When did you first report safety concerns? To whom? 2. What was their response? 3. How many times did you follow up? 4. What was the "final straw" that made you quit? 5. How much time passed between reporting and quitting? Based on what you've shared, it sounds like you have a strong case for good cause, but you need to clearly demonstrate you tried to resolve the issues before leaving. Print all your evidence in triplicate and have it organized chronologically so you can quickly reference it during questioning.

UPDATE: After reviewing the ESD handbook more carefully, I can confirm that accepting an intermittent job without actual work hours does NOT automatically disqualify you from benefits. The key factors are: 1. You must remain able and available for full-time work 2. You must continue conducting job searches (3 per week) 3. You must accurately report your employment status The issue is likely in how the employment status was reported. In the weekly claim questions, there's a distinction between "Do you have a job?" (Yes) and "Did you work during this week?" (No). This nuance matters significantly for intermittent positions. When you appeal, emphasize that you remained available for full-time work, continued job searching, and had no actual work or earnings from the intermittent position during the weeks in question.

after dealing with my appeal i learned that ESD's definition of "available for work" is super specific. they wanna know if having this intermittent job would prevent u from accepting full-time work elsewhere. if u said u were committed to this intermittent job even if it meant turning down full-time work elsewhere, that might be why they're saying ur not eligible.

keep ur head up n dont give up!! my coworker had the same EXACT issue and she fought it and got ALL her money plus interest. took like 10 weeks tho so hang in there

After reviewing your responses here, I suspect there may have been a system issue or misinterpretation of your weekly claim answers. This happens more often than ESD admits. For your appeal, focus on these key elements: 1. Your consistent job search activities (3+ per week) 2. Your full availability for work (no restrictions on hours/days) 3. Your willingness to accept suitable work 4. Any miscommunications or system errors that might have occurred Technically speaking, the burden of proof in these hearings shifts to ESD. They must prove you were NOT available, rather than you having to prove you WERE available. However, having solid documentation significantly strengthens your case. The current appeal process is taking about 6-8 weeks from filing to hearing, and another 1-2 weeks for the decision. Administrative Law Judges are overturning about 58% of 'able and available' disqualifications according to the most recent OAH statistics.