My brother had his claim stuck four months!! He called governors office and nothing happened for almost 3 weeks, then suddenly everything was fixed and he got backpay for everything. So dont give up hope but also dont expect miracles tomorrow. The system is totally broken.

One thing I learned from my experience - when your claim does get approved after adjudication, if you're owed backpay, it typically shows up 2-3 business days after the approval. Just so you can plan accordingly once you see movement on your claim status.

By the way, to everyone saying it's fine - the problem isn't always about eligibility! Sometimes ESD calculates your benefit amount wrong and then realizes it later. My friend was getting $890 a week for three weeks, then suddenly they said his actual benefit was only supposed to be $670 and he had to pay back over $600! So even if you ARE approved, they can still mess up the amount and demand repayment. The whole system is just broken beyond belief.

update? did u get the official letter yet? im curious cuz im still waiting on my first payment 😩

Something a lot of people don't realize is that ESD has specific rules about the transition back to work. When you accept a job offer, you're still eligible to claim until you start working. Once you start working, you report hours worked that week, even without pay. If you work less than full-time hours (less than 40 per week), you may qualify for partial benefits if your earnings for that week are less than your weekly benefit amount. What confuses many people is the difference between hours worked versus payment received. ESD only cares about when you performed the work, not when you got paid for it. This is actually designed to protect workers - imagine if you worked but then the employer went bankrupt before paying you. ESD's system ensures you're covered during the work period regardless of when payment arrives. The interview experience you had sounds unnecessarily harsh, but I would still recommend keeping your claim active by filing weekly (with accurate hours reported) until you're financially stable with the new job. Better safe than sorry if something unexpected happens.

A practical tip for anyone in this situation: take screenshots of your weekly claim submissions showing the hours you reported. I had an issue last year where ESD claimed I hadn't reported properly, but I had screenshots showing every submission with dates and confirmation numbers. Saved me from a potential overpayment nightmare.

I had this happen last summer - got approved for both programs at once. What worked for me was going IN PERSON to the WorkSource office in Lacey. Even though they're separate from ESD technically, the supervisor there was able to call an internal ESD number and get me connected to someone who could help. Took about 3 hours of waiting but it worked when nothing else did.

Quick update on the form situation since there seems to be confusion: The Benefit Payment Refund process changed in late 2024. You now have three options: 1. Online: Use the Benefit Return Portal (though as someone mentioned, it can be glitchy) 2. Phone: Get through to ESD and request a payment reversal (only works if payment is less than 5 days old) 3. Mail: You can still use the form method, but it's now form ESD-5617 not 5314 Also important - make sure to update your PFMLA application to show the exact weeks you received unemployment. This prevents PFMLA from overpaying you as well, creating a second problem.

btw my friend who works at esd says they look at if u tried to fix the problem b4 quitting. like did u talk to ur boss about the overtime? did u try to fix the schedule? did u report to HR? make sure u have proof u tried to fix it first!!!

If you do decide to quit and file, be prepared for a LONG adjudication process. Quit claims almost always go to adjudication, which means an ESD adjudicator will interview both you and your employer separately. They'll ask detailed questions about the situation and want to see your evidence. I'd recommend preparing a written timeline of events with dates and a summary of how you tried to resolve the issues before quitting. Also, be ready for your employer to potentially fight your claim and present their own version of events.