One more important tip: While waiting for your appeal hearing, make sure you're actively seeking work and documenting your job search activities (minimum 3 per week). Even though your claim is denied and under appeal, you'll need to show you've been meeting all requirements during this time if you want to receive backpay for these weeks once you win your appeal.

Thank you everyone for all this helpful information! I feel much better knowing what to expect now. I'll keep an eye on my mail, continue filing my weekly claims, and start gathering all my evidence to be prepared for the hearing. Really appreciate all of you taking the time to share your experiences!

i had almost the exact same situation last year except i quit because of workplace harassment not family reasons. took forever to get a hearing but when i finally did i won my case! hang in there and def keep all your documentation organized. the judge at my hearing was actually pretty fair once i got there.

Update: I contacted my state representative's office this morning and amazingly they were super helpful! The staff person took down all my info and said they'd reach out to ESD on my behalf. I also tried the Claimyr service that someone recommended here, and I FINALLY got through to an actual ESD agent. They told me my hearing is actually scheduled for April 8th but the notice was just sent out yesterday! Talk about cutting it close. Anyway, I'm now frantically organizing all my documentation. Thank you all for the advice and support. This system is absolutely broken, but at least I have a date now and can prepare my case.

To answer your follow-up question about documentation: You typically don't need to provide documentation upfront when adding an employer. However, ESD may contact you later for verification if they can't confirm your employment through other means. If they do request verification, pay stubs, an offer letter, or direct deposit records are usually sufficient. I recommend keeping these documents handy just in case. You might also want to inform your out-of-state employer that you've filed for unemployment in Washington, as ESD may contact them to verify your employment and earnings.

You got the math right! If your weekly benefit amount is $750, you can earn up to $187.50 without reduction. If you earn $300 in a week, your benefit would be reduced to $637.50 ($750 - ($300 - $187.50)). I track mine on a spreadsheet each week to make sure I understand what my benefit should be. It helps catch any potential errors in the system before they become bigger problems. Also, an important tip: make sure you report your gross earnings for the week you WORKED, not when you got paid. This trips up a lot of people!

I used the contact form on my senator's website but put \

Perfect - thank you! Just submitted a message with all my info. Fingers crossed this helps move things along.

i dont mean to make u more stressed but u should also apply 4 food stamps while ur waiting!!! esd is taking forever these days and food stamps (SNAP) is much faster. also check if ur city has rent assistance programs cuz lots of places do

Just checking back - were you able to get through to ESD? Any updates on your situation?