Sometimes if you email your state representative they can help speed things up. I was waiting for weeks after winning my appeal and nothing was happening. I emailed my district rep, her office contacted ESD, and suddenly my payments appeared three days later. Worth a try if it drags on too long.

UPDATE: Just wanted to let everyone know that I got my backpay! It took exactly 17 days from when I received the appeal decision. I did call ESD twice during that time - first call they just said it was "in process" but after the second call it seemed to move faster. Thanks everyone for your advice and support!

Quick update to my earlier comment - I just checked with a friend who won their appeal in January 2025. They received their backpay exactly 12 business days after the judge's decision. They did call ESD once during that time just to confirm everything was processing correctly. Their payments came as one lump sum for all the weeks they claimed during the appeal waiting period.

UPDATE: Finally got through to ESD this morning! They confirmed they received the judge's decision but it was still in their processing queue. The agent was able to expedite it when I explained my housing situation. She said I should expect to see the payments in my account within 3-5 business days. Thank you all for your advice - especially the tip about mentioning hardship review!

did u have to do job serches for all the back weeks? my frend said she had to submit job serches for every week b4 getting the money

my cousin just got denied and hes thinking about appealing. how hard was the hearing??? did you have a lawyer? im trying to help him figure out if its worth it

One more important tip: During your hearing, be concise and stick to facts rather than emotions. I understand this is a stressful situation, but administrative law judges respond best to clear timelines and specific evidence. Prepare notes beforehand with dates, percentages, and key points you want to make. The hearings typically last 30-45 minutes, and you want to make sure you cover all your essential points. Also, if your former employer participates in the hearing, remain professional regardless of what they say. Arguing or showing anger can undermine your case.

Yes, if you believe there was a pattern of your employer trying to force you to quit, that's relevant to your case. However, focus on specific actions they took rather than just your impression of their intent. Did they make negative comments about your performance only after you requested time off? Did they suddenly change your schedule to hours they knew would conflict with your childcare or education? Those kinds of specific details are much more persuasive than general statements about feeling pushed out.

Has anyone mentioned that if you go ahead and quit this job you should do it BEFORE hitting the 680 hour mark in your base year??? Those hours carry over to your next claim period and if u quit without good cause you lose them!!!

That's a good point about hours potentially being lost if there's a disqualification, but the concern about the specific 680 hour mark isn't quite accurate. \n\nWashington's minimum qualifying hours for a valid claim is 680 hours in your base year, but all hours worked in the base period count toward benefit calculation regardless of how many there are. There's no benefit to quitting before hitting a specific number of hours - what matters is the determination about whether the quit was for good cause.