I want to emphasize that timing matters when filing. Since you voluntarily quit on October 6th and it's now late October, you should file right away. You don't want to wait too long as it could affect your claim. Also, make sure you report any earnings from your new job when filing weekly claims - failing to do so could result in an overpayment issue later.

Don't forget to prepare for the possibility of an appeal hearing if they initially deny your claim. Washington state has a high rate of reversals at the appeal level for these types of cases. Make sure you have documentation ready about: 1) The original incident with details about the medication theft, 2) Proof that management knew about your concerns when they rehired this person, 3) Any communications showing you tried to resolve this before quitting. I'd recommend preparing your narrative now while everything is fresh in your mind.

Have you considered part-time work options? Sometimes you can find a higher-paying part-time position in your field (even 20-25 hours) that pays more than a full-time job in a different industry. The medical field usually has more flexible options than IT, but both industries do have contract and part-time work. This could be a better stopgap than taking a full-time position with a massive pay cut. Also, Washington has a Shared Work program for employers, so sometimes looking specifically at companies participating in that program might lead to opportunities that could later become full-time.

That's a really good point about part-time specialized work potentially paying more than full-time lower-skilled work. I hadn't thought about that angle. I've seen some remote medical coding/billing positions with flexible hours, so I'll expand my search to include those options. My spouse has started looking at IT gig work too. Thanks for the perspective shift!

Based on everything you've described, this sounds like what we call an "invisible adjudication" issue. Sometimes claims get flagged internally for review without any notification to the claimant. Since it's been over a month since your approval letter, I strongly recommend taking proactive steps: 1. Keep trying to call ESD first thing in the morning (7:00am) 2. Send a secure message through the portal specifically mentioning the approval letter date and that all weeks are still pending 3. Contact your state representative's office - they often have dedicated ESD liaisons who can help Most importantly, continue filing your weekly claims correctly while you wait. If your issue is resolved, you'll receive all backdated payments for properly filed weeks.

Just wanted to update everyone - I finally got this resolved! After trying for days, I used that Claimyr service someone mentioned above and actually got through to ESD in about 20 minutes. Turns out there was a random flag on my account because my former employer had provided slightly different dates than I did. The agent cleared it immediately and released all my payments! Should have the money in 2-3 business days. What a relief! Thanks to everyone who helped.

my brother went thru same thing last year. he had like 2 months of backpay and it took about 10 days after adjudicaiton finished. something about large payments needing extra approval i think

Did your money arrive yet? I'm in the same situation now and wondering how long I'll be waiting 😩

Has anyone received an actual timeline from ESD recently? Every time I call they give different answers. First they said 6 weeks, then 10 weeks, then "we can't say" - complete runaround and it's impossible to budget or plan when you have no idea when you might get money!

Quick update to my earlier comment - I just checked with a colleague who works with appeals cases. The current average for scheduling "able and available" appeals is about 9 weeks, but they are trying to expedite cases where it was clearly a form error rather than an actual availability issue. Make sure when you call OAH that you emphasize this was simply checking the wrong box, not an actual limitation on your ability to work. That might help get your case prioritized.