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Claim stuck in pending after short employment period - employer won't contest but no movement from ESD

I was on unemployment for about 6 months in 2024 before finding a job that lasted from October 1st through the end of February 2025. The company had some budget cuts and I got laid off again. I've filed a new claim and my former employer told me directly they won't contest it (I have this in writing), but my claim has been sitting in 'pending' status for 2 weeks now with no updates. No adjudication, no messages, nothing. I've tried calling ESD about 30 times but either get disconnected or told the wait time is over 3 hours. I'm worried because my savings are running low. Is the pending status normal after a short work period? What could be causing the delay if the employer isn't contesting? Should I just keep waiting or is there something else I should be doing?

my freind works at ESD and says theyre super backed up right now cuz of their new computer system update. like thousands of claims in backlog!! she says claims with short work periods get flagged for manual review which is why yours is stuck. keep filing weekly claims tho!!

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Following up on your situation - you mentioned the previous benefit year should have ended in April. If that's April 2025 (which is coming up), that could be another factor in the delay. ESD might be waiting until your old benefit year expires before making a determination on the new claim. When you talk to an agent (whether through regular channels or using a service to connect faster), specifically ask these questions: 1. Is my claim pending due to a base year wages verification? 2. Am I eligible for a new claim, or will my old claim be reopened? 3. Is there any additional information I need to provide? 4. Can they expedite the review since it's been over two weeks? Be sure to mention that your former employer has confirmed in writing they won't contest the claim, as this might help speed things up.

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Thank you for the follow-up. Those are excellent questions to ask. I meant April 2024, so my previous benefit year should definitely be expired by now. That makes me think it must be the base year wage verification that's causing the delay. I'll make sure to have all my payment stubs ready when I finally reach someone.

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Weekly payment missing - ESD system glitch after recent reboot

Hey everyone, heads up if you normally get your unemployment deposited to your bank or ReliaCard on Mondays! The ESD system had some sort of reboot/update this weekend and it's causing payment delays. My weekly claim got cut off right after the "Your claim has now been filed" message yesterday. I waited all day today for my deposit (usually hits by noon) but nothing showed up. Called ESD after waiting 2+ hours and the agent confirmed there was a glitch that affected some claims - mine didn't fully process even though I got the confirmation! She had to manually push it through. If your Monday payment is missing, definitely call ASAP - they said I would have gotten NOTHING this week if I hadn't called to fix it. Anyone else experiencing this issue?

i dont understand why they do system maintenance on weekends when thats when most people file their weekly claims?? why not do it like tuesday night when hardly anyone is filing??

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That's actually a great question. The reason is that their mainframe batch processing runs on a specific schedule, with the heaviest workloads happening Tuesday through Thursday when they're processing payments. Weekend maintenance theoretically impacts fewer internal processes, but you're right that it affects more claimants filing weekly claims. It's a trade-off their IT department has chosen, prioritizing their payment processing schedule over claim submission convenience. Not saying it's the right choice, just explaining their reasoning.

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Important update from ESD's technical support team: If you were affected by this issue, once your payment is manually processed, you should receive an email confirmation. If you don't receive this email within 24 hours of speaking with an agent, call back to verify the manual process was completed. Also, for future reference, any time you file a weekly claim and the confirmation page looks different than usual or cuts off early, it's recommended to call within 48 hours to verify your claim was properly processed. ESD has published a notice about this issue on their website under the System Alerts section. They expect all affected claims to be identified and fixed by Friday, but it's faster if you call directly.

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Thank you for sharing this info! I finally got through using the method recommended above (Claimyr service) and they fixed my claim. The agent said exactly what you mentioned - I should get an email confirmation by tomorrow. He also said they're working on a fix so this doesn't happen during future system updates.

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Just checked the ESD website and found the alert you mentioned. For anyone looking, it's on the main page in the yellow box at the top. They're acknowledging the issue officially, which is something at least.

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ESD claim shows random employer I barely worked for - which separation reason to choose?

I'm freaking out a bit with my ESD claim. I've worked full-time at a FedEx terminal under one contractor for 2 years, but in January I filled in for a buddy at another contractor company for maybe 5 days total (just helping with their delivery route when they were short-staffed). That second company put me on payroll to pay me properly, but I was never actually their employee - just a temp fill-in. When I filed my unemployment claim after getting laid off from my REAL job last month, this random second company showed up in my claim! Now ESD is asking for separation info for this place, and I don't know what to select from the dropdown options. Also, what dates do I even put? I worked random days (March 2, then March 18-20, then April 7). Any advice on how to handle this without messing up my claim? My regular employer already approved their part of the claim.

Don't overthink this too much. ESD just needs to verify you didn't quit or get fired from a job. Since you worked such a small amount for this company, it likely won't affect your benefit amount much if at all. The important part is explaining clearly in the comments section. I'd personally select "Lack of work/Laid off" since that most accurately describes that they didn't have more work for you after those fill-in days. For dates, just use March 2 to April 7. In the explanation field, specify exactly how many days you worked (5 total) and that this was just fill-in work while you were employed full-time elsewhere. Your actual benefit calculation will be based primarily on your main job if that's where the vast majority of your hours were worked.

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Thank you, that's reassuring. I was afraid I might accidentally say the wrong thing and lose my benefits entirely. This makes me feel better about the situation.

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One more thing I should clarify - when you file your weekly claims, if you worked ANY days during a week (for ANY employer), you need to report those hours and earnings for that specific week. This is separate from the employer separation issue we're discussing, but equally important to get right.

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Oh yeah, I always report when I work. But I haven't worked at all since being laid off from my main job. This second employer issue is just confusing me because it was from months ago before I ever filed for unemployment.

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ESD confused about my termination date (Sunday vs Friday) - stuck in weekly claim loop

I'm having the most frustrating issue with my weekly claim and I'm completely stuck. My termination letter states September 15 as my last day (which I entered on my initial claim), but that's a Sunday and I actually last worked on Friday, September 13. Now ESD keeps asking me if I worked on September 15, creating this endless loop: if I say no, it flags a discrepancy with my application; if I say yes, it asks for hours worked and earnings which I don't have since I didn't actually work that day! I've called literally hundreds of times but can't get through to anyone. Has anyone dealt with this Sunday vs. Friday termination date issue before? I'm worried about my claim being delayed or denied over something so technical.

just went through this exact thing! my last day was a friday but HR put the following monday on my paperwork. the thing that finally worked was going to my WorkSource office in person - they have a direct line to ESD that doesn't have the same wait. the lady helped me fill out a form explaining the discrepancy and my claim was fixed within 2 days. might be worth trying if you have a WorkSource office nearby!

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That's a great idea! There's a WorkSource about 20 minutes from me. I'll try that tomorrow if I can't get through on the phone today. Thanks for the suggestion!

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This is a common issue that comes up when employment ends on a weekend or when there's a difference between the official termination date and last working day. Here's what you should do: 1. Continue filing your weekly claims while this gets resolved - don't miss any weeks 2. For the question about September 15, answer truthfully that you did not work that day 3. When the system flags the discrepancy, look for an option to add comments or additional information (sometimes there's a text field or an "other" option) 4. If no comment option exists, you need to contact ESD directly 5. Send a secure message through your eServices account explaining both dates (termination letter date AND last physical working day) 6. Be specific about why there's a difference (weekend, administrative processing, etc.) If you don't get a response to your secure message within 5-7 business days, then you'll need to speak with someone by phone. Often these issues can be resolved quickly once you reach a claims specialist.

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Thank you for the detailed steps! I've been trying the secure message option but haven't gotten a response yet. It's been 3 days now. I'm going to keep filing weekly claims like you suggested though. The system doesn't seem to have any option for comments when it flags the discrepancy - it just keeps looping me through the same questions.

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Finally had my ESD overpayment waiver appeal hearing after 5 months of waiting

So I just got off the phone from my appeal hearing with OAH about an overpayment waiver that ESD denied back in November! I've been waiting almost 5 months for this hearing date to arrive and I'm honestly just exhausted. The overpayment amount they're claiming is $6,200 which I absolutely cannot afford to pay back right now. I was fortunate enough to get help from Unemployment Law Project who provided an attorney for my case. She was amazing at explaining the legal jargon and helped me prepare all my financial documents to prove paying this back would cause significant hardship. This whole nightmare started because ESD claimed I didn't report some part-time income correctly in 2023, but I swear I reported everything exactly as instructed on the weekly claim forms. The ESD adjudicator who denied my waiver basically said I should have known better, but how was I supposed to know when their instructions are so confusing? Anyway, the judge said we should hear a decision within 2-3 weeks. This entire process has been going on for almost 1.5 years now and the stress has been unbearable. I'm just hoping it finally goes in my favor so I can put this behind me. Has anyone else gone through an appeal hearing with OAH? How long did it take to get your decision?

I work as an employment counselor and see overpayment cases regularly. Here's what typically happens after an OAH hearing: 1. Judge issues decision within 2-4 weeks (average is about 18 days) 2. If you win, ESD has 30 days to implement the decision or file their own appeal 3. If ESD doesn't appeal, the overpayment should be waived and removed from your account The fact that you had representation from ULP is excellent. Their attorneys win the vast majority of their cases. The most common reason judges waive overpayments is financial hardship, so all those documents you provided showing your expenses and income will be crucial. One thing to prepare for: if you win, you might still see the overpayment listed in your ESD account for a few weeks until they process the waiver. Don't panic if this happens - it's just administrative lag time.

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Thank you for this detailed timeline! It helps to know what to expect. The waiting is honestly the hardest part. I just want this nightmare to be over so I can stop stressing about a debt I can't afford to pay.

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I know exactly how you feel about the stress. I had an overpayment issue too but never got as far as an appeal hearing because I couldn't figure out the process. I just ended up on a payment plan ($150/month for 3 years). It's hard but I'm managing. The whole system seems designed to be confusing. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

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That's unfortunate you weren't able to appeal. For anyone else reading this who's dealing with an overpayment: every denial letter from ESD should include information about how to appeal, and you generally have 30 days from the date on the letter. If you miss that window, you can sometimes still file a late appeal with a good reason for the delay. Also worth noting that ULP (Unemployment Law Project) provides free legal help for people dealing with unemployment issues, especially if you're low-income. They can help with appeals, overpayments, and other ESD problems.

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