If your claim is still showing as "Processing" without any pending issues or disqualifications, it's most likely just a processing delay. Here's what you should know: 1. ESD occasionally has processing backlogs, especially mid-month when their workload increases 2. If there are no messages in your account about issues, that's usually a good sign 3. Wait times for payments can occasionally extend to 4-5 business days 4. It's only considered a true delay if it goes beyond 5 business days If you still don't have your payment by Monday, I'd recommend contacting ESD directly. Make sure you've checked your settings in the ESD portal to confirm your payment method hasn't changed and that there aren't any notifications you might have missed.

update: just got my payment! finally showed up this afternoon. check your accounts everyone, maybe they're processing a batch now

One more important detail - when your staff applies, they need to indicate they're requesting standby status and provide the specific return-to-work date after each period off. So for your March 31 week, they would enter the date they're returning to work in April. For scattered weeks, this gets updated with each period of unemployment. Also, everyone should set up their ESD account and claims BEFORE the first day off work. The system can be glitchy, and you don't want authentication issues delaying benefits.

Also be prepared for SOME of your staff to have their claims go into adjudication for no apparent reason! ESD randomly flags some claims and then it can take WEEKS to resolve!!! Make sure everyone has some savings just in case because there's no predicting who might get stuck waiting!!

I just wanna say congrats on the new job!! 🎉 That's awesome and must be such a relief after being on unemployment.

One more thing to be aware of: if you earned more than your weekly benefit amount in that final week, you won't receive payment, but it's still important to file and report. It properly closes out your claim cycle and prevents any issues down the road. Good luck with the new position!

I want to clarify something important about the 'did not return to work and earn enough to qualify' message. This is separate from the Reasonable Assurance issue. It means the system is saying you didn't earn enough in your base year to qualify for a new UI claim. If your previous benefit year ended and you're filing a new claim, you need to have worked and earned wages in at least 680 hours during your base year. Double-check your base year wages in eServices to verify you met this requirement. If the information there is incorrect, you'll need to address that as well.

Have you tried going to WorkSource? Sometimes they have ESD people there who can look at your claim without going through the phone nightmare. That's what I did last year when I had an issue with my claim.

Update on my situation: I finally got my benefits released yesterday after 9 weeks of waiting! What finally worked was getting my state senator's office involved (thanks to whoever suggested that). Their constituent services staff contacted ESD directly and suddenly my claim was "prioritized." Seems wrong that it takes political connections to get what you're legally entitled to, but at this point I'm just relieved to have rent money. For those still waiting - don't give up, and definitely try the state representative/senator route!

@OP - Yes, it was indeed the able and available issue. Apparently the system had flagged me because I mentioned in one weekly claim that I had attended a family event out of state (was only gone for a weekend). That triggered the A&A review because they thought I might not be available for work. The ridiculous part is that once someone actually looked at my claim, it took them less than 10 minutes to resolve it. It just sat in a queue for 9 weeks with nobody looking at it!