One more piece of advice - keep detailed notes of EVERY interaction you have with ESD from now on. Date, time, name of representative, what was discussed, confirmation numbers, everything. These notes can be admitted as evidence in your hearing. Also, be aware that there are two levels of appeal - if you lose at the OAH level, you can appeal to the Commissioner's Review Office, and then to Superior Court if necessary (though that's rare). The most important thing right now is getting that appeal filed within your deadline. You can always supplement with additional evidence later.

I'm so sorry you're going through this - what a nightmare! I've been following this thread and wanted to add that you should also request a "waiver of overpayment" when you file your appeal. Even if they determine there was an overpayment, Washington state allows waivers if the overpayment wasn't your fault AND repayment would cause financial hardship. Given that their system deleted your message history and you missed a verification request on a DENIED claim (that never paid you anything), this could be a strong argument for a waiver. The fact that you properly verified for all the claims you actually received benefits from shows you were acting in good faith. Document your current financial situation too - $55,000 would be devastating for most people. You've got this! The appeals process exists for exactly these situations.

I've been through this exact same confusion! One thing that really helped me understand my benefit calculation was realizing that Washington ESD only looks at W2 wages, not 1099 income. So if a significant portion of your delivery work was as an independent contractor, that could explain why the numbers don't match up. Also, double-check that you're using gross wages (before taxes) when doing your own calculations. When I finally got my determination letter, it showed exactly which quarters they used and broke down all the wage sources. The formula itself is pretty straightforward once you have the right numbers: highest quarter ÷ 26 = weekly benefit (capped at the state maximum). Hang in there - the waiting is the worst part but the letter should arrive soon!

I went through something very similar when I filed last year! Having multiple income sources definitely makes the calculation more confusing. One thing that really helped me was calling the Washington ESD customer service line early in the morning (like right when they open at 8am) - I had much better luck getting through then versus later in the day. The agent was able to walk me through exactly which wages counted and explained that they use a "base period" which might not include your most recent work. In your case with $28K total earnings, if most of that was from your W2 retail job, you should be in decent shape. The 1099 delivery income won't count toward your regular UI benefits, but your retail wages should give you a solid weekly amount. Keep checking your eServices account too - sometimes the benefit determination shows up there before the physical letter arrives. The whole process is nerve-wracking but hang in there!

One more thing - if your claim gets approved but you have questions about your benefit amount, that's calculated based on your highest earning quarter in your base period. The monetary determination should show the breakdown.

Final update from OP - got my first payment today! Took about 3 weeks total from filing to getting paid. Thanks everyone for the help understanding the process.

I filed late by about 6 hours last month (submitted Monday morning instead of Sunday night) and my payment came through on Thursday instead of the usual Tuesday. It was definitely stressful waiting those extra days, but Washington ESD processed it normally. The key thing that helped me was logging into SecureAccess Washington the next day to check my claim status - it showed "processed" so I knew it went through okay. One thing I learned is to file your claim as early as possible during the week (like Saturday) rather than waiting until the last minute on Sunday. That way if something comes up you still have buffer time.

I was in almost the exact same situation a few weeks ago - filed about 20 hours late because I completely forgot over the weekend. I was panicking thinking I'd lose my benefits, but it turned out fine. My payment was delayed by about 3 days (normally get it Tuesday, came Friday that week) but the full amount came through. The Washington ESD system accepted my late filing without any issues. Just make sure you keep up with your job search activities for that week since they can audit those anytime. Set some phone reminders for Saturday/Sunday going forward so you don't have to go through this stress again! You should be okay, just prepare for a few extra days of waiting for your payment.

Bottom line - if it's been more than 10 days since you filed and you haven't heard anything about a contest, you're probably in the clear for now. The employer can still try to contest later but it's much harder for them.

I'm in a similar situation - filed my claim about 8 days ago and have been anxiously waiting to see if my former employer will contest it. This thread has been incredibly helpful in understanding the timeline. It's reassuring to know that most employers don't actually bother to contest unless there's clear misconduct. I left my job due to a disagreement with management about working conditions, so I'm hoping they'll just let it go. The 10-day rule gives me some peace of mind knowing there's a definitive timeframe rather than just waiting indefinitely.