Perfect summary! This thread has been incredibly helpful for understanding the earnings rules.

Just to add another perspective - I've been working part-time seasonal work while on unemployment and it's actually worked out really well. The key thing I learned is to track your hours carefully too, not just earnings. I had a week where I only made $180 but worked 35 hours, so I lost my benefits entirely that week due to the hour limit even though my earnings were well under the threshold. Make sure you're watching both the earnings AND the 32-hour rule!

Thanks everyone for the helpful information! I'm feeling better prepared now. Sounds like I should expect something in about 2 weeks, but should be ready to proactively contact ESD if I win and don't see payments starting. Really appreciate all the insights and shared experiences. This whole unemployment process has been so much more complicated than I expected.

Hope your decision comes through quickly! I just went through this process last month and got my letter in exactly 12 days. One thing I wish someone had told me - even if you win, make sure to keep filing your weekly claims while waiting for ESD to process the judge's order. I stopped filing thinking it would automatically restart and that delayed my payments by another week when I had to call and get it sorted out. The whole system is confusing but hang in there!

Good luck OP! Keep us posted on how it goes.

I went through something similar in Washington about 18 months ago. Got fired for "attitude issues" after my manager found out I was networking at industry events. Filed my UI claim the same day and was approved within 2 weeks. The adjudicator told me that professional networking and job searching are completely normal activities that don't constitute misconduct. Your situation sounds even more clear-cut since you were doing interviews during your own lunch time. Don't stress too much about it - Washington ESD is pretty fair about these cases.

The key thing is to stay on top of your weekly claims and keep documenting everything. Take screenshots of your claim status and payment history in case you need to reference them later.

I went through this exact same situation about 6 months ago. After my claim was approved, it took exactly 5 business days to see the payment hit my account via direct deposit. The key thing that helped speed it up was making sure I had completed all my work search activities correctly and filed my weekly claim immediately after approval. If you don't see anything by next Wednesday, I'd definitely recommend calling or using one of those callback services people mentioned. Also, check that there aren't any outstanding issues in your account - sometimes there can be a small flag that's not immediately obvious that's holding up payment processing.

The bottom line is file your weekly claims as long as you're unemployed and stop when you start full-time work. If you work part-time, keep filing but report all hours and wages. Simple as that.

Another thing to keep in mind - if you're starting work on Monday, make sure you don't accidentally file for that week out of habit. I'd recommend setting a reminder on your phone or calendar to NOT file once you start working full-time. It's easy to forget when you've been doing it every week for 2 months. Also, Washington ESD sometimes sends automated reminders to file, so just ignore those once you're employed. Better to be extra careful than deal with overpayment headaches later!