btw has anyone noticed how the ESD website is always "down for maintenance" right when you need to file your weekly claim on sunday night?? happened to me again last weekend smdh

I'm going through a similar situation right now - filed my appeal 3 weeks ago after being denied for "voluntary quit" when I was actually laid off due to budget cuts. The stress is unreal! One thing I learned from calling around is that you can request an expedited hearing if you can prove extreme financial hardship, but it's rarely granted. I tried but they said being behind on bills isn't enough - you basically need to be facing immediate eviction or utility shutoffs. Also, make sure when you do your weekly claims that you answer "YES" to the question about appealing a determination. I almost answered wrong the first week because I wasn't sure if my appeal was officially filed yet. The waiting is the worst part. I keep checking my eServices account obsessively hoping for a hearing date. Hang in there - from what I've read, if you have good documentation showing it was a layoff and not misconduct, you should win. The system sucks but don't give up!

After reading everyone's advice, I think I'm going to try calling ESD once more to see if I can find out why my claim has been pending. If I can get through, I'll let them know I found a job but would like to resolve anything for the weeks I was unemployed. If I can't get through after a few more tries, I'll probably just let it go and move on with my new job. Thanks everyone for the helpful information!

Just wanted to add my experience - I was in a similar situation last year where my claim was pending forever and I found work before getting any payments. I did end up calling ESD to let them know about the new job, and they were actually able to process my backpay for the weeks I was legitimately unemployed. It took another few weeks to get the money, but it was worth it since I had bills piling up from being out of work. The rep I spoke with said it's totally normal for people to find jobs while their claims are still processing, and they deal with it all the time. Whatever you decide, congrats on landing the new position so quickly!

One last tip - set up direct deposit for your benefits. Paper checks take forever and can get lost in the mail. Direct deposit is much more reliable.

I was in a similar situation last year - making about $52K and got around $630 per week in benefits. The Washington ESD calculation is pretty straightforward once you understand it. They look at your highest earning quarter from your base period and multiply by 3.85%, then divide by 13 weeks. With your $55K salary, you should qualify for a decent weekly amount. Just make sure to file as soon as possible since there's no benefit to waiting. The online application isn't too bad, and you can check the benefit calculator on their website to get a rough estimate before you apply. Good luck!

The fact that you're being thoughtful about this and trying to understand the rules shows you're acting in good faith. That's exactly the kind of thing Washington ESD looks for when evaluating misconduct claims.

Based on what you've described, this doesn't sound like misconduct under Washington ESD's standards. Being late due to car troubles is generally considered beyond your control, especially since you communicated with your supervisor about the issues. One heated discussion with a coworker about work matters typically isn't enough to constitute misconduct either, unless threats were made or company policy was clearly violated. The key factor Washington ESD looks for is whether your actions were willful and showed deliberate disregard for your employer's interests. Having legitimate transportation issues and trying to resolve them shows good faith effort on your part. I'd definitely recommend filing your claim - let Washington ESD make the determination rather than assuming you're disqualified based on your employer's claims.

This whole situation is such a mess. Politicians make these trade decisions and regular working people pay the price. At least Washington ESD seems to be handling the claims properly.

I'm in a similar situation - my company just announced they're cutting 40% of staff due to rising material costs from trade policies. Reading through everyone's experiences here is really helpful. It sounds like the key points are: file immediately after layoff, be honest about the economic reasons, document job search activities properly, and don't worry about the specific tariff details when filling out the application. Has anyone had luck with retraining programs while on unemployment? I'm wondering if this might be a good time to learn some new skills while I'm job hunting.