Bottom line for anyone else reading this thread: Washington has NO waiting week as of 2021. You get paid for your first eligible week IF your claim is approved and you meet all requirements for that week. If you're seeing $0 for week 1, it's probably because your claim is still processing or there's an eligibility issue, not because of a waiting week.

Just wanted to add my experience for anyone else dealing with this confusion - I filed my Washington unemployment claim about 6 weeks ago and was also worried about the waiting week. After reading through all these responses, I can confirm that Washington really did eliminate the waiting week. I got paid for my first week once my claim was fully approved, which took about 3 weeks total. The key is just being patient while they process everything and making sure you meet all the weekly requirements from day one. Don't stress if you see $0 initially - it doesn't mean there's a waiting week, it just means they're still working on your claim!

Don't forget that if Monday is a holiday, it can push everything back a day. Washington ESD doesn't process claims on federal holidays.

Just wanted to update everyone - my deposit came through this morning (Thursday) like several people predicted. Thanks for the reassurance that this timing is normal!

So happy for you!!! Hope I'm posting my success story soon too!

This is such an encouraging post to read! I'm currently on week 3 of pending status and was starting to get really anxious about it. Knowing that yours took 8 weeks but eventually came through gives me some perspective. I've been doing the Tuesday morning calls too but haven't had luck getting through yet. Going to try the portal messaging approach you mentioned - I hadn't thought of explaining my hardship situation in detail there. Quick question: when you uploaded your ID docs the second time, did you get any kind of confirmation that they received them? I submitted mine last week but the system doesn't really give you much feedback on whether they actually got processed. Congrats again on finally getting your payment! Stories like this keep the rest of us going.

This thread has been really helpful. I'm dealing with a similar situation with workers comp and unemployment. It seems like the general rule is you can't get both, but talking to Washington ESD directly is the only way to know for sure.

I went through something similar when I had surgery last year. The key thing Washington ESD told me is that you have to be "able and available" for work to get unemployment benefits. If you're receiving disability payments, they assume you're not able to work, which automatically disqualifies you from UI benefits. However, since you mentioned you have partial restrictions rather than being completely unable to work, your situation might be different. I'd strongly recommend calling Washington ESD directly to discuss your specific case - they can tell you definitively whether your partial restrictions would still allow you to meet the "able and available" requirement. Don't risk filing for both without getting official confirmation first, because if they find out later you could face serious penalties.

Update: I tried the Claimyr service and it actually worked! Got connected to a Washington ESD agent in about 30 minutes and got my weekly claim issue sorted out. Would definitely recommend if you're stuck like I was.

Just wanted to share another tip that worked for me - try calling around 4:30 PM on Fridays. I know it sounds random but I got through twice using this timing. I think a lot of people assume Friday afternoons are bad so there's actually less competition for the phone lines. Also, if you do get through to someone, be super polite and ask if there's a better time/number to call for future issues. Some agents will give you insider tips on when call volume is lighter. Hang in there everyone - the system is broken but don't give up!