Can't reach Washington Unemployment? Claimyr connects you to a live ESD agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the ESD
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the ESD drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
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if you're still having trouble getting through to talk to someone at washington esd about your specific calculation, i had good luck with claimyr too. they got me connected pretty quickly when i was stuck in adjudication and needed to talk to an agent
How does that work exactly? Do they just call for you?
I just went through this same process a few months ago and it was so confusing at first! Based on what everyone's saying here, it sounds like you're on the right track. With your $52k income, you'll want to look at your highest earning quarter from your base period. Since you mentioned variable hours, that overtime probably helped boost one of your quarters significantly. From my experience, the actual amount usually ends up being pretty close to what the online calculator shows once you get the quarters right. The hardest part is just figuring out which quarters count as your base period - but once you have that, the rest falls into place. Good luck with your claim!
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Just remember that unemployment is temporary assistance, not permanent income replacement. Use the time to actively look for work and improve your skills if possible.
Absolutely. I'm already working on updating my resume and looking at job postings. The unemployment will help bridge the gap while I find something good.
WorkSource has some good resources too for job searching and skills training if you haven't checked them out yet.
Thanks everyone for all the detailed explanations! This is exactly what I needed to understand how Washington calculates unemployment benefits. Based on what Diego and others have shared, it sounds like I should be looking at my base period quarters (not just my annual salary) to get an accurate estimate. I'll gather my wage statements from those specific quarters and try the calculation myself. Really appreciate the tip about Claimyr too - if the online calculator stays broken I might need to use that to actually talk to someone at ESD.
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The credit you get for paying Washington state unemployment taxes is substantial though. Most employers end up paying very little in actual FUTA after the state credit is applied.
So if I'm already paying Washington ESD unemployment taxes I shouldn't owe much to the federal government?
Right, as long as Washington state isn't considered a credit reduction state, which it usually isn't.
This thread has been super helpful! I'm in a similar situation with my small marketing agency. Based on what everyone's saying, it sounds like I need to register for FUTA with the IRS separately even though I'm already set up with Washington ESD. The fact that the federal and state systems don't communicate with each other is really frustrating - seems like there should be a better way to handle this for small business owners who are just trying to do the right thing.
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UPDATE: I ended up filing my new Washington ESD claim online yesterday. The process was actually pretty straightforward once I had all my wage information gathered. Now I just have to wait for them to process it and hopefully get approved. Thanks everyone for the advice!
Good reminder about the weekly claims. I almost forgot about that requirement. Hopefully the processing goes smoothly.
I just want to echo what others have said - I moved from Texas to Washington last year and had to start completely fresh with Washington ESD. The good news is that while you can't transfer your claim, Washington's benefit calculation will include wages from all states during their lookback period. One thing I'd add is to make sure you understand Washington's job search requirements right away - they're stricter than some states and you don't want to get dinged for not meeting them while your claim is processing. Also, definitely register with WorkSource Washington as soon as possible since that's mandatory for most claimants. The whole process took about 2-3 weeks for me but it was worth getting everything set up properly from the start.
Emily Thompson
Does anyone know if they're actually working through these in order? Like do they take the oldest cases first? I'm wondering if calling repeatedly actually helps or if we're all just in a giant queue that moves at a snail's pace no matter what we do.
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Elijah Brown
•ESD does generally work claims in order, but certain issues receive priority. Claims are sorted based on several factors: issue type, hardship level, and claim age. Repeatedly calling doesn't typically change your position in the adjudication queue, but it can sometimes identify if there's a specific issue delaying your claim that could be resolved more quickly.
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Zainab Ali
I'm going through something similar right now - filed in early February after being laid off from my retail job and I'm at week 4 of adjudication. What's really frustrating is that I was clearly laid off due to store closure (not fired or quit) but they're still reviewing it as a "separation issue." I've been keeping detailed records of all my calls and the different timeframes I've been told. First it was 2-3 weeks, then 4-6 weeks, now they're saying 6+ weeks. The financial stress is unreal - I'm having to rely on family help just to cover basic expenses. Has anyone had success with documenting all the delays and using that when contacting representatives or ESD supervisors?
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