Thanks everyone for all the advice and support. I feel a lot more confident about my claim now. Will update when I hear back from Washington ESD!

I just went through this exact situation last month - got fired for "performance issues" but really felt like they were just cutting staff. I was honest on my Washington ESD application and put "terminated for performance" and kept the explanation brief and factual. Got approved within 2 weeks! The key is showing you weren't doing anything intentionally wrong. If you were genuinely trying your best but struggling with unrealistic expectations or lack of proper training/support, that's usually not considered misconduct. Don't stress too much - most performance-related terminations still qualify for benefits as long as there wasn't willful misconduct involved.

Thank you everyone for all the helpful responses! I've gone ahead and logged it as a WorkSource activity with "WorkSourceWA.com" as the location. I'll also be attending their orientation workshop tomorrow which will count as my second activity. For my third activity, I've applied for a job I found on Indeed. Hopefully my claim goes through without any issues!

Great to hear you got it sorted out! Just a tip for future weeks - you can also count things like updating your resume on WorkSource, using their job matching tools, or taking any of their online skills assessments as separate WorkSource activities. I've found their career exploration tools really helpful too and they all count toward your requirements. Good luck with your claim!

I went through this exact same situation about 6 months ago when my startup laid off half the team. One thing that really helped me was having my W-2 from last year handy when filling out the application - it made it easier to remember exact wage amounts and dates. Also, don't stress too much about getting every single detail perfect on the first try. I had to call and make a small correction to one of my employment dates and it wasn't a big deal at all. The Washington ESD folks were actually pretty helpful once I got through to them. Just make sure you file as soon as possible after your last day - I waited a few days thinking I needed to "get organized" first and realized I was just delaying my own benefits for no reason.

I just went through this process a few weeks ago after getting laid off from my marketing job. The biggest thing that helped me was doing it early in the morning when the website was less busy - I tried filing around 7 AM on a Tuesday and it went much smoother than when I attempted it during peak hours. Also, if you're in tech, you might want to double-check if your company offered any severance packages that could affect your benefit timing. My company had a 2-week severance that I had to account for in the application. The whole thing took me about 45 minutes once I had everything ready, and I got my monetary determination letter in exactly 10 days. Don't let the government website intimidation get to you - it's actually pretty user-friendly once you get started!

This thread is incredibly helpful - thank you all for sharing your experiences! I'm dealing with a similar lockout situation right now and feeling so much less panicked after reading through everyone's solutions. I had no idea about the SAW connection between WorkSource and ESD, which explains why both of my accounts stopped working at the same time yesterday. I made the same mistake of trying to reset passwords on each system separately, which clearly made things worse. Going to try the SAW portal directly after waiting the full 24 hours, and I'm so relieved to know about the phone filing backup option. It's frustrating that ESD doesn't explain these connections better in their error messages, but at least we have this community to help each other figure it out. Has anyone noticed if certain browsers work better than others for these systems? I've been using Safari and wondering if I should switch to Chrome for state websites.

I'm going through this exact same issue right now! Both my ESD and WorkSource accounts stopped working yesterday after I tried to update my contact information. I had no idea about the SAW connection - that explains everything! I've been frantically trying to reset passwords on both systems separately, which clearly backfired. Reading through all these responses has been such a relief. I'm going to wait the full 24 hours and then try the SAW portal directly like everyone suggests. Also calling the automated line tonight to file my weekly claim since I can't afford to miss the deadline. This community is amazing - thank you all for sharing your experiences and solutions! It's so frustrating that ESD doesn't explain these system connections upfront, but at least we have each other to figure it out.

UPDATE: OP, any luck reaching Washington ESD about your backdating request? I'm curious how it worked out.

I went through something similar last year when I got furloughed. The key thing that helped me get backdating approved was having documentation from my HR department showing they advised employees to wait before filing because they expected to bring people back within 2-3 weeks. Washington ESD considered that "good cause" for the delay. Make sure to gather any emails, texts, or written communication from your employer about the potential callback - that's going to be your strongest evidence. Also, be persistent with calling. I had to try for about a week straight before I finally got through to someone who could help with the backdating request.