One last thing - make sure your address and contact information is up to date with Washington ESD. They'll need to be able to reach you during the claims process.

I'm also a DACA recipient and went through this process last year when I was laid off from my marketing job. Can confirm that you're absolutely eligible! The process was straightforward - I just needed my EAD card and Social Security number like everyone else. Washington ESD didn't give me any issues about my DACA status at all. The only thing I'd add is to make sure you're familiar with the WorkSourceWA website since you'll need to register there for job search activities. Best of luck with your claim!

Pro tip from someone who used to work in banking - when a direct deposit is sent to the wrong account number, there's a whole return process that has to happen. The receiving bank has to return the funds as unclaimable, then ESD has to reprocess once they receive that return. Each step can take 2-3 business days. So realistically you're looking at minimum a week, often 10 days total.

Update: Payment just hit my account this morning! So it took exactly 7 business days from when I corrected the banking info. Thanks everyone for the help and reassurance that this was normal. I was really starting to worry.

Thanks for all this info everyone. Really helpful thread for those of us dealing with toxic work situations. Nice to know there are options besides just suffering in silence.

I'm going through a similar situation right now - hostile work environment with constant harassment from my manager. After reading all these responses, I'm realizing I need to be much more strategic about documentation. I've been keeping mental notes but clearly need to start writing everything down with dates and times. Has anyone successfully used text messages or voice recordings as evidence, or is it mainly emails and written complaints that work best with Washington ESD? Also wondering if anyone knows how they handle situations where the harassment is more subtle - like constant micromanaging, unrealistic deadlines, or being excluded from meetings and communications.

This is exactly the kind of hidden gotcha that makes dealing with ESD so stressful! I'm in a similar boat - had UI benefits last year, worked for a few months, then got laid off again. I thought I'd automatically qualify since I had plenty of hours worked, but now I'm worried I might not have earned enough during that short work period to meet the 6x rule. It's ridiculous that this isn't clearly explained upfront during the application process. They should have a calculator or warning that says "Hey, if you've had UI before, here's what you need to earn to requalify" before you spend weeks thinking you'll get benefits. Really hope your freelance documentation works out! It's crazy that you missed it by such a small amount. The system feels designed to trip people up on technicalities rather than actually help workers who legitimately need support.

As someone new to this community, this thread has been incredibly enlightening and honestly pretty alarming. I had no idea about this 6x requalification rule, and like many others have mentioned, it's shocking that this isn't made crystal clear during the application process. I'm currently between jobs and was actually considering applying for UI benefits, thinking I'd easily qualify since I have plenty of work history. But reading Wesley's experience has me realizing I need to dig deeper into understanding ALL the requirements before I assume anything. The fact that you can meet the basic hour requirements but still get denied for not earning enough after a previous claim is a huge gotcha that could blindside anyone. What really gets me is how you missed qualifying by just $480 - that's less than a week's worth of part-time work! It seems like there should be some kind of reasonableness standard or appeals process for cases where someone falls just barely short, especially when they clearly made a good faith effort to return to work. I'm definitely going to bookmark this thread and the resources people have shared. The suggestion about Claimyr is interesting too - it's unfortunate that people have to pay for a service to get through to a government agency, but if it works it might be worth it for complex situations. Really hoping your documentation of the freelance work pans out, Wesley. Keep fighting it - sometimes persistence pays off with these bureaucratic systems!

Hope your recovery goes smoothly! At least you have the STD option to fall back on while you heal.

I work as a benefits counselor and see this situation frequently. You're absolutely right to be concerned about reporting correctly. The bottom line is Washington state requires you to be "able and available" for work to receive unemployment benefits. Since you'll be medically unable to work for 6-8 weeks, you should stop filing weekly claims once your disability period begins. However, I'd strongly recommend calling Washington ESD (or using a service like the Claimyr one mentioned above) to officially report the change in your status. This creates a paper trail showing you acted in good faith, which is important if you want to reopen your claim later. Also, make sure to get the exact start date for your STD benefits so there's no gap in coverage during the transition.