Appeal after ESD denied my claim for 'quitting' - How long until hearing?

Appeals with OAH are unfortunately taking 8-10 weeks right now from what I've been seeing. The system is extremely backed up due to staffing shortages at the appeals office. You can request an expedited hearing by faxing a letter to OAH explaining your financial hardship (include documentation like eviction notices if you have them). Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. Make sure you've submitted all your evidence for the hearing through your eServices account. Start gathering documentation now that proves you had no reasonable alternative but to quit (any emails/texts showing your hours were cut, pay stubs showing the reduction, company handbook sections about guaranteed hours if applicable).

mine took 6 weeks last yr so prob get ready to wait. they never respond to msgs on eservices so dont bother with that. good luck

I went through something similar at my restaurant job! They cut me from 5 shifts to just 1 brunch shift a week and expected me to survive on that. I quit and got denied too. My appeal took about 7 weeks to get scheduled but I eventually WON because I brought documentation showing my hours were cut by over 60%. Make sure you have your original work schedule and whatever they reduced you to!!!! The judge at my hearing was actually really understanding once I showed the proof.

You might have luck trying Claimyr to get through to an actual ESD agent who can check on your appeal status - sometimes they can tell you things that don't show up in eServices. I was in appeal limbo for weeks until I used them to connect with an agent who told me my hearing was actually scheduled but the notice hadn't gone out yet. Their site is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. It's basically a callback service that gets you through the phone maze.

HEADS UP ON APPEALS: Even while your appeal is pending, you MUST KEEP FILING YOUR WEEKLY CLAIMS!!! So many people miss this crucial step! If you win your appeal but haven't been submitting weekly claims, you won't get paid for those weeks. The system doesn't tell you this clearly enough. Also, document EVERYTHING from now until your hearing - any job search activities, any communication with your former employer, everything. The OAH judge will want to see that you've been meeting all requirements during the waiting period.

im in the EXACT smae boat. denied july 19 cuz they said i quit but my boss was literally harrassing me daily!!!! appealed july 21 and still NOTHING from OAH. called like 50x and nobody answers!!!!! this is insane how they treat people. im about to be evicted and they don't care at all

Just want to add something important for your hearing preparation: In Washington, if your hours were reduced by over 25% from what you were hired for, that can qualify as "good cause" to quit under ESD rules. Since you mentioned going from full-time (presumably 40 hours) to 16 hours, that's a 60% reduction which should qualify. Make sure to specifically mention WAC 192-150-120 during your hearing - that's the regulation about substantial reduction in hours constituting good cause to leave employment. Print it out and bring it with you.

To directly answer your question about expediting: You need to call OAH at 1-800-366-0955 and request the Expedited Hearing Request Form. Complete it and submit it with documentation of your financial hardship (eviction notice, past due bills, bank statements showing low funds). Based on current timelines, even expedited appeals are taking 4-6 weeks, while regular appeals are running 8-10 weeks. One thing to note is that if your appeal is successful, you will receive back payments for all the weeks you properly filed claims, so document everything carefully now. Also, prepare a clear timeline of events leading to your separation from employment, focusing specifically on how your hours were reduced and any attempts you made to resolve the situation before quitting. The judge will want to see that you exhausted reasonable alternatives before quitting.