Can I collect Washington ESD unemployment if I drive for Uber?

So if my weekly benefit is $400 and I make $300 driving Uber, I'd still get the full $400 unemployment payment?

Exactly! As long as you stay under your weekly benefit amount, you get your full unemployment payment plus whatever you earned.

How do they find out? Do they check with Uber directly or something?

They cross-reference with tax records and can also do wage verification checks. Always better to report everything upfront than deal with an overpayment notice later.

I had the same problem until I found Claimyr. It's a service that calls Washington ESD for you and gets you connected to an actual person. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

Really? How much does something like that cost? Seems too good to be true.

It's worth it when you need to talk to someone at Washington ESD. I was stuck in adjudication for a month and couldn't get through on my own. Claimyr got me connected the same day and I got my issue resolved.

Good point! I've been keeping up with my job applications but it's tempting to slack off when you're making some money.

wait do you really have to apply for 3 jobs every single week? that seems like a lot

Yes, it's 3 work search activities per week minimum. Can be job applications, networking events, or other approved activities. You log them in WorkSourceWA and Washington ESD can audit your records anytime.

Did you have any issues with Washington ESD questioning the gig work income?

Nope, never had any problems. As long as you report it accurately they don't care where the money comes from.

How much is too much? Like what would trigger them to question my availability?

There's no specific dollar amount, but if you're consistently working 40+ hours a week driving or making more than your previous job, they might question if you're truly seeking full-time employment.

This happened to my brother. He was making like $800/week with uber and they cut off his benefits saying he wasn't available for work

Do I report gross earnings or net after expenses like gas?

Gross earnings. Washington ESD doesn't care about your business expenses for unemployment purposes - they just want to know how much you made total.

That's what I'm worried about - the inconsistency making it hard to budget my finances.

yeah its tough but unemployment helps smooth out the bad weeks when uber is slow

Good advice! I'll start a spreadsheet to track everything.

Also save your gas receipts for tax purposes even though Washington ESD doesn't care about expenses

Try using Claimyr if you need to reach them again. I was skeptical at first but it actually worked - got connected to a real person in under 10 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own.

Never heard of that service but I'm willing to try anything at this point. The Washington ESD phone system is broken.

Definitely planning to report everything! I don't want to deal with overpayment issues down the road.

Smart move. I know someone who got hit with a $4000 overpayment notice because they didn't report gig work income properly.

That's exactly what I'm hoping for. Just need something to bridge the gap until I find a good full-time position.

Plus driving for Uber gives you flexibility to attend job interviews without having to request time off from a regular part-time job.

Thanks for clarifying that! I was confused about whether to include Uber's service fees or not.

Report the full amount before Uber takes their cut. That's your gross earnings for Washington ESD purposes.

That's reassuring to hear! I was worried they'd see it as not actively looking for full-time work.

As long as you're still doing your required job search activities and reporting income properly, they're fine with part-time work. It shows initiative.

Report it for the week you performed the work, not when you got paid. So if you drove Monday-Friday, report those earnings on that week's claim even if Uber doesn't pay until the following week.

Thanks! That makes sense - it's about when you worked, not when you got the money.

Agreed! Their website has some information but it's scattered across different pages and not very clear for gig workers specifically.

At least forums like this help people figure it out. Better than trying to navigate the Washington ESD website alone.

Thank you everyone for all the helpful advice! I feel much more confident about moving forward with driving for Uber now.

Good luck with the gig work! Hope you find a great full-time job soon too.