Can you get unemployment twice - Washington ESD eligibility question

Yes you can absolutely file multiple unemployment claims as long as you meet the work requirements between claims. Since you worked 8 months, you should have earned enough wages to establish a new benefit year. Each claim is based on your earnings in the base period, so your second claim will be calculated using wages from your most recent jobs.

been there done that, filed 3 different claims over the years. as long as you worked and earned wages between claims youre good to go. the key is making sure you have enough base period wages

I was in a similar spot last year and had trouble getting through to Washington ESD to ask about eligibility. Spent hours on hold trying to reach someone. Finally found this service called Claimyr at claimyr.com that helps you get through to ESD agents faster. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Made the whole process much easier when I had questions about my second claim.

The work requirement is usually around 680 hours or earning wages in at least two quarters of your base period. Since you worked 8 months full-time, you should easily meet this threshold. Your benefit amount might be different this time depending on your recent wages compared to your previous claim.

Wait I thought there was some kind of limit on how many times you could collect unemployment? My cousin said something about that

I'm actually going through this exact situation right now! Filed my second claim three weeks ago and it went into adjudication. Still waiting to hear back but my case worker told me it's just routine verification since I had a previous claim. The process seems pretty similar to the first time.

THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO MAKE THIS CONFUSING! They don't want people to know you can file multiple claims because then more people would actually use the benefits they paid into. Classic bureaucratic BS.

Just want to add that your waiting week requirement might be waived if you're filing within a certain timeframe of your previous claim ending. Check with ESD about this because it could mean getting paid sooner.

Another thing about filing multiple claims - make sure you report any severance pay or vacation payout correctly. Washington ESD is really strict about this and it can affect your benefit start date even on a second claim.

been collecting on and off for years due to seasonal work. never had any issues filing new claims as long as i worked enough between them. the hardest part is always getting through to talk to someone when you have questions

One thing to watch out for is if your previous claim had any overpayment issues. They might offset your new benefits to recover old overpayments. Happened to my brother and his first few weeks of benefits went to paying back the old debt.

Pro tip: keep really good records of your work history between claims. Washington ESD might ask for pay stubs or W-2s to verify your wages, especially if there's any gap in their system records.

If you're having trouble reaching Washington ESD by phone to verify your eligibility, that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier actually works pretty well. Used it myself when I needed to check on my claim status and couldn't get through the regular way.

The key thing is making sure you meet Washington state's monetary eligibility requirements. You need wages in at least two quarters of your base period and total wages of at least 1.5 times your highest quarter. With 8 months of work you should easily qualify.

just to confirm what everyone else is saying - yes you can definitely file multiple unemployment claims. i've done it several times over the past decade. each claim is treated separately based on your recent work history

One last thing - if your previous claim had any special circumstances like standby status or partial unemployment, make sure to mention that when you file your new claim. It can affect how they process things.

Final advice - don't wait too long to file if you're eligible. Your claim is backdated to when you file, not when you lost your job, so filing sooner means getting benefits sooner. And if you need to talk to someone at ESD about your specific situation, services like Claimyr can save you a lot of frustration with the phone system.