Denied ESD benefits because of old employer despite reduced hours at current job - help with appeal?

yea ESD alwys looks at the base year not current job. thats just how it works. they look back at what u earned in past 4 quarters not what ur earning right now. if he didnt work enough hours in that timeframe its gonna be hard to get any $$$

But that doesn't make sense to me! He's employed NOW and his hours were cut NOW. Why would they care more about what he was doing a year ago than his current situation? There has to be some way to appeal this.

The same exact thing happened to me last winter when my construction hours got cut. So frustrating! ESD denied me because I hadn't worked enough in my \

Thanks for sharing your experience. Did you end up appealing? Was there any alternative program he might qualify for since his hours were cut?

This is actually standard ESD policy and not a mistake. To qualify for unemployment benefits in Washington, your husband must have:\n\n1. Worked at least 680 hours in his \

Thank you for explaining this so clearly. It just seems like such a broken system that doesn't actually help people when they need it. He was working during that period, just not enough hours apparently. Is there any type of partial benefits he could apply for?

I had this same frustrating experience with partial unemployment. The base year requirement is unfortunately very rigid. If he didn't work 680+ hours during that specific timeframe, an appeal won't change the outcome.\n\nHowever, he might qualify for what's called an \

I've never heard of an \

The whole system is RIDICULOUS!!! I went through this same garbage last year. ESD doesn't care about your CURRENT situation at all. All they care about is if you worked enough hours during some random time period a year ago. MAKES NO SENSE!!!\n\nThey do this ON PURPOSE to deny as many claims as possible. It's all a SCAM to avoid paying benefits to people who actually need them. My hours got cut from 35 to 12 and I got NOTHING because I had gone back to school part-time during their precious \

preach!!! the whole system is rigged to make it hard to get benefits even when u deserve them

I need to clarify some information about the alternate base year that was mentioned:\n\n1. The alternate base year uses the four most recently completed calendar quarters before you applied. So if your husband applied in January 2025, the alternate base year would be January 2023 through December 2023.\n\n2. To request an alternate base year calculation, he should call ESD and specifically ask for this. It's not automatic.\n\n3. He would still need to have worked at least 680 hours during this alternate period.\n\n4. There's also a thing called \

This is extremely helpful information. I don't think we knew about any of these options. His employer definitely plans to restore his hours in about 6 weeks when their spring contracts start, so that standby status sounds perfect for his situation. Thank you!

Is it possible there's an error in their records? My husband had a similar issue where ESD was missing some of his work history. We had to submit paystubs from the missing quarters to prove he actually did work enough hours. Might be worth checking if they have accurate records for all his employment during that base year period. Sometimes employers don't report properly.

That's an interesting thought. I'll have him double-check his work history in the ESD system to make sure all his jobs are showing up correctly. Maybe something is missing!

After reading all these comments, it sounds like your best bet is to:\n\n1. Try to get through to ESD (using Claimyr or whatever works) and specifically ask about the alternate base year\n\n2. Ask about standby status since his hours will be restored in a few weeks\n\n3. Verify all his work history is correctly showing in their system\n\nThe whole base year thing is super frustrating, but at least you have some options to explore. Let us know what happens!

Thank you! This community has been so helpful. I'll update once we've been able to speak with someone at ESD. Fingers crossed the alternate base year or standby status works out.

One thing no one has mentioned - if his hours were just reduced and not completely eliminated, he might still qualify for partial unemployment benefits even with the base year requirement. It's a common misconception that you have to be completely unemployed to get benefits.\n\nWhen I worked retail and had my hours cut from 40 to 20 during slow season, I was able to get partial benefits. But again, you still need to meet that 680 hour requirement in your base year.\n\nDefinitely worth calling and asking specifically about partial benefits for reduced hours AND the alternate base year option. But be prepared that if he truly didn't work enough hours during either calculation period, he might not qualify regardless of his current situation.

Yes, that's exactly what we're trying to figure out - the partial benefits for reduced hours. Good to know it worked for you! We'll definitely ask about both the alternate base year and partial benefits when we call.