Denied standby status and stuck in adjudication for 3 weeks - Why isn't ESD paying me?

same thing happened to me!! I workd for the city of Spokane parks & was denied standby too even tho I had a return date. ESD is sooooo broken right now. I was in adjudication for 4 full weeks before they finally approved my claim and paid me. I tried calling like 50 times but never got through. just keep filing your weekly claims and eventually theyll figure it out. its stupid but theres nothing u can really do except wait 😡

The standby denial and adjudication are actually two separate issues. For standby status in 2025, you typically need to be a full-time employee for 12+ months with the same employer, and even then, ESD has gotten stricter about approving it. Regarding the adjudication delay - this is unfortunately common right now. ESD is seriously backlogged with identity verification cases. The good news is that if you've uploaded all those documents, you'll almost certainly be approved and will receive backpay for all weeks claimed. The bad news is that 3-4 weeks is actually the average wait time for adjudication these days.

I work in HR and deal with this stuff all the time. The reason you were denied standby is because ESD changed their rules in 2024 - seasonal workers now need to have worked year-round (full 12 months) to qualify for standby. It's a stupid rule change that hurts seasonal government workers. About the adjudication - have you checked your ESD account messages to see if they sent you any requests for additional information? Sometimes they need something specific but don't make it obvious what they're waiting for.

After two weeks in adjudication I got fed up with waiting and used Claimyr to reach an ESD agent (claimyr.com). They got me connected to ESD in about 20 minutes after I'd spent days trying to call on my own. The agent was able to tell me exactly what was holding up my claim and resolved it during that call. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 It worked way better than I expected. I got paid the next day after being stuck for weeks.

THE STANDBY THING IS COMPLETE BULLSH*T!!!! I got denied too and I've been working the same seasonal position for 7 YEARS! They're FORCING people to do job searches even when we HAVE JOBS to return to. The whole system is designed to make it as difficult as possible for people who actually need help. And the adjudication wait times are just another way they try to make people give up. I waited 5 WEEKS last winter before I saw a penny of my benefits. They hope you'll just go back to work and stop claiming before they have to pay you!

Make sure you're continuing to file your weekly claims even while in adjudication. Once they resolve your issue, they'll pay you for all weeks claimed (assuming you're eligible). Also, be sure you're completing your 3 job search activities each week and documenting them properly - this is required even if you have a return-to-work date since you were denied standby status. One thing that sometimes helps is contacting your state representative. They often have staff dedicated to helping constituents with ESD issues. It might be worth a try if you hit the 4-week mark with no resolution.

btw when they finally approved my claim after 4 weeks they DID give me all my back payments at once. so atleast youll get all your money eventually, just not when u actually need it for bills 🙄

Just curious, did you get an email or letter specifically saying you were denied standby? Sometimes people assume they're denied standby when actually their whole claim is just in adjudication. It's important to know which issue you're dealing with since they require different approaches.

Since you only have one more week before returning to work, you might want to try calling right when ESD opens at 8:00 AM. I've heard people have better luck getting through in the first 15 minutes. If that doesn't work, seriously consider a service like Claimyr that I mentioned - the cost is worth it when you're waiting on potentially thousands in benefits.