Do I report first week of work on ESD weekly claim before getting paid?

YES! Always report work when you PERFORM the work, not when you get paid. This is super important - if you don't report it, ESD might flag it as fraud when your employer reports your wages. I made this mistake and ended up with an overpayment nightmare. For tax forms, ESD doesn't send W2s or W4s (those are employer forms). They send a 1099-G in January showing all the unemployment benefits you received in the previous year. You'll need it for your taxes. You can get it online through your eServices account too.

You absolutely need to report any hours you worked during your claim week even if you haven't been paid yet. When you file your weekly claim, it specifically asks about work performed during that week, not payment received. Regarding tax documents, ESD will provide you with a 1099-G form (not a W2 or W4) by January 31, 2026 for all benefits paid in 2025. You can access it either through your eServices account or they'll mail it to you. Make sure your mailing address is up to date in the system.

ALWAYS REPORT WORK WHEN YOU DO IT!!! Sorry for the caps but this is really important!!! I got hit with a $4,200 overpayment because I thought I should report when I got paid not when I worked. ESD considers it FRAUD if you don't report correctly even if it was an honest mistake. The system is so broken!!! 😡😡😡

i think u can still claim until u get paid but you gotta say how many hours u worked n they reduce ur benefit. not sure tho cuz my situation was different i was part time

Just wanted to add - when you report your work hours, ESD might still give you a partial payment if your earnings that week are less than your weekly benefit amount. I was in this exact situation in February when I started my new job. If you're having trouble getting through to ESD to ask questions about this (I sure did), I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual ESD agent in about 20 minutes instead of spending hours on hold. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 Really saved me when I was confused about how to report my first week back at work!

Last year I had to wait forever to get my tax form from ESD. Anyone know if they're faster now?

does anyone know if you have to report mileage when u start a new job? i drove like 30 miles each way and idk if thats something esd cares about lol

To answer your follow-up question - you should continue filing weekly claims until your earnings exceed your weekly benefit amount. When you report full-time work or earnings higher than your benefit amount, the system will automatically stop your claim. This is important because if your job doesn't work out during the first few weeks (which happens sometimes), you won't have to restart your claim from scratch. Once you're stable in your new job, your claim will just become inactive automatically.