Do you get paid for the waiting week for unemployment in Washington ESD?

Oh really? That's great news! I was worried about missing a week of payments. Thanks for clarifying that.

yeah i remember having to deal with that waiting week crap years ago, glad they got rid of it

Good point about filing the weekly claim. I wasn't sure if I needed to do that for the first week or not.

Wait, how many job search activities do you need to do per week? I thought it was 3 but someone told me it might be different now.

It's still 3 job search activities per week for most people. You can check your specific requirements in your eServices account under the job search section.

I had the same problem until I found Claimyr. It's a service that helps you get through to ESD agents. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. It saved me hours of calling.

Never heard of that before. Does it actually work? I'm getting desperate here.

Yeah it worked for me. I was able to get through and talk to someone about my adjudication issue that had been pending for weeks.

No, the waiting week was eliminated for all unemployment claims in Washington. Your cousin might have had a different issue like adjudication delays or eligibility problems that caused a delay in payments.

That makes sense. He did mention something about them reviewing his work history or something like that.

tell me about it, took me forever to figure out the WorkSource registration thing too

I know it seems overwhelming at first, but once you get into the routine it's not too bad. The key is staying on top of your weekly claims and job search activities.

That's reassuring to hear from someone who just went through it recently. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Same here, got paid for my first week when I filed in December.

Good advice. I've been checking it daily since I filed. So far everything looks normal.

Yeah and if you see anything about adjudication or pending issues, don't wait around. Try to contact them ASAP.

Speaking of contacting them, I used that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier and it actually worked. Finally got through to discuss my overpayment notice.

PUA and other pandemic programs ended in 2021. If you're filing now, it would be regular unemployment insurance which doesn't have a waiting week.

Oh right, I forgot those programs ended. Thanks for the reminder.

That's really helpful to hear from someone who sees this from the employer side. Thanks!

Do employers have to do anything special when someone files for unemployment?

We usually get a notice from ESD asking us to verify employment information and provide details about the separation. It's pretty standard.

Since there's no waiting week in Washington anymore, if you don't get paid it's usually due to eligibility issues, adjudication, or problems with your weekly claim filing.

Got it, that makes sense. I was worried I might have missed something when I filed.

Yeah it never made sense to me why they had that in the first place.

I think it was supposed to discourage people from filing frivolous claims or something, but it just hurt people who really needed the help.

That's the second time someone mentioned Claimyr. Seems like it's pretty helpful for getting through to ESD.

Yeah I've heard good things about it too. Might try it if I run into any issues.

Exactly! Just make sure to keep filing your weekly claims and doing your job search activities. Good luck with your claim!

Hope everything works out for you!