Does Presidents Day affect Washington ESD unemployment claim processing?

Federal holidays like Presidents Day don't affect your weekly claim filing schedule. You can still file your weekly claim as normal through the Washington ESD website. The online system runs 24/7 even when offices are closed.

wait but what if there's a problem with my claim and I need to call them? they're gonna be closed monday right

I had this same concern last Presidents Day! Filed my claim Sunday night, got paid Tuesday as usual. The automated system doesn't care about holidays but phone support definitely does.

If you're having trouble reaching Washington ESD by phone during normal business hours, I discovered this service called Claimyr that helped me get through. They have agents who can navigate the phone system for you. There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Might be worth checking out if you need to talk to someone after the holiday.

Just to clarify - Washington ESD offices and phone lines are closed on all federal holidays including Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, etc. But online services like weekly claim filing, checking your account, and viewing payment history are available 24/7. Only human-staffed services are affected by holidays.

Presidents Day is Monday February 17th this year right? I always get confused about which Monday it falls on

What about bank processing though? Even if Washington ESD processes payments on Tuesday, will banks be slow because of the holiday?

Does anyone know if job search activities are affected? Like if I have an appointment with WorkSource on Monday?

I'm paranoid about missing my weekly claim deadline. Is there any grace period if you file late because of a holiday?

This is why I always file my claims as early as possible in the week. Don't want to risk any technical issues on the deadline day

For anyone still worried about calling Washington ESD after the holiday - I used that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier and it really does work. I was skeptical at first but they got me connected to an actual person within an hour. Worth trying if you've been struggling to get through.

Quick question - if my payment is scheduled for Monday (Presidents Day), does it come Tuesday instead or does it skip a day?

I work in banking and can confirm that ACH payments (like unemployment direct deposits) process normally after federal holidays. There might be a slight delay but nothing major.

Has anyone ever had their weekly claim filing window extended because of a holiday? Just curious

Thanks everyone for the info. I was getting stressed about this for no reason. Filing my claim Sunday night as usual!

One more thing - if you need to submit documents or appeals, those deadlines also don't change for holidays. Keep that in mind if you have any pending paperwork.

For future reference, Washington ESD posts their holiday schedule on their website. Worth bookmarking if you want to plan ahead for when offices are closed.

Bottom line: file your claims as normal, expect payments as normal (maybe one day later), but don't expect to reach anyone by phone on Monday. Pretty straightforward once you understand how it works.

I've been on unemployment for 6 months and this Presidents Day will be my first holiday. Thanks for all the detailed answers everyone. This forum is so helpful!

Just remember that if you do need to call Washington ESD after the holiday and can't get through the normal way, that Claimyr service people mentioned might be worth trying. Sometimes you need to talk to an actual person to resolve certain issues.