Does Washington ESD unemployment back pay to filing date?

I did file my weekly claims but they all showed as pending. Should I see the back pay in my next deposit?

It usually takes 1-2 business days after approval for back pay to process. Check your claim history online to see if the payments show as processed.

How long did it take for you to actually receive the money after approval?

about 3 days for me, direct deposit hit on wednesday after they approved monday

Good luck getting through to customer service though. I've been trying for weeks to fix an issue with mine.

I had success using Claimyr.com to get through to an actual Washington ESD agent. They have a service that calls you back when they connect with someone. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that explains how it works. Saved me hours of being on hold.

Correct, as long as you keep filing your weekly claims during adjudication, you'll get back pay for eligible weeks once approved.

That's such a relief! My claim has been in adjudication for over a month.

A month?? That's ridiculous. The system is so broken.

Oh no! Can you still request that week somehow?

I tried but they said it was too late. You only have a limited window to file missed claims.

Actually, you can sometimes request missed weeks if you have good cause. Worth calling Washington ESD to ask.

i mean its frustrating but they did pay my back pay like they said they would

You're one of the lucky ones. I know people who waited months and got nothing.

What's a waiting week? I keep seeing that term but don't understand it.

Washington eliminated the waiting week requirement, so you don't have to worry about it anymore. You can get paid for your first week of unemployment.

Wait, really? I thought there was still a waiting week in Washington.

That gives me hope! Did you have to do anything special or did it just show up automatically?

Completely automatic. Just made sure I filed every single weekly claim during the waiting period.

Oh shoot, I wasn't doing job searches during the first few weeks because I thought my claim wasn't active yet.

You should be fine. Job search requirements typically start after your claim is established, not during the initial adjudication period.

really? i thought you had to search from day one

Is that the callback service someone mentioned earlier? How much does it cost?

Yeah, it's a callback service. I'm not sure about pricing but it was worth it to avoid hours on hold trying to reach Washington ESD.

The federal pandemic programs ended in 2021. Current back pay would only include regular Washington state unemployment benefits.

Got it, thanks for clarifying.

You can change your tax withholding election in your Washington ESD account settings. But you'll owe taxes on unemployment income either way, so withholding might actually help you.

I just prefer to handle taxes myself at the end of the year rather than have it automatically deducted.

I did have a few days of part-time work. How do I check if they calculated it right?

Check your payment history online. It should show your gross weekly benefit amount and any deductions for earnings. If it looks wrong, you can appeal the calculation.

3 months?! What took so long?

employer disputed my claim, had to go through the whole appeals process

Good point. I learned this the hard way last year.

Thanks for the reminder! I'll definitely set aside money for taxes.

I might try that if I don't see my back pay by next week. Thanks for the update!

The video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ shows exactly how it works if you want to check it out first.