Does unemployment start after severance pay ends in Washington ESD?

You need to report the severance pay to Washington ESD when you file your claim. Generally, severance counts as wages and will delay your benefit start date. The rule is that you can't receive UI benefits for any week where your severance pay exceeds your weekly benefit amount.

File your claim ASAP! I made the mistake of waiting until my severance ended and lost out on establishing my benefit year. Even though you won't get paid right away, you need to get the paperwork started.

I had a similar situation and used Claimyr to get through to Washington ESD to clarify the severance rules. The agents explained that lump sum severance is handled differently than weekly payments. Check out their site at claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how to get connected.

wait so if i got a lump sum severance of like $6000 do i have to wait 6000 divided by my weekly benefit amount before i can collect?? that seems crazy

The Washington ESD website has a whole section about severance pay but it's confusing as hell. Basically they look at whether it's 'wages in lieu of notice' or actual severance. The timing of when you can collect depends on which category yours falls into.

I'm dealing with this exact thing right now. Filed my claim 3 weeks ago and it's still showing 'pending' because they're verifying my severance details with my old employer. Super frustrating.

Another thing to watch out for - if your severance includes health insurance continuation, that might affect your benefits too. Washington ESD considers the employer-paid portion as additional compensation.

For anyone still struggling to get through to Washington ESD about severance questions, I'd definitely recommend trying Claimyr. I used it twice during my claim process and both times got connected to an agent within 30 minutes. Way better than the 2+ hour waits I was experiencing before.

I think a lot of people don't realize that even if you can't collect benefits immediately due to severance, you still need to do your job search activities. The work search requirements kick in regardless of whether you're receiving payments.

The whole severance thing is such a pain. I had to send in my termination letter, severance agreement, and pay stubs. Took forever for them to process everything.

Pro tip: when you're reporting your severance on the weekly claims, be super specific about the dates and amounts. I made the mistake of estimating and it caused a whole adjudication process.

Does anyone know if vacation pay is treated the same as severance? I'm getting both and I'm totally confused about how to report it.

I've been trying to get through to Washington ESD for weeks about my severance situation. The phone system is absolutely terrible - either busy signals or I get disconnected after waiting forever.

Make sure you understand the difference between 'severance pay' and 'payment in lieu of notice' - Washington ESD treats them very differently for unemployment purposes.

I'm in week 6 of my severance and starting to panic about the transition to unemployment benefits. Has anyone gone through this transition smoothly?

One thing that helped me was keeping detailed records of everything - every conversation with Washington ESD, every document I submitted, all the dates and amounts. When questions came up later, I had everything documented.

For what it's worth, even though the severance rules are confusing, Washington ESD is generally pretty fair about it once they get all the information. Just be patient and accurate with your reporting.

The key is to file your claim as soon as possible after your last day of work, even if you're getting severance. The effective date of your claim is important for your benefit year.

Just went through this exact situation last year. Filed my claim immediately after my layoff even though I had 10 weeks of severance. Washington ESD put my claim on hold until the severance period ended, but having that early filing date saved me weeks of processing time. The transition was seamless - my first unemployment payment came just 3 days after my final severance check. Don't wait to file, and make sure you keep doing your weekly certifications even during the severance period. Also keep all your severance paperwork handy because they'll likely ask for it multiple times during the process.