Does your old employer pay unemployment benefits in Washington?

Your employer doesn't pay your benefits directly. Washington ESD operates on an insurance system where employers pay quarterly taxes into the unemployment fund based on their payroll and experience rating. These taxes fund the entire system, not individual claims.

Actually employers do pay for unemployment in a way. The more claims filed against them, the higher their tax rate goes up. So they definitely notice when people file for benefits.

I had the same confusion when I first filed! The system is funded by employer taxes that go into a big pool. Your benefits come from that pool, not directly from your former employer's pocket.

If you're having trouble reaching Washington ESD to ask questions like this, I found this service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an agent. They have a website at claimyr.com and there's a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Really helped when I couldn't get through the phone lines.

The Washington Employment Security Department maintains the unemployment insurance fund through employer contributions. Each employer pays taxes quarterly based on their taxable wages and experience rating. The fund is what pays all unemployment benefits statewide.

your employer might get a notice that you filed for benefits but they dont pay the money directly to you. its all through the state system

I think some employers don't understand this either. When I got laid off my manager seemed surprised that I was filing for unemployment like it was going to cost them money immediately.

The whole system is designed so individual employers aren't directly paying individual claims. Otherwise no one would ever hire anyone knowing they might have to pay their salary even after laying them off!

The experience rating system is what keeps employers somewhat accountable though. Companies with high turnover and lots of layoffs end up paying higher tax rates over time.

I was worried about this too when I first filed. Turns out the employer just gets a notice that you filed and they can respond if they disagree with your eligibility. Most don't respond unless there's misconduct involved.

Just to add - even if your employer contests your claim, that doesn't mean they're paying for it. They're just saying they don't think you should be eligible for benefits from the state fund.

If you do run into any issues with your claim or need to talk to Washington ESD about this stuff, that Claimyr service I mentioned earlier really does work. I was stressed about my claim status and kept getting busy signals, but they got me through to an actual person.

The bottom line is Washington ESD handles all the money. Your employer contributed to the system through taxes, but they're not writing you a check every week. Don't feel guilty about filing if you were legitimately laid off.

Just make sure you keep filing your weekly claims and doing your job search activities. The funding source doesn't matter as much as staying compliant with the requirements.

I work in HR and can confirm that we get notices when former employees file for unemployment, but we're not paying their benefits directly. We paid into the system through our quarterly unemployment taxes.

washington esd probably has info about this on their website but good luck finding it in all that bureaucratic language lol

The key thing to remember is that unemployment insurance is exactly that - insurance. Your employer paid premiums (taxes) and now you're filing a claim against that insurance. They're not personally paying your claim any more than they'd personally pay if you crashed a company car.

Just wanted to say thanks for asking this question because I was wondering the same thing! I felt bad about filing but now I understand it's not directly costing my old job money.

One last thing - if you ever have trouble reaching Washington ESD by phone, there are services like Claimyr that can help you get through. I used them when I had questions about my claim that I couldn't get answered through the website.

Hope this all helped clear things up! The unemployment system in Washington is actually pretty straightforward once you understand that it's funded by employer taxes going into a state insurance fund, not direct payments from individual employers.