ESD changed my waiting week but my other 3 claims still pending - will I get paid?

yes this is a good sign! when they move ur waiting week it means theyre processing ur claims. the other weeks should update in the next few days. my brother had the same thing happen 2 months ago and got paid for all weeks a few days later. just keep checking eservices

The waiting week adjustment is definitely a positive sign that your claim is being processed. When ESD designates a waiting week, it means they've accepted your claim as valid. By law in Washington, the first eligible week of unemployment is your waiting week - you won't get paid for that specific week, but it means they're processing your claim. The other three weeks should update from pending to paid status within 3-5 business days. If you don't see any movement after that timeframe, you might want to follow up again. Make sure your payment method is properly set up in your eServices account (direct deposit or debit card).

I wouldn't count on anything until the money is actually in your account. The waiting week change is a step in the right direction, but I've seen people wait weeks after that happened. Do you have any alerts or action items in your account? Any messages saying they need additional information? Sometimes there's a hidden adjudication issue they don't clearly tell you about.

Just want to mention that calling the governor's office was actually a smart move. I was stuck in a similar situation in January 2025 where my claims were pending for 5 weeks. I tried calling ESD daily without success - either busy signals or disconnections after waiting for 2+ hours. I discovered a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me actually get through to an ESD agent. They have a system that waits on hold for you and then calls you when an agent is available. Saved me hours of frustration. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 When I finally got through, the agent was able to see there was a simple verification flag on my account that was holding everything up. They fixed it on the spot and my pending payments were released two days later.

The waiting week designation is a positive step but I'd suggest continuing to file your weekly claims on time while this gets sorted out. From my experience working with clients navigating unemployment, once the waiting week is established, the subsequent weeks typically process more quickly. One important thing to check - make sure your job search activities are properly recorded for each week. ESD can hold payments if they don't see the required 3 job search activities per week, even if everything else is in order. You can verify this in the job search log section of your eServices account.

i had something kinda similar happen last month where my claims were pending forever and then suddenly they changed something and i got paid all at once. took like 2.5 weeks tho. the system is so backed up right now its ridiculous. my cousin has been waiting since febuary for his!!!!!

make sure u keep doing ur weekly claims even if theyre not paying u yet! my roommate stopped doing them cuz he thought what was the point if they werent paying and then had to start all over when they finally fixed his account

Any updates? Did your pending weeks change to paid yet?