ESD claim showing 'pending' after quitting out-of-state job and reopening WA claim

Yea unfortunately whenever you quit a job ESD has to investigate, doesnt matter the reason. They have to make sure your not commiting fraud. Anytime your claim says pending it means its in adjudication which means theres at issue thats likely holding up payment. Could be 2-4 wks or it could be 8-12 wks, its really hard to say. Just a heads up - quitting without "good cause" typically means you wont be eligible for benefits. Moving for family is sometimes considered good cause but it depends on the specific reason. Quitting to move back might be trickier to justify.

Having worked with many clients who've dealt with similar situations, I can clarify a few things. Yes, your claim is in adjudication because you indicated you quit your most recent job. This requires ESD to investigate whether you had "good cause" to quit. Under WA state law, moving for certain family reasons can qualify as good cause, but they'll need details about your specific situation. Regarding the timeline - while adjudication typically takes 3-8 weeks, if you've already had a previous adjudication on your original claim, this one might move faster as they already have some of your information. Make sure to continue filing your weekly claims while waiting for a decision. Also, check your ESD online account and secure message center daily for any requests for additional information or interviews that might be scheduled.

I went thru a similar sitaution last year. Quit my job, moved to Idaho for my partners work, it didn't work out, came back to WA. In my case, they actually denied me benefits for the second quit because they said it wasnt good cause even tho the first one was approved!!! I did an appeal though and explained that the whole situation was basically one continuous life event and they overturned it. My suggestion: call ESD everday until someone talks to you so you can explain your situation. Sometimes they can push it through faster if you can get to a real person.

Honestly, you're probably better off just finding a new job ASAP. The ESD system is a joke. I was stuck in adjudication for THIRTEEN WEEKS last year for a similar issue. By the time they finally approved me, I had already found another job and was working. They'll make you upload docs, then schedule a phone interview, then reschedule it when they don't call you, then make you wait more weeks for a decision. Total waste of time.

I recommend trying Claimyr to get through to ESD on the phone. It helped me tremendously when I was stuck in adjudication for weeks. The service connects you directly to an ESD agent so you don't have to deal with constant busy signals. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. Once I got through to someone, they were able to look at my specific case and tell me exactly what was happening instead of just guessing and stressing. They also noted on my account that I had called about the delay which sometimes helps prioritize claims.

To answer your question - yes, they helped resolve it faster in my case. The agent I spoke with reviewed my file, saw that all the necessary documents were already there, and escalated it to an adjudicator. Got my determination within a week after that call. Not saying it'll happen exactly the same for you, but at least you'll know what's happening with your specific claim.

One thing I forgot to mention - make sure you keep detailed records of all your job search activities while waiting! You still need to do 3 job search activities each week even while your claim is pending. If your claim is eventually approved, they'll want to verify those activities before paying you for those weeks. I almost lost out on 4 weeks of back pay because I wasn't keeping good records while waiting.

my friend had this exact thing happen in 2025 and he called esd and told them it was a hardship situation and they rushed it through in like 10 days. just say ur about to be evicted or something they sometimes have ways to speed it up

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice! I've started documenting my job searches better and am going to try Claimyr to get someone on the phone tomorrow. I'll update when I know more about my claim status. Fingers crossed it doesn't take the full 6+ weeks again - I just can't afford that kind of gap right now.