ESD claim stuck in 'processing IVR' after reporting zero hours as on-call caregiver - did I mess up?

You actually answered correctly. When it asks if you worked, it's asking if you physically performed work during that week. Since you had zero hours, 'NO' was the right answer. The 'processing IVR' status is normal and should change to 'paid' within 48 hours if there are no issues with your claim. The system made you enter your last day of work to verify your employment situation hasn't changed. As an on-call worker, you're still employed by the agency, just with zero hours that week.

i had this EXACT problem but with a different job (delivery driver). sometiems the IVR takes longer to process when your hrs change a lot from week to week. they might be manually reviewing ur claim cuz u went from some hrs to zero. happened to me 3x now lol

ya it came thru fine just took like 3 days instead of 2. they never even contacted me about it

I work in healthcare staffing and deal with this all the time with our on-call employees. You did everything right. For caregivers on variable schedules, ESD often flags claims with dramatic hour changes (going from some hours to zero) for a quick review. It's routine and shouldn't cause any payment delays beyond an extra day or two. One tip: If this happens again, you can add a note in the comments section (if filing online) explaining you're on call and had zero available hours that week. This sometimes helps prevent the extra review step.

I spent FOUR HOURS trying to get through to ESD last month when this happened to me. Their stupid phone system kept hanging up on me because of "high call volume" 🤬🤬🤬 I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got through to an agent in like 15 minutes. They have this video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 Turned out my claim was flagged for review because I had variable hours too, but the agent cleared it right away once I explained. Might be worth it if yours doesn't update soon.

Yeah it worked for me! I was super skeptical but was desperate after trying for days. They basically call ESD repeatedly until they get through, then connect you. Saved me hours of redial hell.

Just want to point out that technically you're still "employed" even with zero hours - you're just temporarily without work. This is different from being laid off or fired. That's why ESD has you report your status this way. As an on-call caregiver myself, I've had this happen several times during slow periods. What throws a lot of people off is that the ESD system wasn't really designed for the gig/on-call economy where hours fluctuate wildly. But your situation is completely valid for partial unemployment benefits during weeks with no hours or reduced hours.

You can (and probably should) look for other work while continuing to claim for weeks with reduced hours. Just make sure you report your job search activities - you still need 3 per week. If you find something full-time, great! If not, you're protecting yourself financially in the meantime.

my sister had this happen and she called the agency and they fixed it for her maybe try calling them too? also idk but i think your supposed to call the office not use the automated phone thing for special circumstances like zero hours but im not positive about that

UPDATE: My status finally changed from "processing IVR" to "paid" this morning! So it took about 2.5 days instead of the usual 1-2 days. Thanks everyone for the reassurance that I did it right. For anyone else in a similar situation with on-call or variable hours, just answer truthfully about whether you worked actual hours that week, and be patient with the processing time.