ESD claims stuck in pending limbo since December - entire workplace affected

This is absolutely ridiculous but sadly typical of ESD these days. I work in construction and half our crew had the same issue during our winter shutdown. The system is BROKEN. One thing we figured out - if your employer hasn't responded to ESD's request for information, ALL claims from that employer get stuck. Have you asked your HR department if they received paperwork from ESD that they need to complete?

Just wanted to say I'm going through the exact same thing :( My claim has been pending since December 17th. I've tried calling but I can't even get through to a person. Just disconnects after 30 minutes on hold. This sucks so bad.

I went through something similar last year with a group layoff. Here's what you need to understand about temporary layoffs and standby status: 1. Make sure your employer actually requested standby status for all affected employees. If they didn't, each of you needs to be doing 3 job search activities weekly. 2. Check if your claim shows "pending" or "adjudication" - they're different. Pending usually means basic processing or waiting on employer verification. Adjudication means there's an issue requiring investigation. 3. If multiple employees from the same company are having issues, it often points to an employer verification problem. The employer needs to confirm the nature of the layoff. 4. For manufacturing specifically, ESD sometimes flags these for extra review because of seasonal work patterns. I'd recommend having everyone affected file a formal complaint through the ESD website (not just messages in eServices). Document that multiple employees are affected - this can trigger a batch review.

i had my claim stuck for 6 weeks last year and what fixed it was going to my state representative!!! they have staff who deal with esd problems and can push things through faster. google your district and email them explaining multiple people affected. worked for me in 3 days after weeks of nothing!

The problem you and your coworkers are experiencing is quite common with temporary layoffs. According to ESD rules, for group temporary layoffs, your employer needed to request standby status for all affected employees, which allows you to receive benefits without conducting job searches for up to 8 weeks (used to be 4 weeks pre-pandemic, then 12 during pandemic, now 8). Here's the catch: If your employer didn't properly request standby status AND communicate the return-to-work date to ESD (not just verbally to you), then your claims get flagged as potentially problematic. This happens because without proper standby status, the system expects job search activities from you all. I recommend: 1. Contact your employer's HR department immediately to verify they submitted the proper standby request forms to ESD 2. Ask if they responded to any ESD requests for information 3. If they haven't done these things, have them contact ESD's employer line (different from the claimant line) to rectify the situation 4. In the meantime, start documenting job searches (3 per week) until this is resolved Normally these issues can be resolved within 2-3 weeks, but with the backlog ESD is currently experiencing, many claims are taking 4-8 weeks to process.

my sister works at esd (not saying that to brag lol) and she says they are SUPER backlogged right now because of a system update that happened in december. she says claims from december have been especially affected and they're still working through them. so it might not even be your fault or your employers fault!

UPDATE: Just wanted to return to say it's absolute trash that ESD doesn't communicate better about employer-related issues. I called in yesterday (took 2 hours to get through) and was told my claim was pending because my employer contested my hours. The agent said my employer reported 95 hours LESS than I claimed over the base year. That's why I was stuck in pending purgatory for weeks! And NO ONE TOLD ME. Not a letter, message, anything. Check if something similar is happening to your group.

QUICK UPDATE: I talked to our HR rep and you all were right! They received requests from ESD back in December for all of us but the new HR manager didn't know what to do with them and they've been sitting in her email. She's submitting everything today and apologized for the delay. I also submitted a formal complaint through the ESD website and contacted my state rep. Hoping something breaks loose soon. Thanks everyone for the advice!!

One more thing to consider - now that your HR is submitting the information, you might need to call ESD to have them expedite processing the employer's response. Otherwise, it can still sit in their queue for weeks. When you call, specifically mention that the employer has now provided the requested information and you'd like the claim to be reactivated. Use the phrase "economic hardship" when explaining your situation - that can sometimes flag your case for expedited handling.