ESD denied my claim after employer didn't report tip income - what are my options?

Ugh, this happened to me too but with a restaurant job. Your employer is legally required to report ALL your income including tips to ESD. You should definitely appeal this and submit your own proof. You'll need to fill out the \

Thank you so much for this info! I didn't know about that specific form. I've been keeping screenshots of my daily tip totals in my notes app and have some bank deposits too. Did L&I actually help in your situation? I'm definitely going to file a complaint regardless.

this is super common in hospitality jobs! ur employer is saving themselves unemployment tax $ by not reporting ur full income. call ESD and explain the situation, but good luck actually reaching a human lol

I've been trying to call ESD for THREE DAYS and can't get through... the system just hangs up when the queue is full. Is there any way to actually talk to a real person there? This system is so broken.

I had a similar issue last year with my bartending job. Here's what worked for me: I used Claimyr to get through to an ESD agent (claimyr.com) - they have a service that gets you in the phone queue without the constant busy signals. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 that shows how it works. Once I finally got through to a rep, I explained the situation and they directed me to submit a wage dispute form along with my evidence (I had text messages from my manager acknowledging my tip amounts and some bank records). It took about 5 weeks but they eventually adjusted my benefit amount retroactively. Don't give up!

Thank you for the Claimyr suggestion! I'm going to try this today because I'm at my wit's end trying to reach someone. 5 weeks sounds like forever but at least you got it resolved eventually. Did they pay you the difference for all the weeks you'd already claimed at the lower amount?

THESE EMPLOYERS ARE THE WORST!!!! They do this ALL THE TIME and ESD doesn't care!!! I worked at 3 different bars over the past 2 years and NONE of them reported my tips correctly. ESD is in on it too because they make it IMPOSSIBLE to fix. The whole system is designed to rob workers of their benefits!!!!

I understand your frustration, but ESD isn't actually

Quick question - did you report your tips on your taxes last year? If you did, your tax return could be really good evidence to submit with your appeal. That's what I used when I had a similar issue with my casino job not reporting my toke income properly.

That's a great point! Yes, I did report them on my taxes. I actually have my tax return handy and it clearly shows the additional income. I didn't think about using that as evidence. Thank you for this suggestion!

i work in hr (not at your company lol) and this is unfortunately really common. the employer is supposed to be reporting all compensation including tips to unemployment. you need to request a \

Thank you for the HR perspective! I'll definitely use the exact term \

OP, any luck getting through to ESD yet? I'm curious if that Claimyr service someone mentioned actually works. The wait times are ridiculous lately.

I actually tried Claimyr yesterday and IT WORKED! Got through to an agent in about 25 minutes. The agent was super helpful and confirmed I need to submit the wage dispute form with my evidence (I'm using my tax return, bank deposits, and my own records). They said it typically takes 3-4 weeks to process but that I should continue filing weekly claims at the current amount while it's under review. If approved, they'll pay the difference retroactively. Will update when I hear more!

Glad you got through! One other thing to note - make sure you're still meeting the job search requirements while this is being resolved. The current requirement is 3 job search activities per week that you must document in your weekly claim. Missing these can result in disqualification regardless of what's happening with your wage dispute. Good luck!

Definitely doing that! I've been tracking everything in a spreadsheet - applications, interviews, resume submissions, WorkSource workshops, etc. Not taking any chances with my benefits, especially while I'm trying to get them increased.