ESD disqualified my benefits despite submitting termination documents - still stuck in adjudication
Anyone else dealing with this nightmare? ESD has disqualified my weekly benefits for 3 weeks straight now and I'm about to lose my mind. I got fired from my warehouse job (not my fault - new manager had it out for me) and I uploaded ALL the termination paperwork they asked for over a month ago. My claim is still showing "adjudication in progress" but somehow they're still disqualifying my payments each week! I've called 42 times this week alone and either get disconnected or told the wait is 4+ hours. How can they keep denying me money when they haven't even finished reviewing my case? I have rent due next week and my savings is almost gone. Is there anything I can do to speed this up or at least get them to stop disqualifying me while they're still deciding?
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Mateo Warren
You need to specifically request a backdate on the disqualified weeks. Once adjudication completes (and assuming it goes in your favor), you'll need to submit a request to have those weeks reconsidered. They won't automatically pay you for weeks they previously disqualified even if they ultimately approve your claim. Make sure you're still filing your weekly claims despite the disqualifications!
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Lydia Bailey
•Wait, seriously?? So even if they decide I qualify, I have to specially ask for the money from those weeks? That's insane. And yes, I'm still doing the weekly claims even though it feels pointless. Thanks for the info though, I had no idea about the backdating thing.
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Sofia Price
Same exact thing happened to me in February!! My claim was stuck in adjudication for 5 weeks while they kept disqualifying my payments. The problem was that my former employer contested the termination and claimed I was fired for misconduct (I wasn't). Did your employer respond to the ESD inquiry? That's usually what triggers the adjudication process. Keep filing those weekly claims no matter what. Once adjudication completes, call and specifically request a redetermination for those disqualified weeks. I eventually got all my back pay about 2 weeks after adjudication completed, but I had to be super persistent.
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Lydia Bailey
•Yes! My employer definitely contested it. They said I was "not meeting performance standards" but they never gave me any warnings or write-ups before firing me. It was a new manager who just wanted to bring in his own people. How long did your adjudication take to complete? I'm going on 5 weeks now and still nothing.
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Alice Coleman
I used to work at ESD, and I can explain what's happening. When an employer contests a termination, ESD puts the claim into adjudication to investigate. During this time, they technically have to disqualify your weekly payments because they haven't determined eligibility yet. What many people don't realize is that you can request a conditional payment while in adjudication. Call ESD and specifically ask for a "conditional payment" while waiting for adjudication to complete. You'll have to sign an agreement that you'll repay it if your claim is ultimately denied, but it provides some relief while waiting. Also, make sure you've provided ALL documentation about your termination - any performance reviews, communications with supervisors, etc. The more evidence you have that the termination wasn't for misconduct, the better.
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Lydia Bailey
•This is SUPER helpful, thank you! I had no idea about conditional payments. I'm definitely going to ask about that. I have emails showing my manager praised my work just 2 weeks before the new boss came in, so hopefully that helps my case. Now I just need to actually reach a human at ESD...
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Owen Jenkins
i been on unemployment 3 times and its always like this. system is rigged against us. they WANT us to give up so they dont have to pay. keep calling and dont take no for an answer. my cousin works at a call center and says friday mornings are best time to get thru
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Lilah Brooks
•THIS!! The system is deliberately complicated to discourage people. I spent 7 weeks in adjudication last year and had to borrow money from family just to survive. It's ridiculous that they can just put your financial life on hold for months while they "investigate" something that should take 2 days!
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Jackson Carter
After getting frustrated with the ESD phone lines (called 30+ times over 2 weeks), I tried Claimyr and got through to an agent in about 40 minutes. They helped me get conditional payments while my adjudication was processing. Worth checking out their website claimyr.com - they have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 I was skeptical at first but it saved me so much frustration compared to redialing for days.
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Kolton Murphy
•Has anyone else used this service? Sounds too good to be true considering how impossible it is to reach ESD these days. I've been trying to get through for almost 2 weeks about my adjudication.
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Evelyn Rivera
•i used it last month when my claim went to adjudication after i quit my toxic job. it works but you still gotta wait in a queue. took me about 30 mins to get to an agent instead of redialing forever. the agent i got helped sort out my issues and explained why my payments were on hold.
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Mateo Warren
Double-check that you're answering the weekly certification questions correctly too. I was getting disqualified because I was answering "no" to "able and available for work" on weeks when I had a doctor's appointment. Turns out you should still answer "yes" unless you're completely unavailable for the entire week. Little technicalities like that can trigger auto-disqualifications.
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Lydia Bailey
•I've been super careful with those questions but that's a good point. The wording is so confusing! I think my issue is definitely the contested termination though since that's what triggered the adjudication in the first place.
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Kolton Murphy
I've been through this process twice (once in 2022 and again in early 2025), and here's what I learned: 1. First, continue filing weekly claims no matter what 2. Request conditional payments while in adjudication (as mentioned above) 3. Contact your state representative's office - they have liaisons who can escalate ESD issues 4. Make sure you've uploaded ALL documentation to your account 5. Keep detailed logs of every call attempt, who you spoke with, and what was said When you finally reach someone, ask them to add notes to your file indicating you've been trying to resolve this. And definitely request backdating for those disqualified weeks once adjudication completes. Hang in there - the system is frustrating but persistence pays off!
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Lydia Bailey
•I hadn't thought about contacting my state rep! That's a great idea, thanks. I'm going to try that tomorrow. And I'll definitely keep better logs of my call attempts too. I appreciate all these suggestions - at least I feel like I have a plan now instead of just banging my head against the wall.
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Lilah Brooks
this EXACT thing hapened to me 2 months ago!!! my stupid boss said i was fired for attendance but i only missed work when my kid was sick and i had doctors notes!!! it took 7 WEEKS for them to finish adjudication and then they DENIED me!!! had to appeal to OAH and won but it took almost 3 months total. keep fighting!!!
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Sofia Price
•The appeals process through OAH actually works surprisingly well. I had a similar situation where ESD initially denied my claim after adjudication. The OAH judge was much more reasonable and overturned the decision. The hearing itself was only about 30 minutes and fairly straightforward.
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