ESD 'excess earnings' due to severance pay - when will benefits actually start?

This is actually normal and working as intended. Severance pay is considered 'deductible income' by ESD and gets reported as earnings during the weeks you receive it. Since your severance was paid at your regular rate, it likely exceeded your weekly benefit amount, resulting in those 'excess earnings' determinations. The good news is that you did everything correctly by continuing to file weekly claims during this period, and now that your severance has ended, your regular UI benefits should begin without any further action needed from you. You don't need to involve the governor's office - this is standard procedure.

OMG I had literally THE SAME THING happen to me last year when I got laid off! My company gave me 6 weeks severance and I kpet getting those stupid excess earnings messages. I was freaking out thinking my claim was denied or something!!! But yea as soon as the severance ended the benefits started showing up in my account. Just keep filing every week and you should be fine. Its actualy good you already filed for all those weeks because it shows ESD you were available for work the whole time.

I'm a bit surprised people are suggesting this is working as intended without asking more questions. In WA state, how severance is treated depends on HOW it was paid. If it was truly severance (a lump sum payment for job loss) rather than "continuation pay" (keeping you on payroll after termination), it might be handled differently. The key distinction is: 1. Continuation pay: Treated as wages and reduces benefits during the weeks paid 2. True severance: Might not reduce benefits if paid as a lump sum Since you mentioned being paid "bi-weekly at my normal hourly rate," ESD is treating this as continuation pay, which explains the excess earnings determinations. If your severance has ended and your most recent claim was accepted, you should start receiving benefits now. And no, contacting the governor's office would be premature. If you don't receive benefits within 10 days after your first eligible week, contact ESD directly first.

the govs office wont help u anyway. they just send u back to esd. ive been dealing with them for months!!!! system is totally broken. they dont even answer they stupid phones.

If you're having trouble getting through to ESD agents on the phone (which is super common), I'd recommend trying Claimyr. I was in a similar situation with confusing excess earnings messages and couldn't get anyone to explain it to me. Claimyr helped me actually connect with an ESD agent instead of waiting on hold forever. They have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 and their website is claimyr.com. Worked for me when I was desperately trying to understand why my benefits weren't coming through.

Just wait a few more days before doing anything drastic. I got laid off in October and had something similar happen with my severance. Once that last severance payment cleared, my UI benefits started automatically the next week. The excess earnings messages are normal - it just means you made too much money those weeks to qualify for unemployment. Keep filing your weekly claims and job search activities as usual.

I think your confusing severance pay and continuation pay as someone else pointed out. If its REAL severance (like a lump sum payment) you might be eligible for benefits during that time depending on how its reported. But sounds like your company just kept you on payroll an extra month which is definately going to count as excess earnings. Did you report the income correctly each week when filing? That's super important or you could get hit with an overpayment later.

Just to clarify something important that hasn't been mentioned yet: even though you didn't receive benefits during your severance period due to excess earnings, those weeks DID count toward your benefit year and one of them should have satisfied your waiting week requirement. This means once your eligible weekly claims begin (with no/low earnings), you should receive payment for that first eligible week without another waiting period. You should see payment within 2-3 business days after filing your first eligible weekly claim. If you filed on Sunday for the previous week and had no earnings to report, you should see payment by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest.

Also make sure your looking at the right page on eServices! My friend thought she wasnt getting benefits for like a month because she was only looking at the main page summary thing. You gotta click through to see the detailed payment history sometimes to see if money is pending or has been sent to your card/bank.