ESD hit me with overpayment for 'two weeks' when I was only gone ONE week - calendar week confusion

This is actually a common issue with ESD. Their system operates on calendar weeks (Sunday-Saturday), not by counting consecutive days. So if your trip crossed from one calendar week into another, even by just one day, they count it as affecting two separate weeks. For your appeal, you'll need to be very specific about the dates. If you have any evidence that shows you only intended to mark the one week (like screenshots of your weekly claim submissions), include those. Also, check your past weekly certifications to see exactly what dates you marked as 'unavailable' - you can see this in your eServices account under 'weekly claim history.'

Going through something similar right now. The key thing to remember is that ESD weeks run Sunday-Saturday. So even though you were gone Monday-Sunday (7 days), that spans TWO calendar weeks in ESD's system. For your appeal, focus on whether you actually marked the 23rd as unavailable. If you can prove you didn't mark that date (or that you marked it as available), you might get that second week portion removed from the overpayment. The system is really unforgiving with these technicalities. I recommend printing out all your weekly claim certifications for those periods before you submit your appeal. You'll need concrete evidence.

After weeks of trying to reach ESD about my overpayment issue (similar to yours - date confusion), I FINALLY got through using Claimyr. Seriously saved me hours of frustration. You just go to claimyr.com, they connect you with an ESD agent usually within an hour. There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 that shows how it works. I was skeptical but it actually got me through to a real person who helped sort out my overpayment issue. Might be worth trying before going through the whole formal appeal process, which can take forever.

THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED TO ME!!! I was out of town for a work training from Thursday-Monday and they said I was unavailable for TWO WEEKS! Had to pay back $1,240 because of their stupid calendar week system. I tried to appeal and they denied it saying "claimant admits to being unavailable across two calendar weeks" - like YES but it was 5 DAYS TOTAL! The system is RIGGED to create overpayments. They don't explain the calendar week thing clearly AT ALL when you're filing. I swear they do this on purpose to claw back money.

wait im confused. if ur gone for a week how is it 2 weeks? is it because the week starts on sunday in their system?? i thought a week was just any 7 days

When you file your appeal, make sure to specifically request a waiver of the overpayment. If the administrative error was on ESD's side (unclear questions, system confusion), you can sometimes get the overpayment waived entirely if you can demonstrate you answered the questions honestly based on your understanding at the time. Also, did the adjudicator give you the specific regulation they're using to determine you were unavailable? Ask for that citation in writing - it'll be something like WAC 192-XXX-XXX. Having the exact rule they're using helps you counter their argument in the appeal.

i had this problem too!!! they said i was "out of state" for 2 weeks when i just went to oregon for a long weekend (fri-mon). i think its because the esd week is sun-sat so even tho i was only gone 4 days it hit two of their "weeks" on their calendar. super unfair!!!! 😡

One important thing to know for your appeal: When you're filing for a specific week, the questions about availability relate ONLY to that calendar week (Sunday-Saturday). So when they asked if you were available for work, it was specifically asking about the dates within that single calendar week. For successful appeals on these types of issues, you need to demonstrate that you misunderstood the question rather than intentionally misreported. The official term is "without fault or misrepresentation" - use that phrase in your appeal. Also, request a copy of all your weekly certification submissions before your hearing so you can see exactly what answers were recorded in their system.

Has anyone noticed how these "calendar week" rules are NEVER clearly explained when you're filing?! The questions just ask if you were "available for work" without explaining what they mean by that! And then they hit you with these technical overpayments months later! It's like they WANT people to make mistakes so they can collect overpayments!

My cousin had this exact problem last year. He was on a hunting trip that went from Thursday-Monday (only 5 days) but got hit with a two-week overpayment. What worked for him was bringing printed calendar evidence to his appeal hearing showing the actual days he was gone. The judge ended up reducing it to just the actual days he was unavailable instead of full weeks. Bring as much documentation as you can to your hearing!