ESD won't recognize my healthcare industry furlough for standby status - what am I missing?

Healthcare workers don't automatically qualify for standby - that's a common misconception. Your employer needs to specifically request it AND you need to have worked 680+ hours with them in your base year. Check your determination letter carefully - it should explain why standby was denied. The letter from your employer needs to include: 1) definite return-to-work date within 8 weeks, 2) same hours and pay rate you'll return to, 3) statement that you're not being terminated. If all that info wasn't in the first letter, get an updated one and upload it through your eServices account.

Thanks for clarifying! I definitely worked over 680 hours (full-time for 2 years). The determination letter just said \

THE EXACT SAME THING happened to me last fall!!!! I work at a dental office and we closed for renovations for 6 weeks. ESD kept saying my standby was \

did u ever figure out why they denied it? im in a simlar situaton

@healthcareworker7 They said my employer didn't \

I went through this same standby issue recently. You need to keep doing your job searches until standby is approved - don't risk your benefits. What worked for me was having my employer call the ESD employer line (not the regular claimant line) to verify the standby request. The employer has more credibility with ESD than we do as claimants. \n\nIf you need to talk to ESD yourself, I found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual person after weeks of failed attempts. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 - totally worth it because the agent was able to see exactly what was holding up my standby approval.

This is super helpful! I'll ask my manager to call the employer line tomorrow. Did you still need to submit job searches for the weeks while your standby was pending? I'm worried about doing pointless applications if I'm going back to my job.

Yes, absolutely keep doing the job searches until your standby officially shows as approved in your account. ESD can deny your weekly benefits if you don't, and getting them reinstated is a nightmare. You can do easy ones like browsing job sites or updating your resume to meet the requirements.

i thought standby was only 4 weeks now not 8? did they change the rules again?

The standard standby period is 8 weeks for most industries. There was temporarily a 4-week limit during parts of 2022-2023, but they reverted to the 8-week standard last year. Certain seasonal industries can get up to 12 weeks with commissioner approval.

My cousin works at ESD (not saying which office lol) and she told me they're currently dealing with a huge backlog of standby requests because of all the recent layoffs in tech and healthcare. Apparently they're prioritizing complete standby requests over ones with missing info. She said make sure every single field is filled out on both your claim AND your employer's letter. Also call right when they open at 8am - that's when the queue is shortest.

This is actually misinformation. ESD processes standby requests in the order received, not by industry type or completeness. I worked on UI claims processing (not for ESD directly) and the only prioritization is for hardship cases that have been officially flagged in the system. Please be careful about spreading rumors about how the system works - it can cause people to make mistakes with their claims.

Well that's what my cousin told me and she actually works there, so whatever. Just trying to help.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet - check if your healthcare facility falls under the \

I had no idea about the special form! Our clinic does emergency procedures so we might qualify as essential. I'll definitely ask our HR person about the 5612-E form. And yes, I've been answering that I'm able and available to work on my weekly claims. Thank you so much for this information.

anybody know if medical asssistants qualify for standby? my clinic is reducing hours for 2 months and idk if i should apply for partial unemployment or what

Medical assistants can qualify for standby just like any other occupation - it's not about your job title but about meeting the requirements (having worked 680+ hours in your base year with the employer and having a definite return date within 8 weeks). For reduced hours, you should apply for partial unemployment and answer the weekly claim questions accurately about how many hours you're working. You'll need to do job searches unless you get standby approval.

UPDATE: I got through to ESD this morning! Turns out my employer submitted the standby request with my return date but didn't check the box confirming I'd return to the same hours and pay. The agent was able to look at both my uploaded letter and what my employer submitted and saw the discrepancy. She put a note on my account and told me to have my employer resubmit the corrected standby request. She also said I don't need to do job searches for the weeks that just passed since this was an ESD processing issue. Thanks everyone for your help!

Great news! Glad you got it sorted out. Make sure you get confirmation that the corrected request was submitted, and keep monitoring your account for the standby approval to show up.

Lucky you got through! I'm jealous. Make sure you get that in WRITING about not needing to do job searches. I've seen them come back later and deny benefits even when an agent said something was fine over the phone.