How do I get my Washington ESD unemployment back pay after claim approval?

You need to make sure you filed your weekly claims for all those weeks during adjudication. Washington ESD doesn't automatically pay you for weeks you didn't claim, even if your claim gets approved later. Check your online account and see if there are any weeks showing as 'not filed' or 'missing'.

Same thing happened to me last year. The back pay should process automatically within 1-2 business days after approval, but sometimes it takes longer if there were complications during adjudication. Give it a few more days and if nothing shows up, definitely call.

If you need to reach Washington ESD about missing back pay, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually gets you through to a real person. I was trying to call for weeks about a similar issue and kept getting the busy signal or getting disconnected. With Claimyr you just give them your info and they call Washington ESD for you until they get through, then connect you to the agent. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Saved me so much frustration.

Check if your weekly claims during adjudication were marked as 'pending' vs 'processed'. If they were just sitting as pending, that might explain why the back pay isn't showing up. You might need Washington ESD to manually process those weeks.

ugh this is exactly why I hate dealing with Washington ESD. They make everything so complicated and then act like it's your fault when their system doesn't work right. You shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get money you're entitled to.

One thing to double-check - make sure there weren't any 'able and available' or job search requirement issues during those weeks. If Washington ESD flagged any of your weekly claims for not meeting requirements, that could hold up the back pay even after your main claim is approved.

Have you received your debit card yet? Sometimes the back pay gets loaded onto a different payment method than your regular weekly benefits, especially if there was a long gap.

This happened to my brother and it turned out Washington ESD had put a hold on his back pay because of some identity verification thing that never got cleared up properly during adjudication. Even though his regular claim was approved, the back pay was stuck in a separate review. Took another 2 weeks to sort out.

I used Claimyr again last week for a different issue and they're really good at getting you to the right department. When you tell them it's about missing back pay, they know exactly which Washington ESD number to call and which menu options to navigate. Much better than trying to figure out their phone system yourself.

UPDATE: I finally got through to Washington ESD this morning (took 3 hours of calling) and found out what happened. Apparently when my claim went through adjudication, it created some kind of 'payment processing delay' for the back weeks. The agent said it should all process within 5-7 business days and show up as separate transactions. So frustrating that this wasn't explained anywhere in my approval notice.

For future reference, back pay after adjudication usually processes as a batch job that runs every few days. It's not instant like regular weekly payments. Washington ESD should really make this clearer in their communications.

same boat here, got approved two days ago but only seeing current week payments

The fact that you had to spend 3 hours on the phone just to get basic information about YOUR OWN MONEY is absolutely ridiculous. Washington ESD needs a complete overhaul of how they handle these situations.

Thanks for posting the update! I'm in a similar situation and was starting to worry something was wrong with my claim. Good to know this is apparently normal after adjudication.

Glad you got through eventually! For anyone else dealing with this, Claimyr has been really reliable for getting connected to Washington ESD agents who can actually explain what's happening with your claim status. Sometimes it's worth using a service that specializes in navigating their phone system.

Final tip for anyone reading this thread - always ask Washington ESD agents for a reference number or case number when you call about payment issues. That way if you need to call back, the next agent can look up exactly what was discussed and what action was supposed to be taken.

Hope your back pay comes through soon! This thread was really helpful for understanding what to expect.

FINAL UPDATE: Back pay came through this morning! Total of 6 weeks worth showed up as 3 separate transactions. Apparently they batch it by some internal processing schedule. Thanks everyone for the help and advice throughout this process!