How do you calculate unemployment benefits amount in Washington ESD?
I'm trying to figure out how Washington ESD calculated my weekly benefit amount and I'm completely lost. I worked for 18 months at a manufacturing job making $22/hour, about 40 hours per week. My benefit determination letter shows $487 per week but I can't understand how they got that number. Does anyone know the actual formula Washington ESD uses? I've looked at their website but it's confusing with all the base period stuff and quarterly wages. Really need to understand this before I start my weekly claims.
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Yuki Kobayashi
Washington ESD uses your highest quarter earnings in your base period to calculate benefits. They take your highest quarter wages, divide by 26, then multiply by 0.0385 to get your weekly benefit amount. Your base period is the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed.
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AstroAce
•That formula doesn't seem right though? If I divide my highest quarter by 26 and multiply by 0.0385 I get way less than $487. Are there other factors?
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Yuki Kobayashi
•You're right, I mixed up the formula. It's actually your highest quarter wages divided by 26, but the multiplier depends on your total base period wages. The calculation is more complex than I stated.
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Carmen Vega
The actual Washington ESD formula is: Take your two highest quarters in the base period, add them together, divide by 52. That gives you your weekly benefit amount, but it can't exceed the state maximum which is around $999 for 2025.
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Andre Rousseau
•This sounds more accurate. So if my two highest quarters were $14,000 and $13,500, that would be $27,500 divided by 52 = $528 per week?
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Carmen Vega
•Exactly! That's the basic calculation. There might be small adjustments but that's the core formula Washington ESD uses.
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AstroAce
•Ok that makes way more sense with my numbers. Thank you for clarifying the real formula!
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Zoe Stavros
I've been trying to reach Washington ESD for weeks to get clarification on my benefit calculation because something seemed off. Kept getting busy signals or hung up on after waiting forever. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me through to an agent in like 20 minutes. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. The agent walked me through exactly how they calculated my benefits step by step.
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Jamal Harris
•Never heard of that service but honestly anything that can get you through to Washington ESD sounds worth trying. The phone system is absolutely terrible.
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AstroAce
•How much does something like that cost? I might need to talk to someone if I can't figure out my calculation.
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Zoe Stavros
•It was totally worth it for the peace of mind. Way less stressful than trying to call Washington ESD directly over and over.
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GalaxyGlider
washington esd calculation is so confusing!!! i got my determination letter and have no idea if its right. worked at target for 2 years making $16/hr mostly part time. they gave me $312/week but idk how they got that
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Carmen Vega
•If you worked part-time, your quarterly wages would be lower, so your benefit amount would be lower too. $312 sounds reasonable for part-time work at $16/hour.
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GalaxyGlider
•ok that makes sense i guess. just wish they explained it better on the letter
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Mei Wong
The Washington ESD benefit calculation also depends on which quarters they use for your base period. If you didn't work consistently or had gaps in employment, it can really affect your benefit amount. They look at the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters when you file your claim.
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Liam Sullivan
•This is important! I filed in January 2025 so my base period would be July 2023 through June 2024, right?
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Mei Wong
•That sounds correct. Washington ESD uses completed quarters, so if you filed in Q1 2025, your base period would be Q3 2023 through Q2 2024.
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Liam Sullivan
•Perfect, that helps me understand why my amount was lower than expected. I had a job change right in that period.
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Amara Okafor
Does anyone know if overtime pay gets counted differently in the Washington ESD calculation? I worked a ton of OT in my highest earning quarter.
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Yuki Kobayashi
•All wages reported to Washington ESD count the same, including overtime. If your employer reported it as wages, it goes into your benefit calculation.
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Amara Okafor
•Good to know! That probably explains why my benefit amount was higher than I expected.
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Giovanni Colombo
I hate how Washington ESD makes this so complicated. Other states just give you a percentage of your average weekly wage. Why do we need all these base period calculations and quarterly stuff?
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Fatima Al-Qasimi
•Every state has different rules unfortunately. Washington's system is supposed to be more fair because it looks at your actual work history over time.
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Giovanni Colombo
•Fair maybe but definitely confusing as hell
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StarStrider
Pro tip: If you want to estimate your benefit amount before filing, add up all your wages in your base period quarters. You need at least $3,85 times the state average weekly wage in your base period to qualify, and your high quarter needs to be at least $1,005 for 2025.
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AstroAce
•Where do you find the state average weekly wage number? Is that on the Washington ESD website somewhere?
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StarStrider
•It should be on their benefits calculator page. For 2025 I think it's around $1,456 per week but you'd want to verify that.
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Dylan Campbell
My sister used Claimyr last month when she couldn't get through to Washington ESD about her benefit calculation being wrong. Said they got her connected to an agent who recalculated everything and found an error. Ended up getting back pay for like 6 weeks.
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Sofia Torres
•That's crazy that there was an error! Makes me wonder if I should double-check my calculation too.
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Dylan Campbell
•Yeah she was really glad she followed up on it. The agent said calculation errors happen more often than people think.
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Dmitry Sokolov
Question about the calculation - if I had a really high earning quarter because of a bonus, does that skew my benefit amount? I got a $8,000 bonus in Q2 2024 but my regular wages were much lower.
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Carmen Vega
•Bonuses count as wages for the quarter they were paid, so yes, it would increase your benefit calculation. Washington ESD doesn't separate bonus from regular wages.
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Dmitry Sokolov
•Interesting, so I might actually get a higher benefit amount than if I just had regular wages. That's actually good news!
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Ava Martinez
Been on unemployment twice in Washington and both times I was confused about the calculation. The determination letter they send has all these numbers but doesn't really explain the math. Would be nice if they showed the actual formula.
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Miguel Ramos
•Totally agree! Other government benefits show you exactly how they calculated your amount. Washington ESD just gives you the final number.
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Ava Martinez
•Right? Even my tax software shows more detail about calculations than Washington ESD does.
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QuantumQuasar
For anyone still confused about their calculation, I found that calling Washington ESD early morning around 7:30 AM gives you the best chance of getting through. Still took me 45 minutes on hold but at least I got to talk to someone.
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Zainab Omar
•7:30 AM?? Do they even open that early? I thought they started at 8.
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QuantumQuasar
•You're right, I meant 8:30 AM. Right when they open tends to be the best time before the lines get really busy.
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Zoe Stavros
•Even early morning can be hit or miss. That's why I ended up using Claimyr instead of playing phone roulette with Washington ESD.
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Connor Gallagher
Does the calculation change if you file for unemployment multiple times? Like if I was unemployed in 2023 and again in 2025, would they use different base periods?
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Mei Wong
•Yes, each time you file a new claim Washington ESD looks at a new base period. So your 2025 claim would use different quarters than your 2023 claim.
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Connor Gallagher
•That makes sense. So if I earned more in the recent years, my benefit amount could be higher this time.
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Yara Sayegh
I work in HR and deal with Washington ESD calculations for our laid-off employees. The formula is definitely the two highest quarters divided by 52 weeks. But there are minimum and maximum amounts that can override the calculation.
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AstroAce
•What are the minimum and maximum amounts for 2025? My calculation came out to exactly $487 so I'm wondering if that hit some kind of limit.
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Yara Sayegh
•I believe the minimum is around $295 and maximum is $999 for 2025, but you should verify those numbers with Washington ESD directly.
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Keisha Johnson
This whole thread has been super helpful! I was totally confused about how Washington ESD calculated my $623 weekly amount but now I understand it's based on my two highest quarters. Going to dig up my pay stubs and do the math myself.
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Paolo Longo
•Good idea to double-check! I found an error in mine when I did the calculation myself.
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Keisha Johnson
•Yeah definitely worth verifying. Thanks everyone for explaining this stuff!
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