How does Washington ESD calculate my unemployment benefit amount?

Washington ESD uses your highest quarter earnings from your base period (usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed). They take that amount, divide by 26, then you get roughly 50% of that as your weekly benefit. There's a minimum and maximum though - right now max is around $844/week.

yeah its based on quarters not full year income which sucks if you had seasonal work or irregular hours

The base period calculation can be tricky. If your recent earnings aren't included in the standard base period, you might qualify for the alternate base period which uses more recent quarters. You'd need to contact Washington ESD to see if that would give you a higher benefit amount. I've heard people have luck using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to actually get through to someone at Washington ESD when the phone lines are busy. They have this video demo that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ

The Washington ESD benefit calculator is buried somewhere on their website but it's pretty basic. Your $467 weekly amount sounds about right if your highest quarter was around $24k. They also factor in any dependents you claimed which can add money to your weekly benefit.

WAIT A MINUTE - if you had two jobs, both should count toward your quarterly earnings! Make sure Washington ESD has records of both employers. I almost got shortchanged because they didn't have my second job in their system initially.

The whole system is garbage honestly. They make it so complicated on purpose. I've been trying to figure out my calculation for months and keep getting different answers from different reps.

Just to clarify the math for everyone: Washington ESD takes your highest quarter earnings during the base period, divides by 26, then multiplies by 0.5 (50%). So if your highest quarter was $26k: $26,000 ÷ 26 = $1,000, then $1,000 × 0.5 = $500 weekly benefit. There's also a minimum of $295/week and maximum of $844/week as of 2024.

Does anyone know if overtime pay counts toward the quarterly calculation? I worked a ton of OT in Q2 2024 but not sure if that helps or hurts me.

Pro tip: if you think your benefit amount is wrong, you can request a redetermination. I did this when I realized they missed my second job and got an extra $89/week. Just have to provide wage records or tax documents.

be careful about the base period thing though - if you file late you might end up with a worse base period that doesnt include your recent higher wages

I'm confused about something - do they count bonuses and commissions in the quarterly calculation? I got a big bonus in Q1 that would really help my benefit amount.

The dependent allowance is worth mentioning too - you can get additional money for each dependent child under 18. It's not a huge amount but every bit helps when you're unemployed.

Just went through this whole process myself. The key thing is making sure all your employers reported your wages correctly to Washington ESD. I had to get wage statements from an old employer because their records were incomplete.

Another thing to watch out for - if you had a significant pay cut before you were laid off, that might affect your calculation. Washington ESD sometimes uses an alternate method if your recent wages were much lower than your base period wages.

I tried using that Claimyr service mentioned earlier and it actually worked great. Got through to a Washington ESD rep in like 20 minutes instead of spending hours on hold. They explained my whole calculation and even found some missing wages from a temp agency I'd forgotten about.

Quick question - does anyone know if Washington ESD ever makes mistakes on the calculation? My amount seems really low compared to what I expected based on my income.

The Washington ESD website has a 'Benefit Year Earnings' section where you can see exactly which wages they used for your calculation. That's the first place to check if your amount seems wrong.

One more thing about the calculation - if you worked in multiple states, you might be able to combine wages from different states to get a higher benefit. It's called an interstate claim.

Bottom line - if you think your calculation is wrong, don't just accept it. Get your wage records, double-check everything, and request a redetermination if needed. The worst they can say is no, but you might get hundreds more per week if there was an error.