How does Washington ESD calculate unemployment benefit amounts - confused about my weekly payment

Washington ESD uses your highest earning quarter from your base period and divides it by 26. Your base period is usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed. So if you filed in January 2025, they'd look at earnings from July 2023 through September 2024. The maximum weekly benefit amount in Washington is $999 for 2025.

Check your monetary determination notice carefully - it should show exactly which quarters they used and your earnings for each. Sometimes people think they made an error but they're actually using the right base period. Your $487 sounds about right if your highest quarter was around $12,600.

Getting through to Washington ESD to check your calculation can be really frustrating with their phone system. I spent weeks trying to reach someone about my benefit amount. Finally discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) which actually got me connected to an agent within a few days. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Super helpful for getting answers about benefit calculations.

wait so they dont use your last job salary at all?? i thought unemployment was like a percentage of what you were making before

The Washington ESD calculation is actually pretty fair once you understand it. They use your highest quarter to protect people who might have had a bad quarter due to illness or reduced hours. It's not perfect but it's better than just averaging everything.

Don't forget about the earnings deduction if you work part-time while on unemployment. Washington ESD subtracts 75% of your weekly earnings from your benefit amount. So if you make $100 in a week, they deduct $75 from your weekly benefit.

I had the same confusion when I first got my determination letter. What helped me was logging into my SecureAccess Washington account and looking at the detailed breakdown. Sometimes the online portal shows more detail than the mailed letter.

THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO CONFUSE PEOPLE! They make the calculation so complicated that half the people don't even know if they're getting the right amount. Washington ESD should just make it a simple percentage of your average salary like normal people would expect.

Your $487 weekly amount sounds right for someone making $65k. Washington has one of the higher maximum benefit amounts compared to other states. Just make sure you're reporting any part-time work correctly on your weekly claims.

One thing to watch out for - if you had any bonuses or commissions that pushed one quarter really high, that might explain why your weekly amount seems higher than expected. Washington ESD includes all wages in their calculation.

When I was trying to understand my calculation I kept getting the runaround from Washington ESD phone support. A friend told me about this service called Claimyr that helps you actually get through to agents. Used it twice now and it's been a game changer for getting real answers about benefit calculations and other UI issues.

i been getting unemployment for 6 months and never understood how they calculated it lol just happy to get the money

The monetary determination letter is really confusing with all the quarter codes and dates. I wish Washington ESD would just put a simple explanation of how they calculated your amount instead of making you decode all that information.

Also remember that your benefit amount can change if Washington ESD gets updated wage information from employers. Sometimes they issue a redetermination letter if new earnings data comes in after your initial calculation.

If you're still confused about your calculation after reading all these explanations, definitely try to get someone from Washington ESD on the phone. I used that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier and it was worth it just to get a clear explanation directly from an agent.