How is unemployment calculated in Washington ESD - confused about weekly benefit amount

So they don't use my total yearly income? Just one quarter?

Right, just your highest quarter. The other quarters determine if you qualify and for how many weeks, but weekly amount is based on highest quarter only.

Calling Washington ESD is a nightmare right now. I spent 6 hours on hold yesterday just to get disconnected.

Same here! The wait times are insane. Someone mentioned using Claimyr to get through to Washington ESD faster - it's supposed to handle the waiting for you. Has anyone tried it?

How do I know if my employers paid into it? Two of my jobs were through temp agencies.

Your quarterly wage statement on your Washington ESD account will show all qualifying wages. If an employer isn't listed, they probably didn't pay UI taxes.

wait theres money for dependents?? nobody told me this when i filed my claim

Yes, $15 per dependent child under 18. You need to report them when you file your initial claim though.

crap can i add them now or do i have to refile everything

That math actually makes sense! My best quarter was probably around that amount when I was working overtime.

I ended up using Claimyr.com after getting frustrated with the phone system. They have a video demo that shows exactly how it works (https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ). Way better than spending hours on hold.

Standby uses the same calculation but you don't have to do job searches. You should still be getting paid though if you're filing weekly claims.

ok good because the job search thing seemed impossible with my schedule

Try using it early morning like 6am. Their system is less overloaded then.

Or just do the math yourself. Take your highest quarter wages, divide by 26, and that's pretty much it unless you have dependents.

Wait, I thought you said it only uses the highest quarter?

Sorry, I was mixing up two different parts. Weekly benefit is highest quarter divided by 26. But you need minimum wages in other quarters to qualify at all.

Right, you need at least $3,000 in your base period and wages in at least two quarters. But weekly amount is just highest quarter.

Because they probably don't want people to know. The whole system seems designed to be confusing.

That's why I ended up using Claimyr to talk to someone who could actually explain it. Much easier than trying to decode their website.

Glad we could help! The Washington ESD system is confusing but once you understand the basic formula it's pretty straightforward.

yeah now i need to figure out why mine is so low compared to yours lol

Good point! I've been doing mine every Sunday morning so I don't forget.

wait what happens if i missed a week last month

You might be able to get it back if you have a good reason, but you'll probably need to call Washington ESD to explain.

You might be able to add dependents retroactively but you'll definitely need to call and talk to someone at Washington ESD about it.

That's exactly the kind of thing Claimyr helps with - getting through to actually talk to someone instead of being stuck in phone limbo.

thank you for putting it simple like that

Perfect summary! This should be pinned somewhere.

seriously why cant they just have examples on their website

They probably do it on purpose so fewer people claim benefits they're entitled to.

Is it expensive though? I'm already broke from being unemployed.

It's worth it if you need to talk to someone at Washington ESD. Way cheaper than taking unpaid time off work to spend all day calling them.

Great! $12,875 ÷ 26 = $495, so with rounding you got $487. Math checks out perfectly.

Glad you got it figured out. The Washington ESD system makes more sense once you understand the basic formula.

Sounds like your highest quarter was around $7,400. Could be you had a gap in employment or worked part-time during that quarter.

yeah i was part time for a while that must be it

Exactly! The math is simple once you know what numbers they're using.

wish they just told us this upfront instead of making us guess

How many weeks do most people get?

Usually 26 weeks max, but it depends on your total base period wages compared to your weekly benefit amount.

Good advice! I'll definitely keep everything organized just in case.

Yeah, wage verification issues are another common reason people need to call Washington ESD. Having documentation ready makes those conversations much easier.