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

Wait so they don't use all four quarters? Just the highest one? That doesn't seem right because I had steady income for almost two years.

They use all qualifying quarters to determine if you're eligible, but the weekly benefit calculation is based on your highest quarter earnings divided by 26. The unpaid time off might have affected which quarters they counted.

That's exactly what I'm worried about! How can I find out which quarters they used for my calculation?

You can check your monetary determination letter on your Washington ESD account - it breaks down exactly which quarters and earnings they used. If you think it's wrong, you can request a redetermination.

Never heard of that service before. Did they actually help you get your calculation corrected or just explain it?

They helped me understand that Washington ESD was using the wrong base period for my calculation. Once I knew what the issue was, I could file an appeal and got it corrected. Saved me months of trying to get through on the phone.

This might be exactly what I need. I'm so frustrated trying to figure this out on my own.

Do dependents allowances actually increase your weekly benefit amount? I have two kids but didn't see anything about that on my determination.

Washington doesn't have dependent allowances for regular unemployment benefits. Some states do but not here. Your benefit is strictly based on your earnings history.

So if my highest quarter was $18,200, I should get $700 per week? But they're only giving me $412. Something is definitely wrong.

That math doesn't add up. Either they're using a different quarter as your 'highest' or there's an error in their calculation. You need to request your monetary determination details and potentially file an appeal.

This happened to me too! Turned out they were using my earnings from when I was working part-time two years ago instead of my recent full-time earnings. Had to appeal and provide W-2s to prove they used the wrong quarters.

I don't think it's deliberate but the Washington ESD website explanations are pretty awful. The monetary determination letter is supposed to break it all down but even that's hard to read.

yeah the letter just has a bunch of numbers with no clear explanation of how they got to the final amount

I was looking at my gross W-2 earnings. Let me double-check which specific quarters they're counting as my base period.

Good idea. The base period is specific - it's the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed your claim. So if you filed in January 2025, they'd look at July-September 2024, April-June 2024, January-March 2024, and October-December 2023.

How long did it take to get through to someone with Claimyr?

Less than 24 hours. Way better than the weeks I spent trying to call directly. The agent was able to pull up my account and explain everything while I was on the phone.

How did you get them to fix it? Did you have to provide additional documentation?

I had to request a redetermination and submit my recent pay stubs and W-2 forms. Took about 3 weeks but they corrected my weekly benefit amount from $340 to $587.

That's a huge difference! No wonder so many people don't get the right amount initially.

That's what I thought too. I'm going to request the detailed breakdown and see exactly what they used.

Smart move. Don't just accept their calculation without understanding it. You have the right to see exactly how they came up with your benefit amount.

Same here. Spent hours on hold just to get disconnected. It's ridiculous how hard it is to talk to a real person about your benefits.

That's exactly why I ended up using Claimyr. Couldn't waste any more time sitting on hold when I needed answers about my benefit calculation.

I did switch jobs in the middle of last year. Maybe that's part of the confusion with my calculation.

Very likely! Job changes during the base period often cause calculation errors. Make sure they have accurate wage records from both employers.

Will do! I'm going to request the detailed monetary determination and probably try that Claimyr service if I can't make sense of it.

Good luck! Hope you get the right amount. It's frustrating when they mess up something as basic as the benefit calculation.