How long before Washington ESD unemployment pays after filing claim?

I've been filing every week since my claim was approved. Does the payment come as direct deposit or a debit card?

You should have gotten a KeyBank debit card in the mail within 7-10 days of filing. If you set up direct deposit it goes to your bank account instead.

You might want to call Washington ESD to check if there's any issues holding up your payment. Sometimes there are verification requirements that don't show up clearly in your online account.

i've tried calling like 50 times, can never get through to anyone. their phone system is impossible

never heard of this, is it legit? how much does it cost?

Yeah it's legit, check out claimyr.com. I don't remember the exact cost but it was worth it to actually talk to someone about my payment delay. Way better than redialing all day.

Might have to try this if I don't get paid this week. Thanks for the tip!

What kind of red flags would cause adjudication? I was laid off due to company downsizing, nothing complicated.

Layoffs due to downsizing are usually straightforward. Adjudication typically happens with job separations involving misconduct, quitting without good cause, or if there are questions about your work availability. Since yours was a standard layoff, you should be fine.

That's exactly what I'm doing right now! Did yours come through eventually?

yeah took about 3 weeks total but once it started coming it was regular every week

Good to know the exact timeline! I'm at day 12 since approval so hopefully soon.

Wait, you have to file by Sunday? I thought it was Monday deadline.

The system says Monday but I always file by Sunday night to be safe. Don't want to risk any technical issues on the deadline day.

totally agree, it's like they designed the system to make it as difficult as possible

I understand the frustration but the waiting week and processing time are built into the system for fraud prevention. It's not ideal but there are reasons for the delays.

Fraud prevention is just their excuse for having an outdated computer system that can't handle basic tasks efficiently.

The waiting week is not paid in Washington state. It's a one-time unpaid week that serves as a waiting period. You don't get that week's benefits at the end of your claim either.

that's brutal, basically a whole week of benefits just gone

Was the agent able to fix the issue right away or did you still have to wait?

She couldn't release the payment immediately but she was able to tell me exactly what was causing the delay and give me a timeline. Payment came through 3 days later.

4 weeks pending usually means adjudication. Check if you have any alerts or to-do items in your eServices account. Sometimes there are verification documents they need that aren't obvious.

I've checked everything multiple times, no alerts or to-do items showing. This is so frustrating.

Definitely sounds like you need to talk to an agent. That Claimyr service I mentioned earlier would probably help you get through to find out what's going on.

Good tip! I'll check that now. Did your payments start as soon as you got the card?

the card came first, then payments started hitting it about a week later

How would I know if they're waiting for employer paperwork? Nothing shows up in my account about that.

that's the problem, they don't always tell you. you pretty much have to call to find out what's really going on

I filed on a Friday, does that make it worse?

Friday might add a couple days because they probably don't process over the weekend, but shouldn't be a huge difference

The job search requirements in Washington are 3 job search activities per week, which has been consistent for a while. Make sure you're logging them in WorkSourceWA or keeping your own records.

yeah but they seem to be auditing them more frequently now

Thanks for sharing this! Gives me hope since I'm approaching that timeline.

same thing happened to me, thought my claim was messed up but it was just slow processing

Learned this the hard way already. Had to borrow money from family because I was expecting payment last week.

exactly, always assume it will be later than you hope and be pleasantly surprised if it comes early

Good point about taxes. Do I need to set aside money for taxes on unemployment benefits?

Yes, unemployment benefits are taxable income. You can have taxes withheld from your payments or pay estimated quarterly taxes. Most people forget about this and get surprised at tax time.

This is me right now! I keep refreshing my account hoping to see something change.

try to distract yourself with job searching or other productive stuff, the obsessive checking doesn't make the money come faster

how many times have you used this service? seems like you're a big fan