How long do you have to sign up for Washington ESD unemployment benefits?

You should file as soon as possible after losing your job. There's no strict deadline to file your initial claim, but benefits can only be backdated for up to one week in most cases. The sooner you file, the better - you don't want to lose any potential benefit weeks.

i waited like a month before filing mine and they still approved it, you should be ok

The key thing to understand is that your benefit year starts when you file your claim, not when you lost your job. Washington ESD can backdate your claim up to one week if you have good cause for the delay, but beyond that you're looking at lost benefit weeks. File online at secure.esd.wa.gov as soon as you can.

I had trouble getting through to Washington ESD when I first filed and wasted weeks trying to call them. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Made the whole process so much easier than sitting on hold for hours.

Just to clarify - there's no deadline to FILE your initial claim, but there are deadlines once you start receiving benefits. You have to file your weekly claims every week and you have to start your job search activities right away. Missing those deadlines can disqualify you.

I'm confused about this backdating thing. If I lost my job 3 weeks ago but just filed yesterday, do I get benefits for those 3 weeks or just starting from when I filed?

The Washington ESD system is so confusing about this stuff. I remember when I first filed, I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to wait a certain amount of time or file immediately. Turns out you should file immediately but there's a one-week waiting period before you can collect benefits.

This is exactly why I put off filing for so long - all these confusing rules and deadlines. Wish Washington ESD would make it clearer on their website.

I work in HR and deal with this question a lot. The simple answer is: file as soon as you lose your job. Don't wait. Even if you think you might get another job quickly, file anyway. You can always stop claiming if you find work. There's no penalty for filing early, but you can lose potential benefits by waiting.

Does anyone know if the deadline is different for different types of claims? Like if you're laid off vs fired vs quit?

I was in a similar situation last year and kept procrastinating on filing. Finally got frustrated trying to reach Washington ESD by phone and found Claimyr through a friend's recommendation. They helped me get through to an agent who walked me through the whole process. Saved me weeks of confusion and phone tag.

Just want to add that even though there's no strict deadline to file initially, you do need to file within your benefit year. Your benefit year is 52 weeks from when you first file. So if you wait too long, you might miss your window entirely.

The whole system is set up backwards if you ask me. You lose your job when you need money the most, but then you have to wait a week to get benefits AND figure out all these confusing rules. Just file as soon as you can and worry about the details later.

I keep seeing people mention calling Washington ESD but honestly their phone system is a nightmare. I've had better luck just filing online and dealing with any issues through their messaging system, even though it's slow.

For what it's worth, I filed about a month after losing my job and didn't have any issues with backdating. I think as long as you can show you were actively looking for work during that time, they're pretty reasonable about it.

Bottom line: file today if you can. The worst thing that happens is you start the process and find out you're not eligible. The best thing that happens is you start getting benefits to help with your bills while you look for work.

I'm gonna bookmark this thread - really helpful info about the filing deadlines. Had no idea about the one-week waiting period thing.

Good luck with your claim! The whole process seems overwhelming at first but once you get through the initial filing it's pretty straightforward. Just make sure to file your weekly claims on time and keep up with your job search requirements.