How long do you have to work at a job before you can collect unemployment in Washington?

In Washington state, it's not about how long you worked at your current job specifically. Washington ESD looks at your base period earnings, which is typically the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you file. You need to have earned at least $1,885 in your highest quarter and total base period wages of at least 1.5 times your high quarter amount.

Wait I thought you had to work somewhere for at least 90 days before you could get unemployment from that job??

I had this exact situation last year and couldn't get through to Washington ESD for weeks to get clarity on my eligibility. Kept getting busy signals and their website was confusing. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get connected 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 trying to call on my own.

To be more specific about the Washington ESD requirements: You need minimum $1,885 in your highest earning quarter of the base period AND your total base period wages must be at least 1.5 times that high quarter amount. So if your high quarter was $2,000, you'd need at least $3,000 total in base period wages.

The whole base period thing is so confusing!!! Why can't they just make it simple like work 6 months = eligible??

Just want to add that you can check your eligibility before you even need to file by looking at your wage history on the Washington ESD website. It shows your quarterly earnings that would be used for the base period calculation.

I was in a similar boat last year - worked somewhere for just 6 weeks before getting laid off. Still qualified because I had worked the year before at a different company. The key is having enough earnings in that base period, not tenure at any specific job.

One thing to keep in mind is that even if you qualify based on earnings, you still have to meet the ongoing requirements like job search activities and filing weekly claims. Washington ESD requires 3 job search activities per week typically.

Does anyone know if contract work counts toward the base period earnings? I did some 1099 work between my jobs.

I went through this whole process 6 months ago and the hardest part was definitely getting accurate information from Washington ESD directly. Their website has the basics but when you have specific questions about your situation, you really need to talk to someone. That's where services like Claimyr become valuable - they cut through all the phone tag nonsense.

The timing of when you file also matters for the base period calculation. If you file now versus filing in January, you might have different quarters included in your base period.

just wanted to say this thread is super helpful!! I was worried about the same thing at my new job

One more thing - if you're worried about potential layoffs, start documenting everything now. Keep records of your work, any performance reviews, company communications about layoffs, etc. If you do need to file, having good documentation makes the process smoother.

For what it's worth, I used Claimyr twice last year when I had issues with my claim and both times they got me through to someone within an hour. Way better than spending entire days trying to call Washington ESD myself. Their demo video really shows how the whole process works if anyone's curious.

Bottom line for OP: With 8 months at your previous job plus 2 months current, you should be fine IF you earned enough during the base period. The specific job tenure doesn't matter, just the total earnings and meeting the weekly requirements if you do file.