How long is an unemployment appeal hearing for Washington ESD decisions?

Most appeal hearings I've been to last between 30-90 minutes depending on complexity. Since you have documentation of the layoff, yours might be on the shorter side if it's straightforward.

Plan for about 2 hours to be safe. The hearing itself might be 45 minutes but you'll want time beforehand to organize your documents and there's usually a wait time. Washington ESD hearings can run behind schedule.

If you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to ask about hearing procedures, I found this service called Claimyr that helped me reach an agent quickly. They have a website at claimyr.com and there's a demo video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ. Really helpful when you need to talk to someone about appeal specifics.

Mine took exactly 1 hour and 15 minutes last year. The judge was pretty thorough and asked a lot of questions about my work history and the circumstances around my separation. Make sure you have all your dates straight!

depends on whether your employer shows up to contest it too. if they don't show it might be really quick, like 20 minutes

I had one that went almost 2 hours because my employer brought their HR person and a manager and they kept contradicting each other. It was actually hilarious watching them argue during my hearing!

Washington ESD hearings are pretty formal but not intimidating. The judge will explain the process at the beginning and tell you about how long they expect it to take based on the issues involved.

Whatever you do don't be late!!! They can dismiss your case if you're not there on time. I almost missed mine because of traffic.

The length really depends on how complicated your case is. Simple quit vs layoff disputes are usually faster than complex misconduct cases or cases involving multiple job separations.

I've had three appeal hearings over the years and they ranged from 35 minutes to almost 2 hours. The longest one involved a complicated misconduct case where I had to explain a whole series of events.

Pro tip: if you need to reach Washington ESD with questions before your hearing, that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier really works. I used it last month to get clarification on some hearing procedures and got through to an agent in like 10 minutes instead of waiting on hold forever.

is it true that you can have a lawyer at these hearings? seems like overkill for unemployment but wondering if it would help

The actual testimony part is usually pretty quick. Most of the time is spent on the judge reviewing documents and asking clarifying questions. If you have everything organized it should move along smoothly.

UGH I hate these hearings! Had one last year that dragged on FOREVER because the judge kept asking the same questions over and over. Felt like they were trying to trip me up!

From what I understand, Washington ESD tries to keep hearings under an hour when possible. They have a lot of cases to get through so they don't want to spend more time than necessary on straightforward cases.

One thing to remember is that you'll get a decision right away at the end of the hearing. The judge will tell you whether you won or lost before you leave, which is nice compared to waiting for a letter in the mail.

just went through this process myself and used claimyr to get some prep advice from a washington esd agent beforehand. really helped me understand what to expect. check out their site at claimyr.com if you want to talk to someone before your hearing

Good luck with your hearing! Sounds like you have a strong case with the documentation. Most people who have clear evidence of being laid off win their appeals pretty easily.

Plan for about 60-90 minutes total including any waiting time. That's been my experience with Washington ESD appeal hearings - better to overestimate than underestimate when requesting time off work.