How many hours can you work and still collect Washington ESD unemployment benefits?

So if my weekly benefit is $400, I can earn up to $395 before they start reducing it? That's helpful to know!

That's not quite right - they start reducing benefits after you earn more than your weekly benefit amount minus $5, but the reduction isn't always dollar for dollar at first.

Good to know about the 32 hour limit. My job is only giving me 15-20 hours so I should be fine on that front.

wait is it really 32 hours? i thought it was 30 hours that disqualified you for the week

It's actually more complicated than just hours - Washington ESD also looks at whether you're considered 'able and available' for full-time work if you're working significant part-time hours.

How much does that cost though? I'm already struggling financially

It's worth checking out their site for details, but honestly the time I saved not calling Washington ESD for hours made it worthwhile for me. Got my questions answered in one call instead of weeks of trying.

Never heard of this but might be worth looking into if their phone lines are still as bad as they were last year

That makes more sense! So there's some incentive to work part-time without losing all your benefits immediately.

Yep, they want to encourage people to take part-time work while job searching. Just don't forget to keep doing your job search activities too.

How did they find out about cash work? That's scary

they cross reference with other agencies and employers. even 1099 work shows up eventually. just report everything to be safe

This is exactly why it's important to report ALL work, even if it seems minor. The penalties for unreported income can be severe.

Being on-call can affect your 'able and available' status depending on the restrictions. You should report the on-call status when filing your weekly claim.

Ugh, this is so complicated. Wish Washington ESD would make their rules clearer.

Yes, you need to report all gig work earnings and the hours you worked, even if it's variable. Keep good records of your hours and earnings for each week.

I use a spreadsheet to track my gig hours and earnings by week. Makes filing the weekly claim much easier.

Good idea about the spreadsheet. This is all so much more complicated than I expected.

Right, I almost forgot about that part. So I need to keep applying to other jobs even though I'm working?

Exactly! The part-time work doesn't replace the job search requirement. You're still considered partially unemployed.

Good luck getting through on the phone! I've been trying for weeks to get clarification on my specific situation.

That's exactly why I ended up using Claimyr - their system actually gets you connected to Washington ESD agents instead of sitting on hold forever or getting hung up on.

Might have to look into that. This is too important to mess up.

If you become regularly employed (even part-time) and your hours become consistent, Washington ESD might determine you're no longer eligible for benefits. It depends on your specific situation.

That's what I was worried about. My part-time job might become more regular hours soon.

Always report GROSS earnings (before taxes and deductions) when filing your weekly claim with Washington ESD.

Thanks! That's what I thought but wanted to be sure.

Same here! I feel much more confident about taking this part-time job now.

Just remember - when in doubt, report it. It's always better to over-report than under-report with Washington ESD.

What counts as 'suitable' employment? Is there a definition for that?

Generally it means work that matches your skills and pays a reasonable wage compared to your previous job. The definition can vary based on how long you've been unemployed.

I tried using that calculator but couldn't figure out if I was entering my information correctly. The interface is not very user-friendly.

Yeah it's not the most intuitive, but once you figure it out it's useful for planning your finances.

There's no specific limit on how many weeks you can work part-time while collecting, but your total benefit amount is still limited to your maximum claim amount for the year.

That makes sense. So you're not extending your claim period, just potentially getting benefits for more weeks within the same timeframe.

Tell me about it! The paperwork and tracking is overwhelming when you're already stressed about finding work.

At least having clear info like this thread helps. Better than trying to decode Washington ESD's website on your own.

This is another reason I was glad to find Claimyr - being able to actually talk to someone at Washington ESD to clarify all these rules saved me so much stress and confusion.