How many hours worked to qualify for Washington ESD unemployment benefits?

Oh that's confusing. So it's about money earned not hours? What if I made minimum wage - would that change anything?

Right, it's wage-based. Minimum wage workers can still qualify if they worked enough to meet the dollar thresholds. Check your wage history on the Washington ESD website to see if you meet the requirements.

This is so different from what I expected. How do I check my wage history with Washington ESD?

Log into your SecureAccess Washington account and look at your wage and potential benefits information. It'll show all the wages employers reported for you.

How much does something like that cost though? I'm already broke and can't afford to pay for help.

It's worth checking out their site for the details. For me, getting through to actually talk to someone was worth it since I was getting nowhere with the regular phone line.

I might need to try that if I can't figure out my wage requirements online. Thanks for the tip!

Wait, so my current job from October 2024 until now wouldn't count toward qualifying?

Exactly. That's why some people who just started working again after a gap might not qualify right away. You can request an alternate base period if the standard one doesn't work for you.

Because unemployment benefits are tied to how much you earned, not just that you worked. Someone making $50/hour deserves higher benefits than someone making $15/hour, even if they both worked the same hours.

i guess that makes sense but its still really hard to figure out if you qualify without doing a bunch of math

There's a calculator? I didn't see that when I was looking at their site.

It's buried in there somewhere. I think it's under the 'Before You Apply' section. Definitely worth finding if you want to know before going through the whole application process.

I was laid off from my full-time job due to company downsizing, so that should be okay. The part-time jobs just don't give me enough hours to pay my bills.

Sounds like you should qualify then, assuming you meet the wage requirements. Being laid off is definitely considered unemployed through no fault of your own.

Yes, you have to report all wages earned during each week when you file your weekly claim. Washington ESD will reduce your benefit amount based on how much you earned, but you might still get a partial payment.

That's good to know. I was worried working part-time would completely disqualify me from getting any benefits at all.

That's exactly why I ended up using Claimyr. The regular phone system is just broken. At least with their service I could actually get through to someone who could look at my specific situation instead of getting generic answers.

I might have to look into that. This whole process has been incredibly frustrating.

How did you find out about the wrong SSN? Did Washington ESD tell you or did you have to figure it out yourself?

I had to call my old employer directly to check. Washington ESD couldn't see the wages from that job at all, which made me suspicious something was wrong with their records.

What exactly is the 1.5x requirement? Is that 1.5 times the minimum wage amount?

No, it's that your total base period wages need to be at least 1.5 times whatever you earned in your highest-earning quarter during that same base period. So if your best quarter was $2,000, you'd need at least $3,000 total across all four quarters.

Same here! I feel like I have a much better understanding of how this actually works now.

How do you request that? Is it part of the regular application or do you have to do something special?

I think you can request it during the application process, but you might need to call Washington ESD to set it up. That's where a service like Claimyr might be useful again if you can't get through on your own.

Exactly - I had to request an alternate base period and it took forever to get someone on the phone to help me with it. Definitely recommend having a way to actually reach an agent when you need to make special requests like that.

Yeah, the fact that it's based on wages rather than hours worked is actually more flexible for people with irregular schedules or multiple part-time jobs.

Gig work can count, but only if you were classified as an employee rather than an independent contractor. Most gig companies classify drivers as contractors, so those wages wouldn't count toward regular unemployment eligibility.

That's what I was afraid of. I made decent money doing deliveries but it probably won't help me qualify then.

That's encouraging! How long did it take to get approved after you submitted your application?

About 5 business days for the initial determination. Still waiting for my first payment but at least I know I qualify.

Good point. I've been putting it off because I wasn't sure about the requirements, but I should probably just apply and see what happens.

Exactly. The worst thing that can happen is they say you don't qualify, but at least you'll know for sure. And if you do qualify, you won't lose out on weeks of benefits while you were deciding whether to apply.

Good luck! Feel free to post back here if you run into any issues with the application process.

And remember, if you need to talk to someone at Washington ESD and can't get through, that Claimyr service is still available. Sometimes it's worth it just to get real answers to specific questions about your situation.