How many months do you need to work to qualify for unemployment in Washington state?

What exactly is the base period? Is that just the last year I worked?

The base period is usually the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file your claim. So if you file in January 2025, your base period would be October 2023 through September 2024.

Yeah I used the alternative base period when I filed last year. It looked at more recent quarters which worked better for my situation.

Have you tried using Claimyr? I discovered it recently when I was having the same problem getting through to Washington ESD. It's a service that helps you actually reach a live agent - check out claimyr.com and there's a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

How do they figure out what your weekly benefit amount would be? Is there a calculator or something?

Washington ESD has a benefit calculator on their website. Your weekly benefit is roughly 3.85% of your earnings in your highest earning quarter during the base period.

Exactly! It's about meeting the earnings thresholds, not about working for a specific length of time. If you made enough money in 6 months and it falls within the base period, you could qualify.

This is confusing as hell. Why can't they just make it simple like 'work 12 months and you qualify'?

My hours got cut way down so I'm basically unemployed but technically still employed. Does that affect anything?

You might be able to file for partial unemployment benefits if your hours were reduced significantly. Washington ESD allows this in certain situations.

That's good to know! I was worried I hadn't worked long enough either but sounds like as long as you meet the dollar amounts it doesn't matter.

Yeah the system definitely favors people who had higher-paying jobs. But at least there is some protection for part-time workers, even if it's not much.

Better than nothing I guess but it's still frustrating when you've been working consistently but just at lower wages.

That's smart advice. I should probably check exactly what my earnings were in each quarter before I file.

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

It's worth checking out their website - they focus on helping you get through to ESD rather than charging consultation fees. Way cheaper than missing out on benefits you're entitled to.

God this is complicated. No wonder so many people get confused about whether they qualify or not.

Yeah it's intentionally complicated to discourage people from filing. Classic government bureaucracy at its finest.

Thanks everyone for all the help! I think I understand it better now. Sounds like I should calculate my earnings by quarter and see if I meet the requirements.

Good plan! And don't be afraid to file even if you're not 100% sure you qualify. Washington ESD will determine your eligibility and let you know either way.

I tried using that but got confused about which quarters to use. The dates don't line up with regular calendar years.

Quarters are just Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, and Oct-Dec. So if you're filing in January 2025, your base period would be Q4 2023 through Q3 2024.

That's exactly the kind of thing I'm worried about. How do you know if your work history is accurate in their system?

You can see some of it when you file online, but talking to an agent is really the only way to make sure everything is correct and up to date.

Perfect summary! Thanks everyone for helping me understand this better. Time to dig up my pay stubs and do some math.