How many months of work to qualify for unemployment in Washington ESD?

It's not really about months of work - Washington ESD looks at your base period earnings. You need to have earned wages in at least two quarters of your base period and meet the minimum wage requirements. Your base period is typically the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file your claim.

You need to have earned at least $1,005 in your highest quarter AND have total base period earnings of at least 1.5 times your high quarter wages. So if your highest quarter was $2,000, you'd need at least $3,000 total in your base period.

honestly the whole calling washington esd thing is such a nightmare. i spent literally hours trying to get through to someone to ask this same question. if you need to talk to someone about your specific situation, i found this service called claimyr.com that actually got me through to an esd agent. they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. saved me so much time and frustration.

Don't forget about the job separation requirements too. You need to be unemployed through no fault of your own. If you quit or got fired for misconduct, you won't qualify regardless of your work history.

ugh the washington esd system is SO confusing. i applied three times before i finally understood what they were asking for. the whole base period thing makes no sense why cant they just say you need X months of work like normal people would think???

Also keep in mind that if you don't qualify for regular unemployment, you might still be eligible for other programs. Washington has extended benefit programs sometimes, and there might be other assistance available depending on your situation.

Just apply anyway! The worst they can say is no, and at least you'll know for sure. The application will tell you if you qualify or not based on your actual wage history.

Make sure you file your claim right away if you do qualify. There's usually a waiting period, and you can't get benefits for weeks before you actually file the claim.

The income requirements change every year too. What was required last year might be different this year. Best to check the current Washington ESD website for the most up-to-date numbers.

i had a similar situation where i worked part time and was worried about qualifying. turns out i had just enough wages in my base period. the key is that it doesn't matter how many hours you worked, just how much you earned total.

One thing to watch out for - if you're still working part-time, you can still collect unemployment but your benefits might be reduced. Washington has a partial unemployment program for people whose hours got cut.

Don't stress too much about it. The application process will walk you through everything and tell you if you qualify. If you have questions during the process, that's when you might want to call Washington ESD or use one of those services people mentioned to get through to an agent.

btw if you do get approved, make sure you understand the job search requirements. you have to be actively looking for work and keep a log of your job search activities. thats a common reason people get disqualified later.

Also remember that if you get denied initially, you can appeal the decision. Sometimes the system makes mistakes or doesn't have complete information about your work history.

The whole system is set up to be confusing honestly. I think they hope people will just give up and not apply. But if you earned the wages and lost your job through no fault of your own, you deserve the benefits you paid into through your payroll taxes.

If you need help navigating the system or talking to ESD agents, I also had good luck with that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier. Saved me hours of frustration trying to get through on the phone.

Good luck with your application! It sounds like you probably qualify based on what others have said about the wage requirements. The worst part is just waiting for the system to process everything.