How much can you earn while on unemployment - Washington ESD weekly earnings limits?

The basic rule in Washington is you can earn up to your weekly benefit amount minus $5 before they start reducing your UI payment. Since you're getting $462, you could theoretically earn up to $457 in a week without losing the entire benefit. But they'll reduce your payment dollar-for-dollar after that $5 deduction.

Just make sure you report ALL earnings when you file your weekly claim. Even if it's just $50 from odd jobs, report it. Washington ESD will find out eventually and you don't want an overpayment notice later.

I've been dealing with this exact situation and honestly the phone system at Washington ESD is impossible when you have questions. I tried calling for weeks to clarify my earnings situation and kept getting disconnected. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me through to a real person at Washington ESD. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Game changer for actually getting answers about earnings rules.

The earnings calculation can get tricky if you're doing gig work or have irregular income. Make sure you're reporting gross earnings, not net after taxes. And if you work multiple days in a week, it all counts toward that week's total.

ugh this system is so confusing!! why cant they just let us earn a decent amount without penalizing us so much

One thing to watch out for - if you consistently earn close to your benefit amount, Washington ESD might question whether you're truly available for full-time work. They could potentially stop your benefits if they think you're working enough that you're not genuinely seeking full employment.

Don't forget you still have to do your job searches even if you're earning some money. The work search requirements don't go away just because you're doing freelance or part-time work.

I made the mistake of not reporting $150 I earned from a one-day job thinking it was too small to matter. Got an overpayment notice six months later for $900 because they found out through tax records. Always report everything!

The math is actually pretty straightforward once you understand it. Weekly benefit amount - $5 deduction = maximum you can earn before total benefit loss. Anything less than that gets subtracted from your benefit dollar for dollar after the $5 buffer.

Been there with the earnings questions too. If you need to talk to someone at Washington ESD about your specific situation, that Claimyr service mentioned earlier actually works. I was skeptical at first but they got me connected to an adjudicator who walked through my earnings scenario step by step.

Just remember that vacation pay, severance, and holiday pay all count as earnings too. It's not just wages from new work - any compensation needs to be reported.

The key thing is being consistent with your reporting. Same day each week, same method (online is easiest), and always be accurate. Washington ESD's system is pretty good at catching discrepancies.

Something else to consider - if the freelance work could turn into regular employment, that might be worth pursuing even if it temporarily reduces your UI benefits. Sometimes taking the part-time work leads to full-time opportunities.

One more tip - keep detailed records of all your earnings and when you reported them. If there's ever a question or audit, you'll want documentation showing you followed the rules correctly.

This has been really helpful reading through everyone's experiences. I was in a similar situation last year and wish I'd had this info upfront. The earnings rules aren't that complicated once you understand them, but Washington ESD doesn't exactly make it crystal clear in their materials.

Final thought - if you do decide to take the freelance work, just factor the benefit reduction into your decision. Sometimes earning $300 but losing $295 in benefits isn't worth the hassle, depending on the work involved.

Just to add another perspective - I've been doing some gig work while on UI and one thing that helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet to track potential earnings vs benefit reductions before taking on projects. For example, if a freelance job pays $400 but I'd lose $395 in benefits (since I get $450/week), I'm only netting $5 plus whatever experience/networking value the work provides. Sometimes it's worth it for the connections, sometimes not. Also worth noting that if you're doing contract work, you might want to consider the tax implications too since you'll be responsible for self-employment taxes on that income.