How much do you get paid on unemployment in Washington - what's the actual weekly benefit amount?

That's more than I expected! Do you know if that amount includes any taxes taken out or is that the gross amount?

That's the gross amount before any voluntary tax withholding. You can choose to have 10% federal and 7% state taxes withheld when you file your weekly claims.

How long did it take for your claim to get approved? Mine's been in adjudication for two weeks now.

took about 3 weeks total but i had to verify some employment info. if yours is taking longer you might want to try calling them

What exactly is the base period though? I keep seeing that term but don't really get what timeframe they're looking at.

Base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed your claim. So if you filed in January 2025, they'd look at January 2024 through September 2024.

I actually used Claimyr recently and it was a game changer. You put in your info and they call Washington ESD for you until they get through, then connect you to the agent. Saved me hours of redialing. Check out their demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ - the website is claimyr.com.

Never heard of that but at this point I'm willing to try anything. The automated system just hangs up on me every time I call.

I was skeptical about paying someone to make calls but honestly worth every penny when you're dealing with Washington ESD phone system

Yes exactly! That's why the system can seem unfair sometimes. If you had one really high quarter due to overtime or bonuses, your WBA will be based on that higher amount.

Wow that actually works in my favor then because I had tons of overtime in Q2 last year. Thanks for explaining!

That's so confusing. Seems like there should be a simpler way to calculate it.

yeah its definitely not intuitive but once you get used to the system it makes more sense. just keep all your pay stubs in case they need to verify anything

Good point! Do I need to start the job search immediately or is there a grace period after filing?

You need to start job search activities for the first week you claim benefits. Keep detailed records because they can audit you anytime.

Also register with WorkSource Washington if you haven't already - it's required for most claimants.

That does seem low for your salary level. You should definitely call Washington ESD to review your wage information. Sometimes employers don't report wages correctly or there are data entry errors.

Calling them is the problem though - I can never get through!

This is exactly why I mentioned Claimyr earlier. When you need to actually talk to Washington ESD about benefit calculations or wage issues, their service is super helpful. They handle all the calling and waiting for you.

I tried using that but it asks for quarterly wage amounts and I don't have those - just my annual salary and recent pay stubs.

You can estimate by dividing your annual salary by 4, but the actual calculation will be based on your reported wages from employers so it might be different.

Good catch! I was wondering why I saw different maximum amounts on different websites.

Yeah the state adjusts it based on average weekly wages across Washington. It usually goes up a little each year.

You can work part-time and still collect partial benefits, but you need to report all earnings when you file your weekly claim. Washington ESD will reduce your benefit amount based on how much you earn.

Is there a limit to how much I can earn before losing benefits completely?

Generally if you earn more than 1.5 times your weekly benefit amount, you won't get any unemployment for that week. But definitely report everything honestly.

How did you finally get through? I've been trying forever!

honestly i used that claimyr service someone mentioned. paid for itself when they found the wage reporting error and got my benefits increased by $200 per week

That's a huge difference! Definitely worth checking if there are wage reporting issues.

So someone with a higher weekly amount might run out of benefits sooner than someone with a lower amount?

Not exactly - everyone gets the same number of weeks potentially available, but your total benefit amount is calculated as your weekly benefit times the number of weeks. Once you exhaust that total, benefits end.

Yeah I learned this the hard way last year. Owed like $3,000 in taxes because I didn't have anything withheld.

Ouch! That's why I always recommend having at least the federal taxes withheld. It's easier than owing a lump sum later.