How much is unemployment per week in Washington state - current benefit amounts?

Thanks! So if I made $58k last year that would be around $1115 per week, so my benefit would be about $557 weekly? That seems pretty good actually.

Yeah that sounds about right, though Washington ESD looks at your highest quarter specifically not your annual salary. So it might be slightly different depending on when you earned the most.

This is why I could never figure out my benefit amount before I actually applied! The calculation is so confusing.

Right, it's not intuitive at all. Most people are surprised by either how much or how little they actually get compared to what they expected.

3 weeks seems like forever when you're worried about bills. Did you have any issues getting through to them during that time?

Oh man, calling Washington ESD was a nightmare. I probably tried 200+ times over those 3 weeks. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me through to an agent. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

Never heard of that but might be worth checking out if I end up needing to call them. The phone system sounds brutal.

Wow $999 a week would be nice! I got $378 when I was unemployed last year.

Yeah the max sounds great but very few people actually qualify for it. The average benefit in Washington is probably around $450-500 per week.

Ugh I didn't even think about taxes. So if I got $557 per week I'd lose another chunk to taxes?

yep, unemployment is taxable income. you can have them withhold 10% or pay quarterly estimated taxes

I looked for that but couldn't find it! Do you remember exactly where it was?

I think it was called 'benefit estimate tool' or something like that. But honestly it might be easier to just apply and let them calculate it for you.

Are you allowed to do gig work while collecting unemployment? I thought there were restrictions.

You can work part-time and still collect partial benefits as long as you report the earnings on your weekly claim. Washington ESD has specific rules about how much you can earn before it affects your benefit.

Exactly, you can earn up to about 1/3 of your weekly benefit amount without any reduction. Anything over that gets deducted dollar for dollar from your benefit.

Easy to say save 6 months expenses when you're living paycheck to paycheck already 🙄

I get that, wasn't trying to be preachy. Just pointing out that unemployment benefits aren't designed to fully replace your income.

Standby status has the same benefit calculation as regular UI. The difference is you don't have to do job search activities since you have a definite return date.

Good to know, thanks. At least I won't have to deal with the WorkSourceWA job search requirements.

Washington does seem to have better benefits than other states from what I've heard.

Yeah Washington ESD is definitely more generous than a lot of other states. Still not enough to live on long term but better than nothing.

When do you have to file the weekly claims? Is there a specific day?

You can file starting Sunday for the previous week and you have until Saturday to get it submitted. Most people do it Sunday morning to get it out of the way.

Correct, there's no waiting week anymore. You can get benefits starting the first week you're unemployed as long as your claim is approved.

That's a relief. That waiting week was brutal when you needed the money immediately.

Like I mentioned earlier, I had to use Claimyr to get through. It's a service that helps you connect with Washington ESD agents. Saved me tons of time and frustration.

Is that legitimate? Sounds too good to be true that there's a service that can actually get you through to Washington ESD.

Yeah it's real, they basically handle the calling and waiting for you. Check out their demo video to see how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ

I've been at my job for 3 years full time so I should be good on the hours requirement.

Yeah you'll definitely meet the requirements then. The hour requirement mainly affects people who just started working or had part-time jobs.

26 weeks should hopefully be enough time to find something new. That's about 6 months right?

Exactly, 6 months. Sometimes there are federal extensions during recessions but normally it's just the 26 weeks.

Thanks everyone for all the info! Sounds like I should expect somewhere in the $400-600 range based on my salary. Hopefully I won't need to find out anytime soon.

That sounds about right for your income level. Hopefully your job stays stable but good to know what to expect just in case.

How much does something like that cost? Seems like you shouldn't have to pay extra just to talk to a government agency.

I agree it's frustrating that we need services like this, but it was worth it to actually get my questions answered instead of calling 100+ times myself.