How much money can you earn while on unemployment in Washington state?

In Washington state, you can earn up to your weekly benefit amount minus $5 before they start reducing your UI payment. So if your weekly benefit is $400, you can earn up to $395 before any deductions. After that, they reduce your benefit dollar-for-dollar.

Be super careful about reporting this correctly though. I made a mistake once and didn't report some earnings properly and got hit with an overpayment notice months later. The Washington ESD system tracks everything.

I've been doing part-time work while on unemployment for 3 months now. The key is to report your GROSS earnings for the week you actually worked, not when you got paid. Also, if you work more than 3 days in a week, you might not be eligible for that week's benefits even if you earn less than your weekly amount.

If you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to ask about this directly, I found this service called Claimyr that helped me reach an actual person. You can check it out at claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Made it so much easier to get my questions answered.

ugh the washington esd system is so confusing. i've been trying to figure out the same thing for my situation. why cant they just make it simple??

I work in HR and deal with unemployment stuff regularly. The $5 disregard rule is correct for Washington. You can also look up your exact weekly benefit amount in your eServices account. Just remember that if you start working full-time, you need to stop filing weekly claims immediately.

Just want to add that you still need to be available for full-time work and actively job searching even if you're working part-time. The job search requirements don't go away just because you have some part-time income.

Been there! I worked part-time at a retail job while collecting unemployment last year. Made sure to report everything correctly and never had any issues. The extra income really helped stretch things while I looked for full-time work.

Make sure the employer knows you're on unemployment too. Some employers don't realize their employees might be collecting partial benefits and it can cause confusion with payroll reporting.

I used Claimyr recently when I had questions about my partial unemployment benefits and it was super helpful. The person I spoke with at Washington ESD was able to walk me through exactly how the earnings calculation works for my specific situation.

Don't forget to keep track of your hours worked too, not just earnings. Washington ESD sometimes asks for detailed information about your work schedule during audits or reviews.

The Washington ESD handbook explains all this if you can find it on their website. But yeah, the $5 disregard is the key thing to remember. Anything under (weekly benefit amount - $5) and you get full benefits.

This is exactly why I love this forum - getting real experiences from real people instead of trying to decode government websites. Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge!

One more thing - if your part-time earnings vary week to week, you'll need to report the actual amount each week. Don't try to average it out or anything like that. Washington ESD wants the real numbers for each week.

Also remember that if you end up earning more than your weekly benefit amount minus $5 for several weeks in a row, you might want to consider whether it's worth continuing to file weekly claims. Sometimes the hassle isn't worth it for small benefit amounts.

Actually had a similar situation last month and used Claimyr to get through to Washington ESD to confirm my understanding. The rep confirmed that as long as you're under the weekly benefit minus $5 threshold, you get full benefits. Worth checking if you want to be 100% sure.

Thanks for all the detailed responses everyone! This has been incredibly helpful. Just to summarize what I've learned: I can earn up to my weekly benefit amount minus $5 before any reductions, I need to report gross earnings for the week I actually worked (not when paid), keep detailed records of everything, and continue my job search requirements. The part-time job is only 2 days a week so I should be fine. I feel much more confident about taking this opportunity now while still protecting my benefits. You all are amazing!

That's a great summary! You've got all the key points covered. Just one small correction - the summary at the end was actually posted by StarStrider (the original poster), not Zainab Ibrahim. But you're absolutely right about taking the job - with only 2 days a week and earnings in the $200-300 range, you should be well within the safe zone for keeping most of your benefits. Good luck with the new position!

As someone who just joined this community after struggling with similar questions, I want to add that it's also worth knowing that Washington state allows you to have multiple part-time jobs while on unemployment as long as your total weekly earnings stay under that weekly benefit minus $5 threshold. I learned this when I was considering taking on some freelance work in addition to a part-time retail job. The key is just making sure you report ALL sources of income accurately on your weekly claim - don't leave anything out thinking it's too small to matter. Washington ESD tracks everything and it's better to over-report than under-report. Also, if anyone is doing gig work like DoorDash or Uber while on unemployment, that counts as earnings too and needs to be reported as self-employment income.