How much money can you make while on unemployment in Washington without losing benefits?

You can earn up to 25% of your weekly benefit amount without any reduction. So if you get $400/week in unemployment, you can make up to $100 without it affecting your benefits at all. Anything over that and they start deducting dollar for dollar from your UI payment.

Wait really? Only 25%? That seems super low. Are you sure about that number?

Yes I'm certain. It's in the Washington ESD handbook if you want to double check. Just make sure you report ALL earnings when you file your weekly claim.

I've been dealing with this exact situation and it's been a nightmare trying to get clear answers from Washington ESD. Every time I call I get a different person who tells me something different. Has anyone actually gotten through to someone who knows what they're talking about?

I had the same problem with conflicting information until I found Claimyr. It's a service that helps you actually reach Washington ESD agents who can give you accurate answers. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

Interesting, I'll check that out. I'm tired of wasting hours on hold just to get hung up on.

Is that legit? Sounds too good to be true tbh

The earnings threshold depends on your weekly benefit amount but it's definitely not much. I learned the hard way when I picked up a weekend catering gig and they reduced my benefits by like $150 because I went over by $30. Really wish someone had explained the math to me before I took the work.

Ugh that's exactly what I'm worried about! Did you have to pay anything back or just lose that week's benefits?

Just lost that week's payment, but it was still frustrating. The key is calculating it before you take any work.

this whole system is designed to keep us poor. they give you barely enough to survive then punish you for trying to make a little extra money. its ridiculous

I understand the frustration but the system is actually designed to encourage people to return to full-time work. The partial benefits are meant to be a stepping stone, not permanent income.

easy for you to say when rent is $1800 and unemployment pays $350 a week

You have to be really careful about how you report the income too. I made the mistake of reporting my gross pay instead of net pay one week and it messed up my claim for like a month. Washington ESD wanted me to provide all kinds of documentation to fix their mistake.

Wait, so do you report gross or net? Now I'm even more confused.

You report gross earnings - what you made before taxes and deductions. The person above might have made a different error.

Maybe you're right, it was so confusing at the time I'm not even sure what went wrong exactly

I think the exact formula is your weekly benefit amount minus (earnings - 25% of weekly benefit amount) = your UI payment for that week. So if you normally get $400 and you earn $200, it would be $400 - ($200 - $100) = $300 that week.

That actually makes sense when you write it out like that. Thanks for the math breakdown!

Yeah that's the right formula. I had to use it a bunch when I was doing gig work while on unemployment.

Just took a part time job at Target and they explained it pretty well during orientation. Basically anything over your 25% threshold gets deducted from your unemployment dollar for dollar. So if you make too much you might end up with less total money than just staying on unemployment.

That's actually really helpful to know from someone who's doing it. How many hours are you working there?

About 15 hours a week which keeps me right at my threshold. Any more and it wouldn't be worth it financially.

Does anyone know if this applies to like uber driving or other gig work? Or is it just regular W2 employment?

All earned income counts - W2, 1099, cash jobs, everything. You're required to report it all when you file your weekly claim.

Good to know, thanks. I was thinking about doing some door dash on weekends.

I tried using that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier and it actually worked great. Got connected to a Washington ESD specialist who walked me through the exact calculations for my situation. Way better than trying to figure it out from the confusing website or sitting on hold for hours.

How much did it cost? I'm skeptical of paying for something that should be free.

It was worth it for me to get accurate information quickly instead of wasting time with the regular phone system. The specialist even helped me understand how to report my freelance income properly.

I wish they made this stuff clearer upfront. I've been afraid to take any work at all because I didn't want to mess up my benefits. Sounds like small amounts are actually ok.

Exactly! A lot of people avoid work entirely when they could be making some extra money within the limits. The key is just understanding the rules and reporting everything accurately.

same here, I turned down a few small jobs because I was scared of losing everything

One thing to remember is you still have to be actively looking for full time work and available for work. Taking part time jobs is fine but you can't use it as an excuse to stop your job search activities.

Good point. I'm still applying to full time positions, this would just be something to help with bills in the meantime.

That's perfect then. Just document your job search activities like normal and you should be fine.

The Washington ESD website has a calculator tool somewhere that's supposed to help with this but I could never get it to work properly. Anyone else have better luck with it?

I found it once but it was buried deep in the site and didn't seem to work right. Easier to just do the math yourself honestly.

Their whole website is a mess. Half the links don't work and the other half take you to the wrong pages.

My advice is start small with any part time work. Maybe pick up just a few hours first to see how it affects your benefits before committing to anything bigger. That way you can get comfortable with the reporting process.

That's smart advice. I think I'll try that approach. Better to test the waters first.

Definitely this. I jumped into 20 hours a week right away and the reporting was confusing at first. Would have been easier to start with just 5-10 hours.

Also remember that some jobs might affect your availability requirements. If you take something with a weird schedule it might impact your ability to accept full time offers.

Hadn't thought about that. The job I'm looking at is pretty flexible though so hopefully not an issue.

Flexible is good. Just something to keep in mind as you evaluate different opportunities.

Bottom line - you can make some money while on unemployment but not a lot before it starts affecting your benefits. Do the math first and report everything accurately when you file your weekly claims. Don't let fear of the system stop you from taking work that could help your situation.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful responses! I feel much more confident about taking this part time position now that I understand how it works.

Good luck with the new job! Hope it leads to something full time soon.