How much unemployment do I get from Washington ESD - need help calculating my weekly benefit amount

Thanks! So if I made $13,000 in my highest quarter that would be $500 per week? That seems high compared to what I was expecting.

Yes, that's the basic calculation. But remember you also have to meet the minimum earnings requirement in your base year to qualify at all.

Yeah you're right about needing earnings outside the high quarter. I had to call Washington ESD to get my exact calculation because their online system doesn't show the breakdown clearly.

How long did it take you to get through when you called? I've been trying for days and can't reach anyone.

I actually used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that calls Washington ESD for you and gets you connected to an actual agent. Saved me hours of trying to get through myself. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

Wait, so if my high quarter was $12,000 but my total base year was only $16,000, I wouldn't get the full amount?

Correct. In your case you'd need at least $18,000 total base year wages (1.5 x $12,000) to get the full weekly benefit of about $462.

I feel you on the stress. Have you tried requesting a redetermination if you think your benefit amount is wrong? You can do that through your SecureAccess Washington account.

how do you even do that? every time i log into SAW it just shows my claim status but no option to dispute the amount

Oh wow, I didn't realize unemployment was taxable. That changes my budget calculations significantly. Thanks for the heads up!

That's such a weird way to calculate it. Why not just use the most recent 12 months of work?

It has to do with how employers report wages quarterly to Washington ESD. The system needs complete quarter data to process claims, so they use the most recent complete quarters available.

What's an alternate base year? This is getting more complicated than I thought.

If you don't qualify using the standard base year, they'll automatically check if you qualify using the last 4 completed quarters instead. Sometimes that works better if you had a job change or raise recently.

Actually Washington eliminated the waiting week a few years ago. You get paid starting from your first week of unemployment now.

oh really? that's news to me, thanks for the correction

Commission counts as wages for UI purposes, but it gets tricky if you had big commission quarters vs. low ones. Washington ESD might need to do a more detailed calculation for your claim.

That makes sense. I had one quarter with huge commission that might throw off the calculation. Sounds like I need to call and get clarification.

Is that service legit? Seems almost too good to be true that they can actually get you through to Washington ESD agents.

Yeah it's real. They basically handle all the calling and waiting for you, then connect you when an agent picks up. Saved me probably 4-5 hours of being on hold.

I haven't gotten that letter yet but I'll keep checking my messages. How long after filing did you receive yours?

I think it was about a week after I submitted my initial claim. If it's been longer than that you might want to follow up.

Good point. I think it's 3 job search activities per week minimum, and you have to log them in WorkSourceWA.

I'm already tracking my job applications but didn't know about WorkSourceWA. Is that a separate system from the regular Washington ESD site?

Yes, WorkSourceWA is the job search portal. You'll need to create an account there and log your job search activities weekly. Washington ESD can audit your job search log at any time.

All my work was in Washington so hopefully that won't be an issue. Thanks for all the helpful info everyone!

I used to think that way too but honestly most Washington ESD agents are pretty helpful once you actually reach them. The problem is just getting through their phone system.

True, the agents themselves aren't the problem. It's the system that makes it nearly impossible to reach them that drives people crazy.