How to calculate weekly benefit amount for unemployment in Washington ESD?

Washington ESD uses your highest quarter earnings from your base year to calculate benefits. They take that quarter and divide by 26 to get your weekly benefit amount. Your base year is the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you file.

Just to clarify the previous answer - you need to look at your base year quarters specifically. Washington ESD will send you a monetary determination showing exactly which quarters they used and your weekly benefit amount once you file your initial claim.

I had trouble reaching Washington ESD when I had questions about my benefit calculation. Kept getting busy signals and when I did get through, got hung up on. Finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual agent who explained everything. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

there's also a minimum weekly benefit amount in washington. i think its around $295 or something like that. so even if your calculation comes out lower you'd still get the minimum

Don't forget you can also qualify for the additional $25 per week if you have dependents. That's not automatic though - you have to specifically request it when you file your claim.

The Washington ESD website has a benefit calculator tool somewhere but I could never get it to work properly. Always gave me error messages or weird numbers that didn't make sense.

I'm confused about the base year thing. If I file in January 2025, what quarters do they look at exactly?

What if you worked multiple jobs during your base year? Do they add up all the wages from different employers?

Been trying to call Washington ESD for three days straight to ask about my benefit amount calculation. The phone system is absolutely terrible! Anyone else having this problem?

Does anyone know if overtime pay counts toward the benefit calculation? I worked a lot of OT last year.

I got laid off from my job making $45k annually and my weekly benefit came out to $481. That was based on my highest quarter being around $12,500. The calculation seemed right to me.

One thing to remember is that your benefit amount stays the same for your entire benefit year, even if you get a new job and then become unemployed again within that year.

The whole system is so confusing. I wish Washington ESD would just tell you upfront what you'll get instead of making you wait for the determination.

For what it's worth, I used Claimyr last month when I couldn't get through to Washington ESD about my benefit calculation questions. The agent I spoke with was really helpful and explained everything clearly. Worth the money if you're stuck.

Just want to add that if you have wage credits from another state, that can complicate the calculation. Washington ESD can combine wages from other states in some cases.

Thanks everyone for all the info! This thread has been super helpful. I feel like I have a much better understanding now of how the benefit calculation works.