How to get paid for unemployment - Washington ESD payment delays?

First payments usually take 2-3 weeks after your initial claim is approved. You need to make sure you're filing your weekly claims every week even if you haven't been paid yet. Check your payment method in your account - did you set up direct deposit or are you waiting for a debit card?

Are you sure your claim was actually approved? Sometimes it shows 'processed' but there could be an adjudication issue holding up payments. Log into your account and check if there are any pending issues or if it says 'adjudication in progress' anywhere.

I had the same problem last month - took forever to get through to someone at Washington ESD to figure out what was going on. The phone lines are always busy and they hang up on you after being on hold for an hour. I ended up using this service called Claimyr that actually got me through to an agent in like 10 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ and their site is claimyr.com. Might be worth checking out if you can't get answers from your online account.

Did you complete your job search activities for the weeks you filed? In Washington you need to do 3 job search activities per week and log them in WorkSourceWA. If you didn't do this, it could be holding up your payments even if your claim was approved.

The whole system is a mess! I've been waiting 6 weeks for my first payment and nobody can tell me why. They keep saying 'processing' but what does that even mean?? I'm about to lose my apartment.

same boat here, filed 3 weeks ago and nothing. this is ridiculous

One thing to check - make sure your benefit year establishment shows the correct weekly benefit amount. Sometimes there are errors in the wage calculation that delay payments. You can find this in your account under 'Monetary Determination'.

I work at a temp agency and deal with this all the time. Most payment delays are due to: 1) Missing job search activities 2) Adjudication issues 3) Wrong payment method 4) Identity verification problems. Check all of these first before calling.

Just want to add that you should keep filing your weekly claims even if you haven't been paid yet. If you miss filing for a week, you could lose benefits for that week permanently.

Update on the Claimyr thing - I used them again yesterday to check on an overpayment notice and got through to an agent immediately. They were able to explain exactly what happened and how to appeal it. Definitely recommend if you're stuck and can't get through the normal phone lines.

Check if you have any old unemployment claims that might be interfering. Sometimes if you had a claim from a previous year that wasn't properly closed, it can cause issues with new claims.

Make sure you completed the ID verification process if they asked for it. I had to upload my driver's license and social security card before they would release any payments.

The waiting is the worst part. I remember being so anxious about my first payment. It did eventually come through but took about 3 weeks total. Hang in there!

Don't forget to report any work or income during the weeks you're claiming. Even if it's just a few hours of work, you need to report it or it could hold up your payments.

If you're really desperate, some food banks and community organizations can help with emergency assistance while you're waiting for unemployment payments. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Washington ESD is so backed up right now. I work for a nonprofit that helps people with benefits and we're seeing tons of payment delays. Most do get resolved within a month but it's really tough on people.

I had this exact same problem and it turned out my bank routing number was entered wrong. Check your direct deposit information very carefully - even one wrong digit will cause payments to fail.

Try calling first thing in the morning at 8 AM when they open. You might have better luck getting through then.

This thread has been really helpful. I'm in a similar situation and didn't realize there were so many potential causes for payment delays. Going to check all these things in my account.

Final update from me - if anyone is still having trouble getting through to Washington ESD, I can't recommend Claimyr enough. I've used them three times now and every time I get connected to an agent within minutes instead of hours. Check out their demo video to see how it works.