How to know if my Washington ESD unemployment was approved - confused about status

I see something called 'benefit year established' but no letter about money amounts yet. Should I be worried?

That's normal - the monetary determination can take up to 2 weeks. As long as you can keep filing your weekly claims you should be okay.

How long did it take for you to know for sure? I'm losing my mind here

like 3 weeks total but I kept filing weekly claims the whole time and eventually got paid retroactively

Thanks, I'll look into that. I've been trying to call for days but keep getting disconnected.

Never heard of that service but honestly anything is better than spending all day trying to get through their phone system

Yeah it saved me a ton of time when I needed to check on my adjudication status. Way better than the usual phone nightmare.

I don't see any adjudication flags but my weekly benefit amount just shows dashes, not even $0

Dashes usually means they haven't processed your monetary determination yet. Should clear up in the next week or two.

This is exactly what I needed to know, thank you! Been staring at those dashes wondering what they meant

Wait what? They can approve you and then ask for money back?

That's usually an overpayment issue from reporting work hours incorrectly. Different from initial approval status.

oh ok that makes more sense, I was freaking out thinking they could just change their mind randomly

This breakdown is super helpful, I think I'm at step 2 then. Should I keep filing weekly claims even if I don't know my benefit amount yet?

Yes absolutely! Always file your weekly claims or you could lose benefits for those weeks even if you get approved later.

Wish someone had told me this earlier, I missed filing one week thinking I should wait for approval

Good call, I'll do that today. Do you set it up through the same SecureAccess Washington site?

yeah its under payment preferences or something like that in your account settings

How long did your whole process take from application to first payment?

About 3 weeks total, but I filed my weekly claims the whole time so when it got approved I got paid for all the back weeks

That's reassuring, thanks. I'll keep being patient and filing my weeklies

agreed, the whole system feels like it was designed to confuse people

I think they do it on purpose to discourage people from applying honestly

More likely just outdated systems and understaffing, but the effect is the same - lots of confusion for claimants

Good point, I'll check that right now. I've only been looking at the main dashboard

Yeah the correspondence section is easy to miss but that's where they put most of the important stuff

Do they actually connect you to Washington ESD staff or is it their own people?

Real Washington ESD agents, they just have a way to get you through the phone queue faster. The agent I talked to was definitely official ESD staff.

I might try this if I don't hear something definitive by next week. Thanks for the tip!

I know you're right, it's just hard not to worry when bills are piling up

totally understand, been there myself. just keep filing those weekly claims and it should work out

That makes me feel better. No error messages, just the pending status after I submit each week

Yeah that's normal. Pending just means they're processing that specific week's claim, not that your overall claim is in doubt

wish they made this clearer, the terminology is so confusing

Based on this checklist I think I'm actually approved then, just waiting for the official letter. Thanks!

Sounds like it! The hardest part is just being patient while their system catches up with the paperwork

Smart thinking, I'll do that tonight. Better safe than sorry with these government systems

Great advice, I do this every time I file my weekly claim now

This is exactly what I needed to hear. I've been overthinking this whole thing

Yeah it's natural to worry but the system actually works pretty logically once you understand the flow

I wish someone had explained this to me when I first applied, would have saved me weeks of stress

Good reminder, I've been doing job searches but haven't updated the system in a few days

Yeah they're pretty strict about that now, better to stay current to avoid any delays

Thank you everyone for all the help and reassurance. I feel much better about my situation now and know what to look for

Glad we could help! Come back if you have any other questions as the process continues

Good to know it's legit, I was a little skeptical at first but might give it a try if I need to call

Yeah I was skeptical too but when you really need to talk to someone it's worth it. Beats sitting on hold all day