How to reach an actual ESD agent when payment is approved but stuck pending

Your claim is probably stuck in adjudication, which is when they're investigating some aspect of your eligibility. Did you look under the 'Pending Issues' tab in your eServices account? That might tell you what's holding things up. The system is notorious for flagging random things that need manual review by ESD staff. As for reaching someone, try calling right when they open at 8am sharp. I had better luck getting through during the first hour of the day. The other trick is to select the option for filing a new claim even if you don't need to - those agents can usually transfer you to claims specialists once you get through.

Same thing happened too me!! My determination letter said $742/week but it's been 7 weeks with nothing but 'pending' on every weekly claim. I tried calling like crazy to but always get hangup or wait forever. Its like they dont want to pay us even when they approve us.

Have you checked your payment method in eServices? Sometimes they default to debit card even if you selected direct deposit. Also sometimes banks reject the deposits if the account info is even slightly off. Worth double-checking all that to make sure the money isn't getting sent somewhere you're not looking.

I got STUCK in the same situation last month!!! They owed me $4,980 for 6 weeks of claims that just sat in pending. I tried calling 65+ times over 3 weeks with no luck. THE SYSTEM IS DELIBERATELY DESIGNED TO FRUSTRATE US!!! They hope you'll give up so they don't have to pay what they owe you. I finally got through by calling my state representative's office and having them contact ESD on my behalf. They have special channels to reach them. Within 48 hours after that, someone from ESD called me and fixed the issue - turns out my identity verification had flagged for no reason even though I uploaded all required documents.

I've had success using Claimyr to get through to ESD. It's a service that basically calls ESD for you and then connects you once they get through to an agent. I was skeptical at first but it worked really well - got connected in about 30 minutes instead of battling busy signals all day. Their site is claimyr.com and they have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 The agent I finally got was able to see that my claim had a phantom adjudication flag that wasn't visible on my account. She removed it and my payments started processing the next day.

It's not free, but I considered it worth it after wasting weeks trying to get through myself. The service just helps bypass the phone queue - once you're connected, you're talking directly to the same ESD agents. For me, getting my $800+ weekly payments unstuck was worth the cost. Everyone's situation is different though.

Former ESD employee here. When claims get stuck like this with no visible issues, it's usually one of three things: 1. Identity verification queue - sometimes the system flags accounts for additional identity verification even when documents look correct 2. Employer response issue - your former employer might have contested something or not responded, which puts the claim in a special queue 3. Able and available review - sometimes random claims get selected to verify you're truly available for work None of these will show up under 'Pending Issues' because they're internal review processes. Unfortunately, the only way to resolve is getting through to a claims specialist who can see these internal flags and clear them if appropriate. The WorkSource offices can't directly help with claim issues, but some offices have direct ESD claim specialists onsite certain days of the week. Call your local WorkSource and ask if they have any ESD staff onsite and when. That might be your best bet for in-person help.

Any luck getting through?? I'm still stuck in the same boat and getting desperate!