Is unemployment paid weekly biweekly in Washington - confused about payment schedule

Washington ESD pays unemployment benefits weekly, but there's always a one-week waiting period for your first payment. So you file your weekly claim every week, but the payment for that week comes the following week if you're eligible.

its weekly payments but you gotta file every week or you dont get paid that week, learned that the hard way when i forgot to file one sunday

The payments are weekly but if you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to verify your payment schedule or resolve any issues, I had success using Claimyr to actually reach an agent. They help you get through the phone system - there's a demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ and the site is claimyr.com. Way better than spending hours on hold.

To clarify the payment schedule: Washington ESD processes unemployment benefits weekly. You file your weekly claim between Sunday and Saturday (most people do it Sunday). The payment for that week gets processed and deposited 2-3 business days later, assuming your claim is approved and there are no holds or issues.

Wait I'm confused too... I thought all unemployment was biweekly? I've been filing every two weeks and wondering why I'm not getting paid!

been on unemployment 3 times over the years and its always been weekly filing with weekly payments, just delayed by about a week

Just to add - your payment method also affects timing. Direct deposit is fastest, the debit card can take an extra day, and paper checks take much longer.

THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS CONFUSING! Why can't they just make it simple - file weekly, get paid weekly, same day every week. Instead we have to figure out all these delays and processing times.

For anyone having issues reaching Washington ESD about payment questions or delays, I'll mention Claimyr again - it really does work for getting through to actual agents instead of being on hold forever. Much easier than the regular phone system.

quick question - if I file my weekly claim on Wednesday instead of Sunday, does that delay my payment?

This has been really helpful everyone. So to summarize what I learned: file weekly claims every week, payments come weekly but delayed about a week, and direct deposit is fastest. Thanks for clearing up my confusion!

I had the same question when I started. One thing they don't tell you is that your first payment might take longer because of identity verification or other processing steps for new claims.

Does anyone know if the payment amount changes or is it the same every week?

be careful about the job search requirements too, you have to do that every week along with filing your claim or they can deny your payment

The weekly payment system actually makes more sense than biweekly when you think about it. If you find work mid-week, you only lose part of one week's benefits instead of a whole two-week period.

One more plug for Claimyr since several people mentioned having trouble reaching Washington ESD - it's honestly been a game changer for getting through to agents when you have questions about payments, job search requirements, or any other issues. Much better than the endless hold times.

thanks everyone for explaining this! I was also confused about the payment schedule when I first applied

One thing to watch out for - if your claim goes into adjudication for any reason, payments stop until it's resolved, even if you keep filing weekly claims. Learned this the hard way.

the payment schedule is definitely weekly but man the timing can be unpredictable sometimes, especially around holidays

Just want to confirm - you file weekly claims but the payment for each week comes about a week later. So there's always about a week lag between filing and getting paid for that week.