Laid off union worker with existing ESD claim - proper steps for smooth weekly claim?
My husband is a union worker who just got laid off again this week. Last time he was laid off was January, but he kept filing weekly claims since then (reporting his hours and wages) to keep his claim active. So we already have an open and active ESD claim. Last week we marked on his claim that he was laid off and listed his last day of work. This upcoming week will be his first with zero work/wages. He's on the out-of-work list with his union (it's a full referral union). When we file his weekly claim tomorrow, do we need to do anything special or just file normally? Just report zero hours/wages, mark that he was available and able to work, and answer all the standard questions? I'm mostly worried because I don't want any payment delays. Since he's not in adjudication for anything and was receiving benefits normally during his previous layoff, should we expect his payment to process smoothly? I'm paranoid about messing something up and having his benefits delayed when we really need them right now.
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MidnightRider
If he already has an active claim and has been continuously filing weekly claims (even when reporting work and wages), then you're doing everything right. Just file his weekly claim exactly as you normally would, but with zero hours/wages. Make sure to answer yes to being available for work each day and that he was actively seeking work (or that he's on standby/in a full referral union which exempts from job search requirements). Since there was no break in filing and his claim remained active, you shouldn't have any issues with getting paid. The system should automatically start paying benefits again based on the zero earnings reported.
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Carmen Ortiz
•Thank you for confirming! That's exactly what I thought, but I keep second-guessing myself. His union does count as the full referral exemption from job searches, so we'll make sure to note that.
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Andre Laurent
my husband is also union (IBEW) and we do the same thing. just file normal and put 0 hours. its actually smart that u kept filing even when he was working because now you dont have to restart anything!
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Carmen Ortiz
•That's a relief to hear! Yes, we learned that tip from his union rep last year - keeping the claim active even during working periods makes the transition back to unemployment so much smoother.
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Zoe Papadopoulos
Just watch out for the "waiting week" - if he's been claiming but working full time for more than 4 consecutive weeks, ESD might consider this a new unemployment period and require a waiting week (first week unpaid). I went through something similar with my spouse's claim and got caught by surprise with the waiting week rule!
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Jamal Washington
•This is incorrect information. The waiting week only applies when you initially open a claim, not when you've been continuously filing and maintaining an active claim. As long as OP's husband has been filing every week without interruption (even while reporting work and earnings), the waiting week doesn't apply again within the same benefit year.
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Mei Wong
DO NOT FORGET to make sure his union status is properly marked!!! I'm also in a union (different industry) and they randomly started requiring me to do job searches even though I wasn't supposed to. Had to call ESD like 20 times to get it fixed and my payments were held up for WEEKS. Make sure his standby/union referral status is showing correctly in the system!!!
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Carmen Ortiz
•Oh yikes, that sounds stressful! How do I double-check his union status? Is that something visible in his online account, or would we only know if there's a problem when they suddenly start requiring job searches?
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Mei Wong
•You should be able to see it when you log in to his eServices account. Look under the "Job search requirements" or "Work search status" section. It should say something like "Union referral" or "Full referral union." If it doesn't show that, you need to call ESD ASAP!
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Liam Fitzgerald
This happened to us too and honestly ESD should make this clearer on their site lol. But yes, just file like normal with 0 hours and as long as he's been continuously filing (no skipped weeks) all should be fine!
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PixelWarrior
has your husband checked with his union rep just to make sure there isnt anything specific he needs to do for them? sometimes they have their own paperwork
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Carmen Ortiz
•Good point! He touched base with his rep yesterday when he got laid off. The union hall handles all the reporting on their end, but I'll remind him to double-check if there's any additional documentation they need.
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MidnightRider
One more thing to be aware of - when filing the weekly claim, make sure to answer the question about "did you refuse any work" correctly. Since he's in a union with referrals, if he did refuse any non-union jobs, it could affect his claim. Just mark "no" if he didn't refuse any union-referred work.
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Mei Wong
I tried calling ESD for DAYS about a similar issue last month and could never get through. The wait times are insane. I finally used a service called Claimyr that got me connected to an ESD agent in about 20 minutes. Totally worth it when you need to actually talk to someone. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 and their website is claimyr.com if you end up needing to call about the union status thing.
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Andre Laurent
•omg i used them too!! calling ESD is literally impossible otherwise
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Carmen Ortiz
•Thanks for the tip! Hoping we won't need to call, but it's good to know there's an option if we get stuck. Those wait times are brutal.
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Jamal Washington
To directly answer your questions: 1. Yes, file normally: report zero hours/wages, available for work, and answer all questions as usual. 2. You don't need to do anything special since the claim has remained active throughout. 3. Since he maintained an active claim by continuously filing, there will be no waiting week. 4. Verify his union referral status is correctly showing in the system to avoid job search requirements. 5. Payment should process normally as long as there are no new issues with the claim. The key is that by continuously filing even during periods of work, you've maintained the claim's active status, which makes the transition back to receiving benefits seamless.
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Carmen Ortiz
•Thank you for this clear breakdown! Very helpful to have everything summarized like this. We'll file tomorrow and hopefully everything goes smoothly.
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