Reporting night shift hours to ESD - Saturday night extending into Sunday morning
I'm working the night shift at a warehouse and I'm confused about how to report my hours correctly on my weekly claim. If my Saturday shift starts at 10pm and ends at 6:30am Sunday morning, should I report those Sunday morning hours (from midnight to 6:30am) on next week's claim? Or do all those hours count for Saturday even though they technically happened on Sunday? I don't want to mess up my claim and get accused of misreporting hours. Anyone dealt with this before? The ESD instructions aren't clear about overnight shifts.
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Ava Martinez
For ESD reporting purposes, you should report all hours from a continuous shift on the day the shift began. So if your shift starts Saturday at 10pm and ends Sunday at 6:30am, all those hours (including the Sunday morning portion) should be reported as Saturday hours on that week's claim. This is standard practice for night shift workers filing unemployment claims in Washington state.
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StarSeeker
•Thank you! That makes sense. So even though I'm physically working past midnight into Sunday, I'll put ALL those hours under Saturday on my weekly claim form. I appreciate the quick answer!
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Miguel Ortiz
i had this exact problem last year!!! the esd lady told me wrong & i got hit with an overpayment bc i split the hours between sat/sun...definitely report it all on saturday like the other person said
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Zainab Omar
•This happened to me too and I ended up having to call ESD like 50+ times to explain and fix it. What a nightmare their system is for night shift workers! The forms should explain this better.
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Connor Murphy
ESD's official policy (which you can find in their claimant handbook) states that hours worked in a continuous shift should be reported on the day the shift began. It's a common confusion point for night shift workers. Also important: make sure your employer is reporting your hours the same way. If they report differently than you do, it can trigger an automated fraud flag in the system, which could put your claim into adjudication. Double-check with your payroll department if you're unsure.
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Yara Sayegh
•but what if ur employer counts it as Sunday hours for their payroll??? wont that cause problems when ESD compares the reports?
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NebulaNova
when I worked night shift at the hospital I just split the hours...6 on Saturday 6 on Sunday. Never had a problem with my claims! Maybe different industries have different standards?
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Ava Martinez
•That's actually incorrect according to ESD guidelines. You may have gotten lucky that it wasn't caught during your claim period, but the official policy is to report all hours from a continuous shift on the day the shift began. Following the correct reporting method prevents potential issues with your claim later on.
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StarSeeker
Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm going to report all my hours on Saturday since that's when my shift starts. I'll also check with my supervisor to see how the company reports our overnight hours to make sure everything matches up. Really appreciate all the help!
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Miguel Ortiz
•smart move! better safe than sorry with esd lol. they take FOREVER to fix mistakes!!
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Zainab Omar
THE ENTIRE ESD SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO CONFUSE PEOPLE! This is exactly how they trip people up and then charge them with "fraud" when it was their confusing system all along. I spent THREE MONTHS fighting an overpayment because of this exact issue. Make sure you document EVERYTHING and save screenshots of your weekly claim submissions. The system is rigged against workers, especially those with non-traditional schedules.
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Keisha Williams
•While I understand your frustration, I don't think it's intentionally designed to confuse people. The unemployment system has to handle a wide variety of work situations, and overnight shifts are just one special case. But you're absolutely right about documenting everything - that's excellent advice for any unemployment claimant.
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