Shared Work benefit amounts dropping when I work fewer hours - ESD payment calculation confusion

The way Shared Work calculates is weird. Did you have any paid time off or holiday pay included in your report? Those count as hours worked even though you weren't physically at work. I had the same thing happen last month when I took a sick day but got paid for it.

Shared Work benefits are calculated based on your percentage of normal hours reduced, not just total hours worked. So it goes by your usual full-time schedule, which is probably 40 hours, not your reduced 20-hour schedule. If you normally work 20 hours (50% reduction from full-time) you get a specific percentage of your weekly benefit amount. If you worked 17 hours plus used 3 PTO hours, ESD still sees that as 20 hours for calculation purposes, so your reduction percentage didn't change in their system. Check your monetary determination letter for your full weekly benefit amount and the percentage you usually receive.

The calculation for Shared Work is definitely confusing. Your benefit is based on the percentage reduction from your full-time hours. The formula is: (normal hours - hours worked)/normal hours = percentage reduction. Then they multiply that percentage by your weekly benefit amount. For example, if your full-time is 32 hours and you work 20, that's a 37.5% reduction, so you get 37.5% of your weekly benefit amount. If your full weekly benefit amount is $411, you'd get about $154. If you worked 17 hours but had 3 PTO hours, ESD counts those as hours worked (20 total), so your percentage reduction stays the same at 37.5%. But if you actually worked 17 hours with NO PTO, your reduction would be (32-17)/32 = 46.9%, which should give you a higher benefit payment, not lower. In that case, there might be an error in your reporting or ESD's calculation.

my compny does shared work 2 and sometimes the numbers make NO sense!! one week i got $240 then next week $115 for same exact hours?! i think they just make up the numbers tbh

Have you tried to contact ESD about this? I had a similar issue last year and it turned out my employer reported my hours incorrectly for two weeks straight. Getting through to ESD was impossible until I found Claimyr (claimyr.com). They connected me to an ESD agent in about 25 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. It saved me so much frustration and the agent was able to fix my payment amounts after I explained the situation.

I'm on Shared Work too and had this EXACT problem!!! Turns out my boss was reporting that I worked different hours than I actually did. When I worked less, he still reported my "usual" reduced schedule because he thought that's what he was supposed to do. The whole system is so confusing for employers too I guess. Check with your HR or whoever submits the Shared Work claims.

Another thing to consider: did your benefit year recently restart? If you started a new benefit year, your weekly benefit amount might have been recalculated based on a different base year period, which could explain the difference in payment amount. This happens to many claimants and isn't always clearly communicated by ESD.

Update: I spoke with HR and you all were right! They've been reporting my standard 20 hours every week regardless of what I actually work. They thought that's how the Shared Work program is supposed to function - that I get the same supplement amount even if my hours fluctuate a bit. They're going to correct my hours for last week and resubmit to ESD. Thank you all for helping me figure this out!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar Shared Work confusion right now. My employer has been pretty inconsistent with reporting too - sometimes they report overtime hours separately, sometimes they lump everything together. It's frustrating because the benefit amounts swing wildly and there's no transparency in how ESD actually calculates things. The fact that PTO counts as "hours worked" for benefit calculation purposes seems really counterintuitive to me. If you're using PTO, you're still not getting your full income! Has anyone found official ESD documentation that explains all these nuances clearly?