Washington ESD approval - when do unemployment payments actually start?
My Washington ESD claim just got approved yesterday after being in adjudication for almost 6 weeks. I'm relieved but now I'm wondering about the actual payment timeline. When should I expect to see money in my account? I've been filing my weekly claims throughout the adjudication process like they told me to. Does anyone know how long it typically takes from approval to first payment?
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Zainab Ismail
Congrats on getting approved! Usually takes 2-3 business days after approval for the first payment to hit your account. Since you were filing weekly claims during adjudication, you should get back pay for all those weeks at once with your first payment.
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Miguel Silva
•That's what I was hoping to hear! So all the weeks I filed during adjudication will be paid out together?
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Zainab Ismail
•Yes exactly. Washington ESD holds all those payments until the adjudication is resolved, then releases them all at once.
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Connor O'Neill
omg 6 weeks in adjudication?? thats insane. mine has been pending for 3 weeks and im losing my mind. how did you survive that long without any income?
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Miguel Silva
•It was really tough honestly. Had to borrow money from family and put everything on credit cards. The waiting is the worst part.
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QuantumQuester
•If you're having trouble getting through to check on your adjudication status, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you actually reach a Washington ESD agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Might be worth trying if you need answers about your pending claim.
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Connor O'Neill
•never heard of that but might be desperate enough to try anything at this point
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Yara Nassar
The payment schedule depends on when your claim was approved. Washington ESD processes payments twice a week - Tuesdays and Fridays. If you were approved on a Monday or Tuesday, you'd likely see payment by Friday. If approved later in the week, it might not process until the following Tuesday.
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Miguel Silva
•Mine was approved on Thursday so I guess I'll be waiting until next Tuesday. Thanks for the detailed timeline!
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Keisha Williams
•This is helpful info. Do they send any notification when the payment is processed or do you just have to keep checking your account?
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Yara Nassar
•You should get an email notification, but I'd recommend checking your account regularly anyway. Sometimes the notifications are delayed.
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Paolo Ricci
Make sure you check that all your weekly claims were filed correctly during the adjudication period. I had a friend who missed one week and had to go back and file it separately which delayed his back pay.
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Miguel Silva
•Good point, I'll double check that in my account. How do you file a missed weekly claim?
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Paolo Ricci
•You have to call Washington ESD to file a late weekly claim. They can backdate it but you need a good reason for why it was missed.
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Amina Toure
The system is so broken. 6 weeks for adjudication is ridiculous when people are struggling to pay rent and buy food. Glad you finally got approved though.
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Miguel Silva
•Yeah it's definitely frustrating. I understand they need to verify things but 6 weeks seems excessive.
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Oliver Zimmermann
•I've been waiting 8 weeks now with no end in sight. Starting to think I should just give up and find any job that will hire me.
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QuantumQuester
•Don't give up! Like I mentioned earlier, try using Claimyr to actually get through to someone at Washington ESD. Sometimes they just need one piece of documentation to close out the adjudication.
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CosmicCommander
Just wanted to add that if you chose direct deposit, payments usually show up faster than if you're getting the debit card. Direct deposit can be next business day while the card takes 2-3 days.
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Miguel Silva
•I did choose direct deposit so hopefully that speeds things up a bit.
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Natasha Volkova
•Wait, you can choose direct deposit? I've been getting the stupid debit card this whole time and the fees are annoying.
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CosmicCommander
•Yeah you can change it in your Washington ESD account settings. Much better than dealing with the card fees.
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Javier Torres
Congrats! I remember that feeling of relief when mine finally got approved. The back pay was substantial since I had been filing for weeks. Make sure to set some aside for taxes if you didn't elect to have them withheld.
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Miguel Silva
•Good reminder about taxes. I did elect to have federal taxes withheld but not state. Should I have done state too?
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Javier Torres
•Washington doesn't have state income tax so you don't need to worry about that. Just the federal withholding should be fine.
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Emma Davis
Been there done that with the long adjudication wait. The first payment felt like winning the lottery lol. You should get all your back weeks at once which will be a nice chunk of change.
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Miguel Silva
•Yeah I'm really looking forward to catching up on bills and hopefully getting ahead a little bit.
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Malik Johnson
•Just don't go crazy spending it all at once! Remember you still need to keep filing weekly claims and job searching.
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Isabella Ferreira
Make sure your job search activities are up to date in WorkSourceWA. Even though you're approved now, they can still audit your job search compliance at any time.
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Miguel Silva
•Good point. I've been keeping track of my job searches but haven't been great about logging them in WorkSourceWA regularly.
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Yara Nassar
•You need to log at least 3 job search activities per week in WorkSourceWA. It's a requirement to keep receiving benefits.
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Ravi Sharma
The waiting is definitely the hardest part. I was approved on a Wednesday and got paid the following Tuesday. The direct deposit showed up around 3am that morning.
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Miguel Silva
•That timing sounds about right based on what others have said. Thanks for sharing your experience!
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NebulaNomad
•3am? Lol I would have been up all night refreshing my bank account.
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Freya Thomsen
Once you start getting regular payments, they usually come the same day each week. Mine always comes on Wednesday mornings like clockwork.
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Miguel Silva
•That's good to know for budgeting purposes. Consistency helps a lot when you're trying to manage finances.
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Omar Fawaz
I had a similar situation where I was approved after a long wait. The relief was incredible but then I got paranoid about making sure I didn't mess anything up going forward. Keep filing those weekly claims on time!
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Miguel Silva
•Yeah I'm definitely going to be extra careful about everything now. Don't want to jeopardize the benefits.
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Chloe Martin
•Smart approach. The weekly claim deadline is Saturday night by midnight. Don't wait until the last minute in case there are website issues.
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Diego Rojas
For future reference, if you ever have issues reaching Washington ESD again, I had success with Claimyr. It's a service that helps you get through to an actual person instead of sitting on hold forever. Really saved me when I had a payment issue.
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Miguel Silva
•I'll keep that in mind. Hopefully I won't need to call them again anytime soon but good to know there are options.
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Anastasia Sokolov
•How much does something like that cost? Seems like it might be worth it if it actually works.
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Diego Rojas
•The value is definitely worth it when you're stuck in a situation where you can't get through. Check out their website at claimyr.com for more details.
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StarSeeker
Enjoy that first payment! It's such a relief after waiting so long. Just remember to keep up with all the requirements so you don't run into any issues down the road.
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Miguel Silva
•Thanks! I'm definitely going to be diligent about following all the rules. This whole experience has been stressful enough.
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