Washington ESD - are part time employees eligible for unemployment benefits?

Yes, part-time employees can definitely qualify for unemployment benefits in Washington! The key thing is that Washington ESD looks at your earnings history over the past year, not whether you were full-time or part-time. Since your hours got cut significantly, you might qualify for partial unemployment benefits. You'll need to report your reduced earnings when you file your weekly claims.

I was in almost the exact same situation last year! My restaurant job cut me from 35 hours to 12 hours per week. I was able to get partial unemployment through Washington ESD. The tricky part is you have to keep reporting your part-time wages every week when you file your weekly claim, and they'll reduce your benefit amount based on what you earn.

I had trouble getting through to Washington ESD when I needed to ask questions about my partial unemployment claim. If you run into issues reaching them by phone, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get connected to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting busy signals.

wait so if im working part time i can still get unemployment? i thought you had to be completely unemployed to qualify

The part-time eligibility thing confuses a lot of people. What matters for Washington ESD is your wage history in the base year, not your employment status when you file. As long as you earned enough in covered employment, you can qualify. The benefit amount is based on your highest earning quarter during that base year period.

I'm dealing with something similar but my employer is being weird about it. They're saying since I'm still employed they don't have to provide any separation paperwork. Is that going to be a problem when I file with Washington ESD?

Make sure you understand the job search requirements too. Even on partial unemployment you still need to be actively looking for work and meet the weekly job search requirements that Washington ESD has. I think it's 3 job search activities per week but double check that.

This is really good info. I didn't know part-timers could get unemployment either. My sister's been struggling with reduced hours at her job and I'm going to tell her to look into this.

One thing to keep in mind is that when you file your weekly claims, Washington ESD will deduct a portion of your part-time earnings from your benefit amount. I think they let you earn up to a certain amount before they start reducing benefits, but don't quote me on the exact numbers.

The Washington ESD system can be confusing but partial unemployment is definitely a thing. I'd recommend filing online through their secure portal rather than trying to call if possible. The phone lines are always swamped.

I used Claimyr too when I couldn't get through to Washington ESD about my partial claim questions. Really worked well - I was connected to an agent in like 15 minutes instead of spending all day redialing. Worth checking out if you need to talk to someone directly.

Just want to add that you should file as soon as possible after your hours get reduced. There's usually a one-week waiting period, and benefits are only paid from the date you file forward, not retroactively to when your situation changed.

washington state is actually pretty good about partial unemployment compared to some other states ive lived in. the key is just being honest about your earnings when you file your weekly claims and keeping good records

I think there might be some confusion in this thread about the earnings limits. Let me clarify - for partial unemployment in Washington, you can earn up to 25% of your weekly benefit amount without any reduction. For example, if your weekly benefit is $400, you could earn up to $100 without penalty. Anything above that 25% threshold gets deducted from your benefit amount.

Does anyone know if there are any restrictions on what kind of part-time work qualifies? Like does it have to be W-2 employment or can contract work count too?

This whole thread is super helpful! I'm in retail too and they've been cutting everyone's hours. Didn't realize I might have options through Washington ESD. Going to look into filing this week.

Quick tip - when you file your initial claim, make sure you're clear about why your hours were reduced. Washington ESD will want to know if it was due to lack of work, seasonal slowdown, etc. This helps them process your claim correctly.

I know someone mentioned Claimyr earlier but I wanted to add that when I used it, it really did help me get through to Washington ESD quickly. I was having issues with my partial claim getting stuck and needed to talk to someone. Much better than the endless busy signals I was getting before.

The main thing is don't let reduced hours discourage you from applying. Washington ESD specifically has partial unemployment benefits for situations exactly like yours. Even if you only get a small weekly benefit amount, every bit helps when your income gets cut.