Washington ESD unemployment benefits - calculated on gross wages or net?

Washington ESD uses your gross wages for calculating benefits, not your take-home pay. They look at your highest quarter earnings from your base period and use that gross amount for the calculation.

Yeah it's definitely gross wages. I was making $5,800 gross but only taking home like $4,200 after everything. My weekly benefit ended up being calculated off the full gross amount which was nice.

Just went through this myself. Had trouble getting through to Washington ESD to verify my benefit amount calculation. Tried calling for weeks with no luck. Finally used Claimyr to get connected to an actual agent who walked me through exactly how they calculated my benefits using my gross wages. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

The formula Washington ESD uses is pretty straightforward once you understand it. They take your highest quarter of gross wages from your base period, divide by 26, then multiply by your state's replacement ratio. For Washington that's typically around 50% but can vary based on your earnings level.

wait so if i made 60k gross last year but only brought home like 45k after taxes, they use the 60k number??

This is really helpful everyone. I was worried they'd use my net pay and my benefits would be super low. Good to know it's based on gross!

Does anyone know if bonuses count toward gross wages for Washington ESD calculations? I got a year-end bonus that would bump up my highest quarter significantly.

Been on unemployment twice in the past few years and both times Washington ESD used my gross wages. The calculation is always based on what your employer reported to them, not your take-home pay after deductions.

This whole system is confusing. Why can't Washington ESD just make this information clearer on their website?

Pro tip: You can see your quarterly wage information in your Washington ESD account under the wage and benefit history section. That'll show you exactly what gross wages they have on file for your calculation.

Had a similar question when I filed last year. Ended up using Claimyr to get through to Washington ESD because I couldn't reach anyone by phone. The agent confirmed they use gross wages and explained the whole calculation process. Worth it if you need to speak with someone directly.

Washington ESD definitely uses gross wages. I work in HR and deal with unemployment claims regularly. The wage information we submit to the state is always gross pay before any deductions.

Just to confirm what everyone else is saying - it's gross wages all the way. Filed my claim last month and my benefit amount was calculated using my full gross pay, not what I took home after health insurance and 401k deductions.

For anyone still confused about this, the Washington ESD handbook specifically states that benefit calculations are based on gross wages earned during your base period. It's on page 12 of their claimant handbook if you want to read it directly from the source.

This thread has been super helpful! I was stressing about my benefit amount but knowing it's based on gross wages makes me feel much better about what to expect.

One more thing to keep in mind - if you had multiple jobs, Washington ESD will use the combined gross wages from all employers during your base period for the calculation. So if you were working part-time at two places, both incomes count toward your benefit amount.

Just want to add that if you think there's an error in your wage information or benefit calculation, you can appeal it. I had to do this once when Washington ESD was missing wages from one of my previous employers. Used Claimyr to get through to them and got it sorted out pretty quickly.

Thanks everyone for all the info! This has cleared up a lot of confusion I had about how Washington ESD calculates benefits. Definitely feel more prepared for when my claim gets processed.

This thread has been incredibly informative! I just wanted to add that for anyone who's still waiting for their claim to be processed, you can actually estimate your weekly benefit amount ahead of time using the gross wage information from your pay stubs. Washington typically replaces about 50% of your average weekly wage (calculated from your highest quarter), but there's a maximum weekly benefit amount that gets updated each year. Having a rough estimate helped me budget while I was waiting for my official determination letter.