Washington ESD unemployment benefits - is FUTA tax affecting my claim amount?

Oh okay, so it's like they were paying into a fund for me? That makes sense I guess.

Exactly! FUTA is 6% on the first $7,000 of wages per employee per year, but employers can get credits that reduce it to 0.6% in most cases.

What's a base period exactly? I keep seeing that term but I'm not sure what quarters they're looking at.

base period is usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed. so if you filed in january 2025, they'd look at july 2023 through june 2024

I actually found this service called Claimyr that helps you get through to Washington ESD agents. You can check it out at claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Saved me so much frustration when I needed to talk to someone about my adjudication issue.

Wait, so if I made $60,000 last year, how much would my weekly benefit be?

It depends on how that was distributed across quarters. If it was evenly spread, your highest quarter would be $15,000, so roughly $577 per week. But the 2025 maximum is $999 per week in Washington.

That's way higher than what I'm getting. Maybe I should double-check my benefit calculation with Washington ESD.

Is that why some people got extra weeks during the pandemic?

Partially, but those were special pandemic programs. Regular extended benefits kick in when a state's unemployment rate hits certain triggers.

Log into your SecureAccess Washington account and look at your monetary determination letter. It should show the wages they used to calculate your benefits.

i looked but the numbers don't make sense to me. some quarters show $0 even though i was working

That's definitely worth calling about. Missing wages is a common issue that can be fixed if you have your pay stubs or tax documents.

How much does something like that cost? I'm already struggling financially.

It's worth checking out their site to see if it makes sense for your situation. Way less stressful than spending all day trying to get through.

might be worth it if it actually works. i've wasted so many hours already

Does that affect benefit amounts in different states?

Not directly, but states with financial problems might have stricter eligibility requirements or lower maximum benefits.

So there's both federal and state unemployment taxes that employers pay?

Correct! FUTA is federal, SUTA is state-specific. In Washington, the SUTA rate depends on the employer's experience rating - how many former employees have claimed benefits.

That explains why some companies seem to fight unemployment claims so hard!

Same here! The phone system is definitely the worst part of the whole process.

That's exactly why I ended up using Claimyr - couldn't deal with the phone runaround anymore. Made everything so much easier.

No, independent contractors typically don't have FUTA paid on their behalf and aren't eligible for regular UI benefits. However, you might qualify for other programs depending on your situation.

That's what I thought. The whole system seems designed around traditional employment.

Some states have started programs for gig workers, but it's still pretty limited compared to regular UI.

This has been really helpful everyone. I think I understand now that my $487 weekly amount is based on my actual earnings, not the FUTA tax rate.

Exactly! And if you think the calculation is wrong, definitely worth getting it reviewed by Washington ESD.

I didn't know that! I've been using WorkSource for job searches but never connected it to the unemployment tax system.

Yeah, it's all connected. The workforce development system is funded through various employment-related taxes including FUTA.