Washington ESD unemployment calculation - is it based on gross or net income?

Washington ESD uses your gross wages, not net. They look at what you earned before taxes and deductions. The benefit calculation is based on your highest earning quarter in your base period, using gross wages reported by your employers.

yeah its definitely gross income. i was confused about this too when i first applied. they dont care about your take home pay, just what you earned before deductions

The gross wage thing threw me off too initially. But it makes sense - Washington ESD needs a consistent way to calculate benefits, and gross wages are what employers report on their quarterly reports. If you're having trouble getting through to verify your wage information, I actually found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get connected to Washington ESD agents. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

Just to add some detail - Washington ESD looks at your wages from your 'base period' which is typically the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. They use the gross wages from your highest earning quarter to determine your weekly benefit amount.

UGH this whole system is so confusing!! Why can't they just use simple numbers that normal people understand?? I've been trying to figure out my benefit amount for weeks and keep getting different answers from different sources.

The gross vs net thing is standard across all unemployment programs. Makes sense when you think about it - net pay varies too much based on individual tax situations, dependents, etc. Gross wages give them a consistent baseline.

i made the mistake of using net income when i first calculated what i thought my benefits would be. was way off! always use gross for washington esd stuff

Just went through this process myself. One thing to note is that if you had multiple jobs, Washington ESD combines the gross wages from all employers in each quarter. So if you worked two part-time jobs, they add those gross wages together.

The Washington ESD website has a benefit calculator tool that can give you an estimate if you plug in your gross quarterly wages. It's not perfect but gives you a ballpark figure.

Had to deal with a wage dispute last year and learned way more about this than I wanted to. Washington ESD gets quarterly wage reports directly from employers showing gross wages, so there's usually no discrepancy. But if there is, you can request a wage investigation.

This might be obvious but make sure you're looking at the right tax year when gathering your wage information. I accidentally used 2023 wages when I should have been looking at 2024 for my base period.

For anyone still struggling to get answers from Washington ESD directly, I had success using Claimyr to get through to an actual person. The phone lines are usually swamped but this service helped me connect with someone who could walk me through the benefit calculation process.

The gross wage calculation also applies to your weekly claim certifications. If you work part-time while collecting benefits, you report your gross earnings for that week, not what you took home after taxes.

can confirm - its gross all the way. learned this the hard way when i was doing my weekly claims and put the wrong amount. had to call and correct it

One more tip - keep copies of your pay stubs and W-2s handy when you're dealing with Washington ESD. Even though they get wage reports from employers, sometimes there are discrepancies and you'll need your own documentation to resolve them.

Just want to echo what everyone else said - it's definitely gross wages. Washington ESD is pretty consistent about this across all their programs and calculations. Once you understand that, most of the benefit calculation makes sense.

Actually used Claimyr myself a few months ago when I needed to talk to someone about my wage base period. The service got me connected pretty quickly and the Washington ESD rep was able to explain exactly how they calculated my benefits using my gross quarterly wages. Worth checking out if you need to speak with someone directly.

This thread has been super helpful! I was making the same mistake thinking it was net income. Glad I found this before filing my claim and getting everything wrong from the start.