Washington ESD unemployment weekly or monthly filing - confused about schedule

It's weekly claims in Washington state. You have to file every week to certify that you're still unemployed and looking for work. The weekly claim period runs Sunday through Saturday.

weekly for sure, i've been on unemployment twice and its always weekly claims through the washington esd website

Weekly claims are required every Sunday through Saturday. You report your job search activities, any work performed, and any income earned during that week. The system opens for filing usually Sunday morning and you have until the following Saturday to submit your weekly claim.

If you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to clarify this or other questions, I recently discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) which helped me reach an actual ESD agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting busy signals.

WEEKLY!! This is so important - I can't stress this enough. I know someone who thought it was monthly and didn't file for 3 weeks. Lost all that money and couldn't get it back. Washington ESD is very strict about this.

Just to be completely clear - you file weekly claims but you get paid bi-weekly. So you'll file two weekly claims before receiving your first payment. This confuses a lot of people.

also make sure you're doing your job search requirements each week. i think its 3 job contacts per week minimum but double check that

I've been filing weekly for 8 months now. Set a reminder on your phone for Sunday mornings. The system can be slow sometimes so don't wait until Saturday night to file.

One more thing - if you work any hours during a week, even just a few hours, you MUST report it on your weekly claim. Washington ESD will find out eventually and you could get hit with an overpayment notice.

The weekly claims usually ask the same questions each time: Did you look for work? Did you work any hours? Are you able and available for work? Pretty straightforward once you get used to it.

Sometimes the ESD website is down for maintenance on Sunday mornings. Don't panic if you can't file right away - you have the whole week to submit your claim.

If you run into issues with your weekly claims getting stuck or need to talk to someone at ESD, that Claimyr service I mentioned earlier really does work. I used it twice when my claims were showing as 'under review' and needed clarification.

Been on unemployment three different times over the years and it's always been weekly claims. Never changes. Set up your routine and stick to it.

just want to add that if you're on standby status (like seasonal layoff) the filing schedule is still weekly. same system different circumstances

Make sure your contact info is updated in your ESD account too. They sometimes send important notices about your weekly claims via mail or text.

The weekly thing threw me off at first too because some other states do it differently. But Washington is definitely weekly. You'll get the hang of it quickly.

One last tip - keep your confirmation numbers from each weekly claim filing. Sometimes there are system glitches and having that confirmation number helps resolve issues faster.

Thanks everyone for all the detailed responses! This really helped clear up my confusion. Weekly filing it is - I'll set up my Sunday routine starting this week.

This thread should be pinned! So many people get confused about the weekly vs monthly thing when they first start filing.

Just want to mention one more time for anyone reading this later - if you need to reach Washington ESD and can't get through by phone, check out Claimyr. Really helped me when I was stuck in the system. The demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ explains it better than I can.