Washington ESD waiting week timing - when does it kick in?

The waiting week is your first compensable week after you're approved for benefits. So if you're still in adjudication, you haven't hit your waiting week yet. Once Washington ESD approves your claim, the first week you would normally receive payment becomes your unpaid waiting week.

Just went through this myself. My claim was approved on a Wednesday and my waiting week was that same week ending Saturday. You still have to file your weekly claim for the waiting week but you won't get paid for it.

If you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to check on your adjudication status, I had success using Claimyr to get connected to an agent. They handle the calling and wait times for you - saved me hours of frustration. There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

The waiting week is such BS honestly. Like we're not already struggling enough without losing a week of benefits right off the bat.

Important clarification: if you have a break in your claim (like you go back to work then get laid off again), you might not have to serve another waiting week if it's within the same benefit year. Washington ESD has specific rules about this.

Don't forget you still need to do your job search activities during the waiting week! A lot of people think they can skip it but Washington ESD requires job search for all weeks you claim.

Two weeks in adjudication isn't that bad honestly. I was stuck for 6 weeks before they approved mine. The waiting week felt like nothing compared to that delay.

Pro tip: use the waiting week to get all your job search stuff organized. Set up your WorkSource account, update your resume, stuff like that. Makes the following weeks easier.

Question about the waiting week - if you work part time during that week, does it still count as your waiting week or does it get pushed to the next week?

I'm still confused about timing. If I get approved on a Thursday, is my waiting week that current week or the following week?

Does anyone know if the waiting week applies to standby claims too? I'm on temporary layoff and expect to be called back.

The waiting week is one of those things that seems simple but gets confusing when you're actually dealing with it. Especially when you're stressed about money.

For anyone still waiting to hear back from Washington ESD, I had good luck with Claimyr getting through to an agent. They called for me and I was able to get my adjudication resolved much faster than waiting for a callback.

Just remember that even though the waiting week is unpaid, it still counts toward your benefit year. So you're not losing a week of eligibility, just the payment for that one week.

I had to serve my waiting week during the holidays which was extra rough financially. But at least I knew what to expect for the following weeks.

One more thing to keep in mind - make sure you understand the difference between your waiting week and any disqualification periods. They're completely different things and serve different purposes.

The waiting week used to be eliminated during COVID but they brought it back. Just another reminder of how the system keeps changing.

Bottom line for OP: once your adjudication is complete and you're approved, your first eligible week will be unpaid due to the waiting week. After that, you should receive payments for subsequent weeks as long as you meet all requirements.

For future reference, if anyone else is dealing with adjudication delays, I found Claimyr really useful for getting status updates. Much easier than trying to call Washington ESD directly during business hours.

Hope this all works out for you OP. The waiting week is just a minor bump in the road once you get your claim sorted out.

Just to add another perspective - I went through this exact situation last year. The adjudication process can feel endless when you're waiting, but once it's resolved, the waiting week timing becomes much clearer. In my case, I was approved on a Tuesday and my waiting week was the Sunday-Saturday period that included that Tuesday. Even though I only had a few days left in that week when approved, the whole week counted as my waiting week. The key thing to remember is that you'll still need to file your weekly claim for that waiting week - you just won't receive payment for it. Make sure you report any job search activities and wages accurately during that week too, because it all still counts toward your ongoing eligibility. Hang in there - the process is stressful but it does get sorted out!