Washington ESD weekly unemployment benefit calculation - how is weekly unemployment benefit calculated

Washington ESD uses your highest quarter earnings from your base year to calculate benefits. They take your highest earning quarter, divide by 26, then multiply by 0.0385 to get your weekly benefit amount. Your base year is the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed. So if you filed in January 2025, they'd look at quarters from July 2023 through September 2024.

That helps explain it! So they're not looking at my recent part-time work necessarily, but whatever quarter I earned the most in during that base year period?

Exactly right. If your full-time job had higher quarterly earnings than your part-time work, that's what they'd use for the calculation.

The maximum weekly benefit for 2025 is $999 and minimum is $301. Your $387 sounds about right if your highest quarter was around $26,000. You can also check your monetary determination on your SecureAccess Washington account to see exactly which quarters they used.

I'll log into SAW and check that. Thanks for the min/max amounts - good to know I'm somewhere in the middle range.

Just make sure you're looking at the right determination letter. Sometimes they send corrections if employers submit wage info late.

ugh i've been trying to figure this out for weeks too. called washington esd like 50 times and can never get through. it's so frustrating when you just need someone to explain how they calculated your benefits

I had the same problem until I found Claimyr. It's a service that helps you get through to Washington ESD agents without waiting on hold forever. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

never heard of that before. does it actually work or is it just another scam?

It's legit. I used it last month to get through about my adjudication issue and talked to an actual Washington ESD rep within a few hours instead of calling for days.

Also remember that if you work part-time while collecting benefits, they'll deduct 75% of your earnings from your weekly benefit. So if you make $200 in a week, they'd subtract $150 from your $387 benefit.

Good point. I'm not working right now but that's useful to know for when I start looking.

wait is it 75%? i thought it was different than that

In Washington it's 75% of gross earnings that get deducted. Some other states do it differently but that's how Washington ESD calculates it.

The whole system is so confusing. I got my determination and it shows different quarters than I expected. Apparently one of my employers didn't report wages correctly so Washington ESD had to use alternate quarters.

That's actually pretty common. If there's missing wage info, they can use alternate base periods to make sure you get the benefits you're entitled to.

At least it worked out in my favor - my alternate quarters were higher so I got a better weekly amount.

Make sure you understand the difference between your weekly benefit amount and what you actually receive. The $387 is your maximum but if you have any deductions or if you work part-time, you'll get less.

What kind of deductions? I thought unemployment wasn't taxed in Washington.

Washington doesn't have state income tax on unemployment but federal taxes still apply if you elect to have them withheld. You can choose 10% federal withholding when you file your weekly claims.

Been on unemployment twice and still don't fully understand how they calculate it lol. Both times my benefit amount was different even though I thought I made similar wages.

That's because they look at different base year periods depending on when you file. The timing of when you file your claim determines which quarters they examine.

ohhhh that makes sense. so if i filed in different months they'd look at totally different quarters of earnings

If you think there's an error in your calculation, you can request a redetermination from Washington ESD. I had to do this when they missed wages from a small employer and it increased my weekly benefit by $180.

How long did that process take? And did you need documentation from your employer?

Took about 3 weeks and yes I had to provide pay stubs showing the missing wages. Washington ESD then contacted the employer to verify.

This happened to me too! Small companies sometimes don't report quarterly wages on time. Always worth double checking your wage history.

Here's a tip - you can estimate your benefit before filing by looking at your Social Security statement online. It shows your quarterly earnings by employer so you can figure out which quarter was highest.

Smart idea! I never thought to check my SS records. That would help me verify Washington ESD used the right quarters.

Good suggestion. You can also request wage transcripts from Social Security if you need official documentation for appeals or redeterminations.

The calculation gets more complicated if you have military service or federal employment in your base period. Washington ESD has to request wage info from different sources and it can delay your claim.

This is why my claim took 6 weeks to process. Had Army Reserve pay mixed in with civilian wages and it was a nightmare to sort out.

Yeah federal wages don't show up in the normal systems so they have to manually request that information. Adds weeks to the process.

I've noticed Washington ESD sometimes makes calculation errors, especially with bonuses or commission pay. They might include or exclude things incorrectly so it's worth reviewing your determination carefully.

I did get some commission payments during my high quarter. Should those be included in the calculation?

Yes, all wages including commissions and bonuses should be included as long as unemployment taxes were paid on them.

Had this exact issue. My sales commissions weren't included initially and I had to appeal to get them added. Increased my weekly benefit by almost $150.

For anyone still struggling to reach Washington ESD about benefit calculations, I had success using Claimyr to get through to an agent. They helped me understand exactly how my benefit was calculated and why certain wages were excluded.

How much does that service cost? Seems like something Washington ESD should explain for free.

You're right they should explain it for free, but getting through to talk to someone is nearly impossible without help. Claimyr made it possible to actually speak with a human being about my specific situation.

Don't forget that your total benefit amount (not just weekly) is also calculated using your base period wages. In Washington you can collect up to 26 times your weekly benefit amount OR 30% of your total base period wages, whichever is less.

So even if I qualify for 26 weeks at $387, I might not get the full amount if my base period wages weren't high enough?

Exactly. If 30% of your total base period wages is less than $10,062 (26 x $387), then that lower amount becomes your maximum total benefit.

This is important! I learned this the hard way when my benefits stopped after 20 weeks instead of the full 26 because I hit the 30% limit.

Another thing that can affect your calculation is if you have wages from multiple states. Washington ESD can combine wages from other states if it gives you a higher benefit, but you have to request it specifically.

How do you request that? I worked in Oregon for part of my base period and wonder if those wages would help.

You need to contact Washington ESD and ask about interstate wage combining. They'll need documentation of your out-of-state wages.

Just want to add that if you disagree with Washington ESD's calculation, you have appeal rights. The appeal must be filed within 30 days of your determination date. I successfully appealed when they used the wrong base period.

Good to know there are options if something seems wrong. I think mine is calculated correctly but it's reassuring to know I can appeal if needed.

The appeal process can be intimidating but it's worth it if there's a real error. I got an extra $200 per week after my successful appeal.

Has anyone dealt with self-employment income in their benefit calculation? I had some 1099 work mixed with W2 wages and I'm not sure how Washington ESD handled it.

1099 income usually doesn't count toward your benefit calculation unless you paid unemployment taxes on it, which most self-employed people don't.

That's what I figured. So they probably only used my W2 wages for the calculation.

For what it's worth, I found that calling Washington ESD super early in the morning (like 7:30 AM) gave me the best chance of getting through to ask about my benefit calculation. Still took forever but eventually got a human.

I tried that and still couldn't get through. That's when I used Claimyr and it was so much easier. Worth checking out if you're having trouble reaching them.

Yeah I've heard good things about that service. Might try it if I have issues with my next claim.