Weekly claims showing 'disqualified' despite ESD approval letter - desperate for help

This happened to me in January! Check your job search verification status. If you forgot to enter even ONE job search activity during any week, all subsequent weeks can show as disqualified. Or if any employer reported your separation reason differently than what you claimed, it can trigger a blanket disqualification. Call ESD immediately and ask for the specific disqualification reason - they HAVE to tell you by law.

Are you absolutely certain that the approval letter you received wasn't for a different claim period? I've seen this happen when someone had a previous UI claim that ended, then filed a new claim. ESD sometimes sends confusing letters that reference old claims. Also check if you accidentally answered 'no' to being able and available for work on any weekly certification. That's an automatic disqualification.

did u start a new job and not report the hours maybe?? or mayb u checked the wrong box on one question? thats what happened 2 me and all my payments got held up. the question about refusing work is tricky sometimes

Check if your previous employer is contesting your unemployment claim. This is VERY common. They have the right to dispute your eligibility, and if they've done this, ALL your weekly claims will show as disqualified until the dispute is resolved through adjudication. You won't always get notified about this until they make a determination. ESD has gotten better with their system, but they're still terrible at communicating these issues. Look in your eServices account for any letters about a "fact-finding interview" or "adjudication appointment" - these might be hidden in your messages or correspondence tab.

The EXACT same thing happened to my neighbor and it turned out she had checked the box saying she was receiving retirement or pension income when she meant to check NO. One wrong checkbox and the system automatically disqualifies you! Can be really hard to figure out which question you might have answered incorrectly.

I had the same situation earlier this year and it took me nearly 5 weeks to resolve. The issue was that I had a previous job within my base year that ESD didn't have proper wage information for, which triggered an automatic weekly disqualification despite my claim being initially approved. The only way I finally got it fixed was using Claimyr to get through to ESD on the phone. It's a service that connects you directly to an ESD agent without the endless hold times. I found them at claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 Once I got through to an actual person at ESD, they uncovered the specific issue and fixed all my disqualified weeks in about 10 minutes. Got my backpay a week later. With ongoing disqualifications for 6 weeks, you absolutely need to speak with someone.

THEY'RE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!!! This is how ESD saves money - they auto-disqualify people hoping you'll just give up and not appeal. I went through this EXACT same bull last year and had to file a formal appeal with the Office of Administrative Hearings before they finally fixed it. Call your state representative's office too - that lit a fire under ESD for me. The whole system is designed to discourage people from getting the benefits they're entitled to!!!!

One other possibility - check if you have two active claims in the system. Sometimes when you apply for a new benefit year while having weeks left on a previous claim, the system creates two separate claims. You might be filing weekly claims against the wrong claim ID number. Log into eServices and make sure you're filing against the correct claim. If you can't resolve this by phone, consider scheduling an in-person appointment at your local WorkSource office. They can often access your claim details and provide guidance, though they can't always make changes to your claim directly.

After 6 weeks of disqualifications, you should also check if you've been placed in Adjudication without being notified. Go to your eServices account, click on the "Upload a Document" option, and see if there's any indication of a pending adjudication issue. Sometimes the system will show adjudication requirements there that don't appear elsewhere in your account. Also, if you're really desperate (and it sounds like you are), try calling ESD right when they open at 8:00 AM, or try the afternoon lull around 3:30-4:00 PM when call volumes sometimes decrease.

mayb check if ur work search activities r being entered right? i know sum1 who got disqualified cuz they put networking events but didnt describe them enough or somethin

UPDATE: First, thank you all for the helpful suggestions! I finally got through to ESD this morning (I used the Claimyr service that someone suggested, and it actually worked). Turns out my former employer DID contest my claim saying I had "quit without good cause" when I was actually laid off. The ESD agent said this triggered automatic disqualifications but there was no notification in the system because of a "correspondence error" (whatever that means). The agent has scheduled me for a fact-finding interview next week where I can present my layoff documentation. She said if the adjudicator rules in my favor, all my disqualified weeks will be paid retroactively. Fingers crossed! Thank you all again for the help - I'd have been completely lost without your advice.