Weekly claims stuck in 'Disqualified' status for 4 weeks with ongoing adjudication - no way to contact ESD

The same exact thing happened to me back in November. Every weekly claim instantly disqualified with no explanation. Adjudication dragged on for almost 6 weeks. What finally worked for me was contacting my state representative's office - they have dedicated ESD liaisons who can actually get answers when regular citizens can't. Google '[your county] state representative' and most have unemployment assistance forms right on their websites. Don't wait any longer hoping ESD will magically fix it.

Thank you for this suggestion! I hadn't even thought about contacting my representative. Did they give you any explanation for why your claims were being automatically disqualified? I'm so confused about what triggered this in the first place.

I work for a staffing agency that helps people navigate unemployment issues, and I can confirm this is solid advice. State reps are incredibly effective at cutting through ESD red tape. One other thing to check - log into your SAW account (not just eServices) and make sure there are no action items or messages there. Sometimes ESD sends important notices through SAW that don't appear in the eServices portal at all. The adjudication is often because they're investigating some aspect of your eligibility but haven't fully communicated what the issue is.

I just checked my SAW account and there's nothing there either! No messages, no action items. It's like being in unemployment limbo. How can they investigate something without telling me what they're investigating?

the adjudication is because theres prolly something wrong with ur claim. they dont tell u cuz they want to catch liars. had same issue last yr. took 8 WEEKS to resolve!!!! weekly claims kept showing disqualified the whole time. then one day money just showed up in my acct for all of them at once. no explanation

This is exactly what I was going to say! Sometimes they're checking with previous employers or investigating something but don't want to tip you off. The system is honestly designed to be confusing. The good news is that if they ultimately approve you, you'll get backpay for all those weeks.

8 WEEKS?? I can't wait that long! Did you do anything special to get it resolved or did it just randomly fix itself? And did you have to keep filing claims every week even though they were showing as disqualified?

I've been through this exact nightmare and I KNOW how frustrating it is. The ESD phone system is basically designed to prevent you from reaching anyone. After trying for WEEKS to get through on the 800 number, I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got connected to an actual ESD agent within 25 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3\n\nThe agent explained that my claims were being auto-disqualified because of a job separation issue they were investigating, but no one had bothered to tell me! They escalated my case and I started getting benefits about 10 days later. Seriously worth checking out if you're desperate.

Does this actually work? Seems sketchy to me... How do they get you through when the regular number doesn't work?

Yes, it actually works! They basically use a system that continuously redials and navigates the phone tree for you. When they get through, they call you and connect you to the ESD agent. I was skeptical too but was desperate after not being able to pay rent.

I'm going to look into this right now. At this point I'd try almost anything to get this resolved. Did they tell you how long the adjudication would take once they escalated your case?

Hey there - I'm currently going through adjudication too (since January 3rd!) and it's the most stressful experience. Have you checked if you have any fact-finding questions in your account? Sometimes they hide those in the

Thanks for the tip about keeping filing! I've been doing that even though it's disheartening to see

Zero progress that I can see. My adjudication is about whether I quit or was laid off (I was DEFINITELY laid off but my employer is being difficult). The only update I got was when I finally reached someone through the phone who said

Exactly! If they'd just tell me what the problem is, at least I could try to fix it or provide documentation. The silence is maddening.

just gonna say what everyone else is afraid to say... ESD DOESN'T CARE ABOUT US!!! the system is DESIGNED to be frustrating so people give up. I've been through 3 different unemployment claims over the past 5 years and EVERY SINGLE TIME there's some mysterious

I'm starting to feel the same way. It's like they're hoping we'll just give up and stop trying to collect the benefits we've earned and are entitled to. The whole system seems designed to be as frustrating as possible.

While I understand the frustration, I don't think it's entirely fair to say it's all by design. The ESD system is definitely outdated and understaffed, but remember they had to process more claims during the pandemic than they normally would in a decade. That exposed all the weaknesses in their systems. Not excusing it, but I think it's more incompetence than malice.

The pandemic was 5 YEARS AGO!!! They've had PLENTY of time to fix things. And yet somehow things are WORSE now than they were then. How do you explain that? It's not just incompetence at this point.

I want to clarify something important: When WorkSource helped you and the \

Thank you for this detailed explanation! It helps to know the \

Anyone else notice how the unemployment system always seems to have these \

YES!!! I've been saying this for years!!! It's not a coincidence!!

That's actually just how systems work - they run fine with normal capacity and break down under higher loads. Same reason websites crash during major sales or why highways jam during rush hour but not at 2am. Not everything is a conspiracy.

Maybe, but they've had plenty of time to fix these issues after what happened in 2020. Seems convenient that the same problems keep happening.

I had this exact situation in December! Called ESD 37 times in one day (I counted) and never got through. Finally I emailed my state senator and cc'd the ESD commissioner's office (their email is on the website somewhere). Got a call back from a special unit at ESD within 48 hours. Turns out they needed additional info from my previous employer but never sent me any notification. Whole thing was resolved in about a week after that. Government only moves when you make noise!

Thank you for this tip! I'm going to try emailing my state senator today. Did you have a specific person you addressed it to, or did you just use their general contact form?

I used the contact form on my senator's website but put \

Perfect - thank you! Just submitted a message with all my info. Fingers crossed this helps move things along.