What does disqualification week mean on Washington ESD unemployment claim?

A disqualification week usually means something in your weekly claim didn't meet the eligibility requirements for that specific week. It could be that you worked too many hours, didn't do your required job search activities, or there was an issue with your availability that week. Check your claim details to see if there's a specific reason listed.

If you worked 15 hours that week, did you earn more than your weekly benefit amount? That could trigger a disqualification. Also, were you available for full-time work that week? Even if you worked part-time, you still need to be available for additional work.

I had this exact problem a few weeks ago and couldn't get through to Washington ESD no matter how many times I called. Finally used a service called Claimyr that actually got me connected to a real person. They have this system that calls for you and waits on hold. Check out claimyr.com - they even have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. The agent was able to look at my account and fix the disqualification issue right away.

UGH the Washington ESD system is so frustrating!! I've had random disqualification weeks too and they NEVER explain why. It's like they just randomly pick weeks to not pay you. I swear they do it on purpose to save money.

Check if you had any holidays that week or if you marked yourself as unavailable for any days. Sometimes people forget they marked unavailable for a doctor's appointment or something and that can cause a disqualification.

When I had a disqualification week, I had to file an appeal to get it overturned. But first you need to find out the exact reason. Did you get any correspondence in your eServices account about it?

Another possibility - did you complete all your WorkSourceWA job search activities for that week? If you didn't log the required number of job search activities, that would definitely cause a disqualification.

This happened to my neighbor too. Turned out she had earned vacation pay that week that she forgot to report. Even though she didn't work, the vacation pay counted as earnings and disqualified her for that week.

I've been dealing with Washington ESD for months and honestly the only way to get real answers is to talk to an agent. The online system just doesn't give you enough detail about why things happen. That Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier actually sounds pretty helpful for getting through.

Could be a computer glitch too. I had a week show as disqualified for no reason and when I finally got through to someone they said it was a system error and fixed it immediately.

Make sure you didn't accidentally answer any of the weekly questions wrong. Like if you said you weren't able to work or weren't looking for work when you meant to say yes. I've done that before and it caused problems.

Did you report your gross earnings or net earnings? You're supposed to report gross (before taxes) but some people report net by mistake.

sometimes its just a processing delay and it will fix itself in a few days. i had one show disqualified then it changed to paid later

I would try calling early in the morning right when they open at 8am. That's usually the best time to get through. Or try the callback option if it's available.

Honestly at this point I'd just use that Claimyr service. I looked it up after seeing it mentioned here and it seems like exactly what you need. They specialize in getting people connected to Washington ESD agents when the regular phone system isn't working.

Whatever you do, don't just ignore it. A disqualification week can sometimes lead to bigger problems if there's an underlying issue with your claim. Better to get it sorted out now.

Keep records of everything - your work hours, job search activities, and when you tried to contact them. You might need all that information if you have to file an appeal.

Update us when you figure out what happened! I'm curious what the actual reason was for the disqualification.

I had a similar issue a couple months ago where I got a random disqualification week that made no sense. After reading through all these responses, it sounds like you've covered most of the common causes. Since you're sure about your earnings, job searches, and availability, this really does sound like either a system glitch or something related to that dental appointment you mentioned. The fact that you marked yourself as available but had an appointment might have confused their system somehow. I'd definitely recommend trying that Claimyr service that Danielle mentioned - I ended up having to wait 4+ hours on hold when I finally got through the regular way, and it sounds like they can save you that hassle. Keep us posted on what you find out!