What is a quarter unemployment - Washington ESD benefit calculation confusion

A quarter in unemployment terms refers to a 3-month period of the calendar year. Q1 is Jan-Mar, Q2 is Apr-Jun, Q3 is Jul-Sep, and Q4 is Oct-Dec. Washington ESD uses your earnings from specific quarters in your 'base year' to determine both your eligibility and your weekly benefit amount.

The quarter system is how Washington ESD determines your base year earnings. You need earnings in at least two quarters of your base year to qualify, and your highest quarter earnings help calculate your weekly benefit amount. It's basically their way of looking at your work history systematically.

I had this same confusion when I first filed. Spent hours on hold trying to get through to Washington ESD to ask about my quarters. Finally found this service called Claimyr at claimyr.com that helped me get through to an actual agent who explained my base year calculation. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

here's what trips people up - washington esd doesn't use the quarter you filed in, they use completed quarters. so if you file mid-quarter they go back to the previous completed quarter to start counting. this is why some people think their recent work 'doesn't count' but it will count when they exhaust benefits and refile

This quarter thing is making me panic. What if I don't have enough earnings in two quarters? Does that mean I can't get unemployment at all?? I had some part-time work and some months where I wasn't working much.

OMG yes! This confused me so much too. I thought 'quarter' meant like 25% of something. Took me forever to realize they meant calendar quarters lol

The quarter system is actually pretty logical once you understand it. It gives them a standardized way to look at your recent work history. Most people qualify using the standard base year, but there's also an alternate base year if you don't have enough earnings in the regular one.

For anyone still confused about which quarters count - you can see this information in your Washington ESD account under 'Monetary Determination.' It shows exactly which quarters they used and your earnings for each quarter. This helps you understand how they calculated your weekly benefit amount.

If you see zeros in quarters where you know you worked, it could mean those employers haven't reported your wages to Washington ESD yet, or there might be a name/SSN mismatch. You can dispute this by providing pay stubs and tax documents.

I used Claimyr too after spending 3 days trying to reach someone about my quarter calculations. The agent explained that seasonal workers often have issues with quarters because their earnings are concentrated in certain periods. Really helped me understand why my benefit amount was what it was.

Just want to add that your quarter earnings also affect things like whether you qualify for extended benefits during high unemployment periods. Higher base year earnings can mean more total benefit weeks available.

been dealing with this system for years (unfortunately) and quarters are just their way of organizing everything. dont overthink it. if you worked and paid taxes in the last 15 months or so, you probably qualify for something

The Washington ESD quarter system is actually similar to most states. Once you understand the basic concept - that they're looking at 3-month periods of your earnings history - the rest makes more sense. Your highest quarter typically determines your weekly benefit calculation.

One thing that's not obvious - if you have multiple jobs in the same quarter, ALL of those earnings count toward that quarter. So even if you job-hopped, as long as wages were reported to Washington ESD, they all help your calculation.

Still think this whole system is unnecessarily complicated. Why can't they just look at your last 12 months of work instead of this quarter business? Makes everything harder to understand when you're already stressed about losing your job.

For what it's worth, once you understand quarters, a lot of other unemployment concepts make more sense too. Like requalifying for a new claim after you exhaust benefits - that's all about having enough new quarter earnings.

Just wanted to follow up - for anyone who still needs to talk to Washington ESD about their quarter calculations or base year, I really recommend checking out Claimyr. Made such a difference being able to actually speak with someone who could pull up my account and explain exactly how my benefits were calculated.

Thanks for asking this question OP! I was wondering the same thing but was too embarrassed to ask. The responses here cleared up a lot of confusion I had about my own claim.

This whole quarter system was so confusing to me when I first filed too! What really helped me understand it was thinking of it like this: imagine your work year is divided into four 3-month "buckets" - that's what quarters are. Washington ESD looks at these buckets from your recent work history to see how much you earned in each period. They need to see that you worked consistently (earnings in at least 2 buckets) and they use your best earning period to help calculate your weekly benefit. It's their way of making sure you have a solid work history before qualifying for benefits. Once I understood it was just a systematic way to review my earnings over time, the whole process made way more sense!