What is sub pay for unemployment in Washington ESD?

Sub pay usually refers to substitute pay or supplemental unemployment benefits. In Washington, this could mean severance pay from your employer that might affect your unemployment timing, or it could refer to additional state benefits that supplement your regular UI. What's your specific situation - did you receive severance or are you asking about additional benefit programs?

I think you might be confusing terms here. Washington ESD doesn't really use 'sub pay' as official terminology. You might be thinking of SUB plans (Supplemental Unemployment Benefits) which are employer-provided benefits that some union workers get on top of regular unemployment. Or you could be thinking about standby benefits if you're temporarily laid off but expecting to return to work.

Had the same confusion when I first started my claim. Turns out there's no 'sub pay' in the Washington ESD system. If you're having trouble reaching someone at Washington ESD to clarify your benefits, I used a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a website at claimyr.com and there's even a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Made it so much easier to get answers about my claim details.

Are you maybe thinking of partial unemployment benefits? That's when you're working part-time but still eligible for some unemployment compensation. A lot of people call it different things.

honestly ive never heard washington esd use the term sub pay either. might be something specific to other states? or maybe someone at worksource was using slang?

To clarify the official Washington ESD benefit types: Regular UI (unemployment insurance), Partial UI (working part-time), Standby (temporary layoff), and SharedWork (reduced hours program). There's no program called 'sub pay' but you might qualify for additional benefits if your situation fits one of these other categories.

I work at a credit union and we see this confusion a lot. People sometimes call direct deposit unemployment payments 'sub pay' because it shows up differently on their bank statements than regular paychecks. Could that be what you're referring to?

Just want to add that if you're having issues understanding any part of your Washington ESD claim, calling them directly is usually the best approach. I know the phone lines are crazy busy, but that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier actually worked for me too when I needed to talk to someone about my adjudication status.

The Washington ESD customer service is THE WORST. I've been trying to get through for three weeks about my claim being stuck in adjudication and can never reach anyone.

OP - just to summarize what everyone's saying: there's no official 'sub pay' program in Washington unemployment. You're probably thinking of one of the legitimate programs like partial benefits, standby status, or just misheard someone talking about supplemental benefits (which would be employer-provided, not from Washington ESD).

I had a similar question when I first filed. Turns out I was overthinking it - my regular UI benefits were processing fine and I didn't need any additional programs. Sometimes we assume there's more to the system than there actually is.

For what it's worth, if you ever need to verify details about your specific claim or benefit amount, the Washington ESD website has most of the info in your online account. But yeah, sometimes you need to talk to an actual person to get clarity.

This thread is super helpful! I was also confused about some unemployment terminology. Glad to know I'm not the only one who gets mixed up by all the different terms people use.