What quarter does Washington ESD unemployment use for calculating benefits?

Oh that makes more sense! So they don't use the most recent quarter at all?

Right, there's usually a lag quarter to allow time for employers to report wages to Washington ESD.

Yes that's completely normal. The base period doesn't include the most recent quarter because employers need time to report wages to Washington ESD's system.

ok good i was worried they messed up my claim or something

How much does that cost? Seems like something we shouldn't have to pay for just to talk to Washington ESD.

I get why you'd think that, but honestly the time I saved was worth it. Was able to get clarity on my wage quarters and resolve a potential issue with my claim.

I might try this if I can't get through myself. The phone system is impossible.

What happens if you barely worked in those quarters but worked a lot more recently?

That's where the alternate base period can help. It uses the last four completed quarters instead of the first four of the last five.

It's because of reporting delays. Employers have to submit wage data to Washington ESD and that takes time to process.

Still seems like they could figure out a better system by now

Check which quarters they used for your base period. If recent high-earning quarters weren't included, you might want to ask about the alternate base period option.

How do I ask about that? Every time I call Washington ESD I get disconnected.

That's exactly why I ended up using Claimyr. The Washington ESD phone system is brutal but I needed to get my base period questions sorted out before it affected my benefits.

That's a good point. I did seasonal work so my wages were all over the place.

Exactly, you want to make sure they're capturing your highest earning periods within the allowable base period.

The base period info is buried in their handbook. Basically they take your highest quarter earnings and use a formula to calculate your weekly benefit amount.

You usually have to request it if the standard base period doesn't qualify you for benefits. Washington ESD doesn't automatically check both.

Good to know, thanks! I might need to call them about this.

Really? I've been skeptical about those kinds of services but the Washington ESD phone situation is getting ridiculous.

I was skeptical too but she showed me how it worked. Pretty straightforward and she got her quarter calculation fixed.

Exactly! It's not intuitive at all. Wish they explained it better upfront.

How does that work exactly? Do they automatically check other states?

No, you have to tell them about out-of-state wages and they'll request the information from other states' unemployment agencies.

I agree it's complex, but the quarter system is designed to use stable, verified wage data rather than estimates.

That's actually really smart advice. Never thought about timing it that way.

How much of a difference did it make? My current calculation seems really low.

Almost doubled my weekly benefit amount because it captured quarters when I was working full time instead of part time.

Wow that's a huge difference! Definitely worth checking into.

Thank you! That breakdown helps a lot. So if I filed in February, they'd use Q2, Q3, Q4 of last year and Q1 of the year before?

Exactly right! You've got it now.

That's exactly why services like Claimyr exist. The phone system is broken but people still need answers about their benefits.

Glad we could help clarify the base period quarters for you!