Why did my unemployment benefits decrease after Washington ESD review?

This happened to me too! Check your online account under 'Payment History' - there might be a notice there about wage verification or a base year recalculation. Sometimes Washington ESD gets updated wage information from employers that changes your weekly benefit amount.

Several things can cause your Washington ESD benefits to decrease: 1) Updated employer wage reports during your base year period, 2) Part-time earnings exceeding certain thresholds, 3) Corrections to previous overpayments, or 4) Changes in your availability status. The fact that you're working 15 hours at $18/hour means you're earning $270 weekly, which should reduce your benefits but not cause such a dramatic drop unless something else changed.

I had the exact same issue last year and spent weeks trying to get through to Washington ESD. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual agent who could explain what happened. Turns out one of my previous employers submitted a late wage report that changed my base year calculation. The agent was able to walk me through exactly why my benefits decreased and helped me understand the new amount. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

This is so typical of Washington ESD! They make changes to your benefits without any explanation and then you can't even reach anyone to ask why. I've been dealing with adjudication issues for months and still can't get answers. The whole system is broken.

Check if you received any correspondence through your SecureAccess Washington account. Sometimes Washington ESD sends notifications there instead of mailing them. Look for anything about wage protests, employer appeals, or benefit recalculations.

Did you maybe file late on any of your weekly claims? I know if you file more than a week late it can mess with your benefit calculation. Also make sure you didn't accidentally report higher earnings on any recent claims.

This exact thing happened to my neighbor. Turned out one of his previous employers disputed his wage report and Washington ESD had to recalculate his benefits based on lower reported earnings. He didn't find out until he finally got through to someone after using that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier.

I had my benefits reduced because I was receiving partial UI while working part-time, and Washington ESD determined I was earning too much to qualify for the higher benefit level. But in your case with only 15 hours at $18/hour, that shouldn't trigger such a big reduction unless there's something else going on.

Check your benefit year end date. If you're getting close to the end of your benefit year, Washington ESD might be transitioning you to a new claim with different wage calculations. This happened to me and my weekly amount changed significantly.

same thing happened to me but with bigger drop, went from 790 to 450!! still trying to figure it out, washington esd phone system is horrible

Another possibility - did you receive any severance pay or vacation payout when you became unemployed? If Washington ESD just processed that information, it could affect your ongoing benefits even months later.

You might want to request your wage and benefit computation records from Washington ESD to see exactly how they calculated your new benefit amount. There's a form you can submit online to get this information.

I work for an unemployment advocacy group and see this frequently. Usually it's one of three things: employer wage protest, late-reported wages changing your base year calculation, or recovery of a previous overpayment. Given the amount of your reduction, I'd suspect it's a base year recalculation.

Whatever you do, don't stop filing your weekly claims while you're trying to figure this out. Even if the amount is wrong, you need to maintain your claim to avoid losing benefits entirely.

I tried for two weeks to reach Washington ESD about a similar issue and finally broke down and used Claimyr. Got connected to an agent the same day who explained that my employer had submitted corrected wage information that changed my quarterly earnings. The agent was really helpful and patient in explaining how the new calculation worked.

Make sure you document everything - the dates when your benefits changed, the amounts, any attempts to contact Washington ESD. If you do need to file an appeal later, having detailed records will help your case.

Has anyone had luck reaching Washington ESD through their online messaging system? I know it's slow but maybe better than the phone lines?

The timing of when your benefits decreased might give a clue. If it happened exactly when quarterly wage reports were due, that's probably what triggered the recalculation.

Don't feel bad about using a service like Claimyr if you need to. The Washington ESD phone system is designed to discourage people from calling. Getting actual answers about your benefits is worth the cost.

Hope you get this figured out soon! Benefit reductions are scary when you're depending on that income. Keep us updated on what you find out.