Will I get paid for my waiting week on unemployment benefits in Washington?

I thought I answered everything right. I marked yes for able and available, and no for refusing work or being in school. Maybe I should call and check?

Definitely call. Sometimes there are technical glitches or verification issues that can delay first payments even when the claim is approved.

How long did it take you to get through on the phone? I've been trying for days.

Honestly, I gave up on calling after a week of busy signals and used this service called Claimyr that gets you through to an actual ESD agent. Found it at claimyr.com and there's a demo video at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. Got connected within an hour.

Never heard of that but I'm desperate at this point. Did it actually work?

This is correct. I work with unemployed folks regularly and the waiting week was eliminated. OP should definitely investigate why the payment is zero.

Thank you! My direct deposit info looks right. I'll check for any hidden issues in my account.

Your brother might have had a different issue - like ID verification or an employer protest - that delayed his first payment. But there's no waiting week requirement in Washington anymore.

Oh that makes sense, he did mention something about his old job contesting it initially.

Close - you can file your weekly claim from Sunday through Saturday of each week. Late filing can sometimes cause payment delays.

I filed mine on Monday so timing shouldn't be an issue. Still stumped about the zero payment.

I totally get the frustration. That's exactly why I ended up using Claimyr - got tired of the runaround and just needed answers from an actual person.

How much does that cost though? I'm already broke from being unemployed.

It's worth checking out their site for details, but honestly getting my payment issues resolved quickly was worth it for me.

I thought work search didn't start until after your second week? Or did that change?

It starts right away now. You need 3 job search activities per week and they have to be documented in WorkSourceWA.

How do I check if my employer responded? Is that somewhere in my account?

should be under correspondence or notices in your esd account. might show as pending employer response or something like that

That would make sense. How long should I wait before panicking?

I'd give it until Wednesday of next week. If you still don't see the payment processed by then, definitely call or use that Claimyr service someone mentioned.

OK you've convinced me to at least check it out. Getting real tired of the busy signals.

Is it safe though? Seems weird to use a third party service for government stuff.

They don't ask for your personal info or login details. They just help you get connected to the ESD phone system. Watch their demo video to see how it works.

This was my very first weekly claim so there shouldn't be any inconsistencies yet.

Then it's probably just a processing delay or verification issue. Definitely worth calling to check.

Where would I see if they need additional documents?

Check your correspondence inbox and also the 'Required Actions' section if there is one. Sometimes it's not super obvious.

Thanks for confirming. I'll definitely investigate further rather than just assuming it's a waiting week.

Good to know! I'll try the lunch time slot tomorrow.

Or just skip the hassle entirely and use Claimyr. Saved me hours of calling attempts.

Nope, this is just regular unemployment. I was laid off from my restaurant job last month.

There we go! ID verification is super common right now. You'll need to submit documents through ID.me or whatever system they're using now.

Wait, that update wasn't from me - I'm still the original poster and I haven't found any ID verification requests yet.

Sorry, my mistake! Got confused about who was who in this thread.

Good luck! Come back and update us when you figure out what the issue was.

Hope you get it sorted out quickly. The Claimyr thing really did work for me if you decide to try it.

Keep us posted! These kinds of issues are so frustrating but usually have simple solutions once you find the right person to talk to.