Will brief out-of-state trip to buy car affect my ESD weekly claim?

as long as ur able and available to work and not turning down job offers you should be fine. i went to idaho for a week last yr and just made sure i could still do my job searches online while i was gone

The key thing ESD looks for is whether you're 'able and available' for work. Since your trip is brief and you'll be back for your normal claim filing, you should be fine. Just make sure you're checking emails/phone messages in case an employer tries to contact you during those days. If you get a job offer or interview request during that time, you would need to be willing to adjust your plans or risk being considered 'unavailable' for work. Also, don't forget to complete your three job search activities for the week even though you're traveling.

You're overthinking this. ESD doesn't track your physical location for regular UI claims - they care about whether you're actively looking for work and available to accept suitable employment. A brief trip to purchase a vehicle won't affect your eligibility as long as: 1. You complete your required job search activities for the week 2. You remain available to accept work (checking messages, being able to interview virtually if needed) 3. You're not declining job offers or interviews because of the trip There's no requirement to report brief travel within the United States on your weekly claim unless it affects your ability to work or search for work.

BE CAREFUL! The ESD system is designed to trap people! If you answer that you were not available for work for ANY days during your weekly claim they can deny your ENTIRE week of benefits! I had a friend who went to a funeral for TWO DAYS and lost a whole week of benefits because they said he wasn't "available for work" those days even though no one was offering him work anyway!!!! The system is BROKEN and they're looking for any excuse to not pay people what they deserve!!!!

I had such a frustrating experience trying to get a straight answer on this exact question. I called ESD about a trip I was taking to help my sister move and spent HOURS trying to reach someone. After getting disconnected four times, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an ESD agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 The agent confirmed what others here have said - short trips are fine as long as you remain available for work contacts and keep up with your job search activities. They told me there's no need to report routine travel unless it makes you completely unavailable for work opportunities.

Omg everyone makes this WAYYY more complicated than it needs to be! I've been on unemployment for 4 months now and gone on several small trips. As long as you do your job searches and don't say you were unavailable for work when filing your weekly claim, YOU'RE FINE. ESD doesn't have some magic tracking system watching where you go every day lol. Just enjoy your trip and get that new car!

Just to clarify something important - when you complete your weekly claim, there's a question that asks if you were able and available for work each day. The correct approach for your situation would be to answer 'Yes' to this question IF you were genuinely able to accept work (meaning you could return from your trip if offered a job) and were checking for employment communications. Don't overthink what 'able and available' means - it's about your willingness and capability to accept suitable employment if offered, not about your physical location at every moment.

so how did it go? did u get ur car and was ur claim ok?