Will part-time work destroy my brother's ESD benefits? Need advice for child support situation

Your brother can definitely work part-time while collecting unemployment! It's called partial unemployment. He'll need to report his gross earnings each week when filing his weekly claim. Here's how it works: - He can earn up to 1/3 of his weekly benefit amount with no reduction - After that, his benefits are reduced dollar for dollar - He must still be looking for full-time work and complete his 3 job search activities weekly For example, if his weekly benefit is $750, he could earn up to $250 extra with no reduction. After that, each dollar reduces his benefit by one dollar. So if he earned $350 in a week, his benefit would be reduced by $100. Make sure he reports his earnings accurately in the week he EARNS them (not when paid) to avoid overpayment issues later.

child suprt is usually a % of ALL income not just unemploumet so they will problaby take same % from both checks, my cousin went thru this and ended up worse so be carful

I WENT THROUGH THIS EXACT HELL!!!! The system is designed to KEEP YOU POOR!!!! I had 65% garnishment for back child support and when I got a part-time job, they took the same percentage from BOTH sources of income! And then ESD reduced my benefits dollar for dollar after the first 1/3 of my WBA. Total nightmare!!!! I ended up LOSING money by working!!! The whole system is RIGGED against fathers trying to get back on their feet! Your brother needs to call ESD and get a definitive answer for HIS specific situation because every case is different. Good luck getting through to anyone though - I spent 6 WEEKS trying to talk to a human!!!

I had similar issues last year when I tried working part-time during unemployment. The key is understanding exactly how your brother's child support order is calculated. Some orders are fixed amounts, others are percentages. My suggestion: He should check his child support order carefully (or call DSHS Division of Child Support at 800-442-KIDS) to understand exactly how additional income will affect his obligation. And yes, ESD will reduce his benefits after he earns more than 1/3 of his weekly benefit amount - but sometimes having control over your schedule with part-time work is worth a slight reduction. Plus it looks good on his resume to show he's working while looking for something better in his field.

If your brother is having trouble getting answers from ESD about how part-time work will affect his specific situation, he might want to try Claimyr. It helped me get through to ESD when I was stuck in a similar situation with partial unemployment questions. I was on hold for DAYS before I found them. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 and their website is claimyr.com. They got me connected to a real ESD agent in about 20 minutes after I'd spent weeks trying on my own. The agent walked me through exactly how my partial employment would affect my benefits.

Your brother should also check if he qualifies for the earnings disregard for dependents. If his child support is for his kids (and not from a previous relationship), he might qualify to earn more before his benefits start getting reduced. This is something not many people know about. Also, while child support is typically calculated as a percentage of all income, there might be modifications available if he can demonstrate financial hardship. This would require going back to court, but it might be worth looking into given his situation. Definitely have him document all his job search activities thoroughly. With his tech support background, he should focus his 3 weekly job search activities on positions in his field, even while working part-time retail. That keeps him eligible for his full benefit amount while he's between career-level jobs.

tell him check out warehouses, my buddy was in tech and couldnt find anything so he did amazon warehouse for like 6 months, decent pay and they hire everyone

One more thing - when your brother reports his part-time earnings to ESD, he needs to report GROSS earnings (before any deductions), not net pay. I've seen people get hit with overpayment notices because they reported the wrong amount. Also, your brother might benefit from connecting with WorkSource. They can help with job searches in his field and sometimes have special programs for people transitioning between careers. With his tech background, they might be able to connect him with short-term contract work that pays better than retail while he searches for a permanent position.