Won my ESD appeal - how long until back pay arrives?
After 9 weeks of stress and uncertainty, I finally received the decision on my unemployment appeal yesterday - I WON! The judge ruled that my employer didn't have sufficient cause for termination and I'm eligible for benefits. I'm so relieved but also anxious about when I'll actually see the money. I've been filing my weekly claims this whole time (8 weeks worth) and they all show as 'pending - adjudication'. Does anyone know how long it usually takes for ESD to process back payments after a favorable appeal decision? Do I need to contact them or will they automatically release the payments? I've got rent due next week and really need this to come through ASAP.
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Paolo Conti
Congrats on winning your appeal! I went through this last year. In my experience, it took about 10-14 business days for ESD to process and release my backpay after the favorable decision. But I've heard it can vary from 1-3 weeks depending on their workload and the complexity of your claim. I'd recommend calling them after 7 business days if you don't see any updates to your claim status.
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Keisha Robinson
•Thank you! That's really helpful to know. Did your payment status in your eServices account change before you got paid, or did the money just show up? I check my account like 3 times a day but nothing has changed yet.
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Amina Sow
it can take forever honestly. my sister waited like 6 weeks after her appeal to get her $$$. ESD is so backed up right now. good luck!!
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Keisha Robinson
•Six weeks?! That's insane - I can't wait that long. Did she do anything that eventually made them process it faster?
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Amina Sow
•she called like a hundred times but could never get through to anyone. just kept getting the busy signal or got hung up on. eventually it just showed up in her account one day.
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GalaxyGazer
I know exactly what ur going thru!! Won my appeal in January against my employer (they claimed misconduct which was BS) and had 11 weeks of claims to be paid. My payment status didn't change for almost 2 weeks then suddenly everything switched from pending to PAID overnight!!! I woke up to over $6800 in my account the next morning!! 🙌 One tip - double check all your weekly claims now to make sure their complete... I had to fix one of mine that was missing info and that could have delayed everything even more. Good luck!!
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Oliver Wagner
The timeline varies, but typically ESD should process your backpay within 2-3 weeks after receiving the final order from the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). Here's what happens behind the scenes: 1. The OAH submits their decision to ESD 2. ESD's benefits team reviews the decision and updates your claim 3. Your pending weekly claims are then processed and released I strongly recommend calling ESD after 7-10 business days if you don't see movement. Ask specifically if they've received and processed the judge's decision. Sometimes there can be delays in communication between OAH and ESD.
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Keisha Robinson
•This is really helpful! The judge mentioned they'd send the decision to ESD but didn't say how long that might take. I'll definitely call after 7 business days if I don't see any updates. I just wish there was a more reliable way to contact them...
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Natasha Kuznetsova
When I was in your situation, I used Claimyr to get through to an ESD agent on the phone. I spent days trying to call on my own with no luck, but Claimyr got me connected to a real person in about 30 minutes who could tell me exactly when to expect my backpay. Saved me a ton of stress! Check out their site at claimyr.com - they have a video demo that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3
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Javier Mendoza
•Does that really work? I thought those services were scams. Has anyone else used this?
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Emma Thompson
•I've used Claimyr twice and it worked both times. Definitely worth it when you're desperate to talk to someone at ESD. Especially for something like this where you need to confirm they received your appeal decision.
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Paolo Conti
One thing to keep in mind - make sure all your weekly claims were filed properly during the appeal period. I had a friend who won his appeal but forgot to file for two weeks during the appeal process, and he couldn't get those weeks paid retroactively. Double-check your eServices account to verify all weeks show as "pending" rather than "not filed."
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Keisha Robinson
•Thanks for pointing this out! I just checked and all my weeks show as pending, so I should be good. I was really careful about filing every single week even though it felt pointless at the time.
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Malik Davis
THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO FRUSTRATE YOU! They make everything take forever hoping people will just give up. I won my appeal last year and they still tried to deny me by saying I didn't do my job searches correctly!! Had to fight them AGAIN and didn't get paid for almost 2 MONTHS after winning my appeal. Keep calling them EVERY DAY until they pay you what they owe!!
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Oliver Wagner
•While I understand your frustration, ESD isn't intentionally delaying payments. They're processing thousands of claims with limited staff. The standard processing time after appeals is 2-3 weeks, with some exceptions for complex cases. Calling daily won't speed up the process and may actually slow things down by increasing call volume.
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Malik Davis
•That's what they WANT you to think! I've talked to 4 different agents who all told me different things. The only reason I got paid is because I kept calling until I found someone who would actually help me!
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Keisha Robinson
UPDATE: Just wanted to let everyone know that my backpay came through this morning! It took exactly 12 business days after I received the appeal decision. All 8 weeks switched from pending to paid overnight and the money was in my account this morning. So relieved! Thanks everyone for your help and advice.
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Paolo Conti
•That's awesome news! Glad it came through in a reasonable timeframe. Did you end up needing to contact them or did it process automatically?
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Keisha Robinson
•I ended up using that Claimyr service to get through after 8 days with no updates. The ESD agent confirmed they had received my appeal decision but said it was still in the queue for processing. Four days later it all came through without any further action on my part.
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