UPDATE: Thank you everyone for the helpful advice! I checked my job search logs and realized I wasn't including the contact information or outcomes for each application. I also suspect I might not have been clicking the final submission button correctly. I'm going to call the Office of Administrative Hearings tomorrow about appealing the denied weeks. Will also try Claimyr if I can't get through on my own - at this point, I just need to speak to someone who can explain exactly what went wrong. Really appreciate all the guidance!

Hey Ethan! I went through something very similar when I first started filing. One thing that really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet to track all my job search activities before entering them into the ESD system. I include columns for: employer name, position title, date applied, method of application, contact info, and outcome status. This way I can double-check everything before submitting online. Also, after you enter your job searches each week, take a screenshot of the confirmation page - it saved me once when there was a system glitch. The appeal process can take a while, so definitely keep filing your weekly claims correctly in the meantime. You've got this!

One more thing to keep in mind - if your final check includes regular wages AND vacation/PTO payout, you need to report the full amount (both regular wages and vacation payout) for the week you receive it. ESD considers all of that as income for benefit calculation purposes.

Just wanted to add one more tip from my experience - when you report that final paycheck, make sure you have your paystub handy even though you might not need to upload it right away. ESD sometimes does random audits and may ask for documentation later. I kept digital copies of all my final pay documents just in case. Also, if your employer gave you any severance pay along with your final check, that counts as income too and needs to be reported for the week you receive it. Better to be thorough upfront than deal with complications later!

I'm in a similar situation with my part-time retail job - some weeks I get scheduled for 35+ hours and other weeks it's just 15-20. I was also confused about this at first, but everyone here is absolutely right about filing every single week. I made the mistake of not filing for one week when I got extra hours and it almost caused my claim to go inactive. The ESD system is really strict about the two-week rule. Even if you earn too much to get benefits that week, filing keeps your claim active and makes everything smoother when your hours drop again. It literally takes like 3 minutes to file online, so it's worth doing even when you know you'll get $0.

I went through this exact same situation last year with my construction job! The golden rule is ALWAYS file your weekly claim, no matter how many hours you worked. Even if you know you won't get any benefits that week, filing keeps your claim active and prevents a ton of headaches later. When you skip filing for two consecutive weeks, your claim becomes inactive and you'll have to go through the whole reopening process - which can delay your benefits for weeks when your hours drop back down. Trust me, it's so much easier to just spend those 5 minutes every Sunday filing your claim and reporting your hours accurately. The system is designed to handle fluctuating work schedules, so let it do its job!

Just wanted to add - the Washington ESD website has a section for employers that explains all the tax stuff if anyone wants to read more about it. But the key point everyone made here is right: don't feel bad about filing for benefits you're entitled to.

I work in HR and deal with unemployment claims regularly. Just to put your mind completely at ease - when someone files for unemployment, we get a notice from Washington ESD asking us to confirm the separation details (dates, reason, wages, etc.). That's it. We don't get a bill, we don't write a check, and honestly most of the time it's just routine paperwork for us. The tax implications everyone mentioned are real but very gradual - we're talking about small rate adjustments that happen annually, not immediate financial hits. Please don't let concern for your former employer prevent you from accessing benefits you've earned. File your claim!

I went through this exact same confusion when I got laid off last month! The terminology really is misleading - I kept seeing "waiting week" and thought it meant I had to literally wait a week before I could even apply. What it actually means is that your first week of unemployment serves as an unpaid waiting period, but you still need to file your initial claim AND your weekly claim for that first week to keep everything active. I finally got through to someone at Washington ESD who explained it perfectly: Think of it like this - Week 1: File initial claim + first weekly claim (unpaid), Week 2: File second weekly claim (this one gets paid), and so on. The waiting week is built into the system automatically, so don't let that stop you from filing immediately. I wish I had found this thread when I was going through it - would have saved me a lot of stress!

I've been helping people navigate Washington ESD for years, and I can confirm what everyone is saying - file immediately! The "waiting week" is one of the most misunderstood concepts in unemployment benefits. You're not waiting to file, you're filing but the first week you claim is unpaid. Think of it as serving your waiting period while getting everything set up in the system. The sooner you file your initial application, the sooner you establish your claim date, which protects you from losing any potential benefits. I've seen too many people wait thinking they needed to, only to regret it later. Also, don't worry about making mistakes on your application - you can always provide clarifications or corrections later, but you can't go back and change when you first filed. Get that claim started today and then focus on understanding the weekly filing process. You've got this!