And remember to keep records of everything - when you filed, confirmation numbers, any correspondence with ESD. It all helps if there are any issues later.

Just wanted to add my experience - I filed the day after my last day of work and had no issues. The key is having all your employment information ready beforehand. Make sure you know your employer's exact business name (not just what everyone calls it), their address, your dates of employment, and your gross wages for the past 18 months. I also recommend filing during off-peak hours - I did mine on a Tuesday evening and the website was much faster than when I tried during lunch on Monday. The whole process took about 30 minutes once I had everything organized. Don't overthink it, just file as soon as possible after your separation date.

I'm in a similar situation - filed about 10 days ago and seeing the same "under review" status. Reading through all these responses is actually really helpful. It sounds like 2-4 weeks is pretty normal for first-time claims, and I'm glad to know about keeping up with the weekly filings even while waiting. The job search tracking requirement is good to know too - I'll start documenting everything on WorkSourceWA right away. Thanks for asking this question, it's exactly what I needed to see!

I just wanted to add my recent experience since I see a lot of people asking about timing. I filed my claim in early December 2024 and it took exactly 3 weeks to get approved. Like others mentioned, I was laid off from my job (not fired), so it was pretty straightforward. The thing that helped me the most was calling using that Claimyr service after 2 weeks - turns out my claim was actually approved but there was a technical glitch preventing the automated notifications from going out. The agent was able to trigger my first payment right there on the call. Also want to emphasize what others have said about continuing to file weekly claims even while waiting - that's super important. And definitely start logging your job search activities on WorkSourceWA immediately, even if you haven't been approved yet. You need those 3 activities per week documented and it's easier to stay consistent than catch up later. Hang in there everyone, most claims do get resolved eventually!

UPDATE: Finally got through to ESD today using the Claimyr service that someone recommended here. The agent confirmed my weekly claim DID process correctly despite what the website shows. She said they're having a system issue where phone claims aren't updating the online status, but the payments are still being processed correctly. My payment should arrive tomorrow as scheduled. She noted in my account that I called to check on this so there's a record of it. Such a relief! Thanks for all the advice everyone.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm bookmarking this because I use the phone system sometimes too and had no idea about this sync issue. Really glad to see everyone helping each other out here instead of just complaining. The tip about checking spam folders is genius - I bet that catches a lot of people off guard. Thanks for sharing the update about getting it resolved too!

This is such a common and infuriating issue with ESD! I went through the exact same thing last fall when I switched from Chase to a local credit union. One day I'm getting my payments normally, the next day I'm in "adjudication" for completely unrelated reasons. What really gets me is that they don't send you any notification explaining WHY you're suddenly flagged - you just have to figure it out yourself when your payment doesn't show up. The system definitely needs an overhaul to distinguish between legitimate account updates and actual fraud attempts. At minimum they should send an email saying "we've temporarily paused your payments to verify your recent bank change" instead of leaving people in the dark wondering if they did something wrong. So glad the Claimyr service worked for you - I ended up waiting 3 hours on hold but it sounds like that's a much better option!

This is exactly why I always screenshot everything before making ANY changes to my ESD account! I learned this lesson the hard way when I updated my phone number last year and got flagged for "identity verification" issues that took 10 days to resolve. Now I document my entire profile before and after any updates so I have proof that I only changed what I intended to change. It's ridiculous that we have to treat their own system like it's going to sabotage us, but here we are! For anyone reading this - definitely take screenshots of your current direct deposit info before updating it, and maybe even print out your payment history. Having that documentation can help speed up the resolution process when (not if) their system glitches out on you.

Bottom line: Washington employees don't pay unemployment taxes but are fully covered by the system through employer contributions. Your work history earns you benefit rights, and you can file claims when eligible without worrying about whether you personally contributed to the fund.

One thing that might help clarify this - if you look at your paystub, you'll see FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare) that you DO pay into, but unemployment insurance won't be listed because that's entirely on the employer side. It's kind of like how your employer also pays the employer portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes that don't show up on your paystub. The unemployment system is just 100% employer-funded rather than split like FICA.