Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I've talked to my HR department and confirmed they submitted the standby request yesterday. I've set up my ESD account to get text alerts and checked that my contact info is all correct. Now I guess I just wait and keep filing those weekly claims. Fingers crossed it moves on the faster end of the timeline!

I'm also waiting on a standby claim approval right now (filed last week) and this thread has been super helpful! One thing I wanted to add - if you're worried about the financial gap, some credit unions and banks offer short-term hardship loans specifically for people waiting on unemployment benefits. My credit union has a "bridge loan" program that covers up to $2000 for 60 days at low interest rates if you can show proof of a pending UI claim. Might be worth checking if your bank has something similar while you wait for ESD to process everything.

It helps me be more strategic about when I apply and makes sure I'm not scrambling at the end of the week to meet my requirements.

Just wanted to add that I've been using Indeed successfully for my Washington ESD job search requirements for about 6 months now. One thing I learned is to apply to a mix of jobs - some that are perfect matches and some that are a bit of a stretch. This shows you're actively exploring opportunities and not being too picky. Also, if you use Indeed's "Easy Apply" feature, make sure to still customize your application when possible rather than just sending the same generic application to everyone. It makes your job search more genuine and effective.

To directly answer your question - yes, standby weeks are calendar weeks from when they're approved, not weeks of benefits used. That's why all 8 weeks are now used up, even though you worked during 4 of them. For future reference for anyone reading this thread: If you're put on standby status, use that time to prepare for possibly needing to do job searches later. The maximum standby period is typically 8 weeks (though there have been extensions during special circumstances), and the clock starts ticking immediately regardless of whether you're claiming benefits or working during that period. Also, remember that if you're working part-time during standby, you still need to report all earnings accurately on your weekly claims, even though you don't have to do job searches.

This exact same thing happened to me last month! I was so confused because I thought working weeks wouldn't count against my standby total. The way they explained it to me when I finally got through to someone at ESD is that standby is basically just a "job search waiver" for a specific calendar period - it doesn't pause or extend based on whether you're actually collecting benefits those weeks. So frustrating that this isn't made clearer upfront. At least you reported your earnings correctly though - that's the most important part. Now you just need to make sure you start those 3 weekly job searches right away to stay eligible.

This thread has been super helpful! I'm in a similar situation with about 4 weeks left on my claim. One thing I learned from calling ESD is that you can actually check if you might qualify for a new claim before you exhaust by looking at your wage history in eServices. If you worked any W-2 jobs after your original claim date, those wages might count toward a new base period. It's worth checking early so you're not scrambling when your benefits end.

This is really helpful information everyone! I'm in almost the exact same situation - about 2 weeks left on my regular UI benefits and was completely confused about what "exhaustee" meant when I saw it mentioned in some ESD documents. It sounds like the key takeaway is that becoming an exhaustee just means you've used up your regular 26 weeks, and then the system automatically checks if you qualify for extended benefits (which aren't available right now due to low unemployment rates). If no extended benefits are available, the next option would be filing a new regular claim if you have enough qualifying wages from work done after your original claim started. I really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences - it's way clearer than anything I could find on the ESD website!

Update: I was able to get through to ESD (finally!) and they confirmed I should only report hours actually worked by claim filing time. They helped me correct my previous week's claim where I over-reported. Thanks everyone for your help sorting this out! For others with overnight shifts - definitely split your hours at midnight between claim weeks.

Great to see this got resolved! As someone who also works overnight shifts, I can confirm this is exactly how it works. The midnight split rule seems confusing at first but it actually makes sense once you understand that ESD weeks run Sunday-Saturday. For anyone else dealing with this - keep detailed records of your actual work hours by day, not just by shift. It makes filing claims much easier and helps avoid these kinds of mix-ups. The key thing to remember is always report what you've ACTUALLY worked, not what you're scheduled to work.