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The governer won't help you. There all the same they jus pass u around until u give up. I spent 11 weeks waiting last year and had to take a crappy job just to avoid being homeless.
While I understand your frustration, contacting your state representative (not necessarily the Governor) can actually help in many cases. Representatives often have dedicated staff who handle constituent services and can sometimes cut through red tape faster than individuals can on their own. It doesn't work 100% of the time, but it's worth trying as one option among several when you're stuck in a long adjudication.
Update from someone who went through this recently: I waited 8 weeks in adjudication earlier this year. What finally worked was emailing my state senator AND representative (found their contact info on leg.wa.gov). I clearly explained my situation, how long I'd been waiting, and that I was facing financial hardship. Their office contacted ESD directly, and my claim was resolved within 5 days after that. Don't give up! The system is frustrating but persistence eventually pays off. And as others have mentioned, keep filing those weekly claims - when it finally resolves, you'll get all the back payments at once.
This gives me hope! I'm going to try contacting my representatives today. Just looked them up on leg.wa.gov and found their email addresses. Did you call or email them? And did you provide your ESD claim ID in your message?
I emailed them with the subject line "Urgent Unemployment Assistance Needed - Constituent Request". In the email I included my name, address (to prove I'm in their district), phone number, ESD claim ID, and a brief timeline of events. I kept it under one page but included all the essential details. Good luck!
wait does anyone know if the op should pay back the money while appealing or wait to see what happens with the appeal first??
UPDATE: I filed my appeal online and uploaded copies of the memo and my pay stubs showing the 25% reduction. I also explained that while I didn't specify the reason in my resignation letter, the hour reduction was the true cause. I've requested a hearing. This is so stressful - I really can't afford to pay back all that money! I'll keep you posted on what happens.
You've done everything right so far. The pay stubs plus the memo make a strong case. When you get your hearing date, prepare a simple timeline of events that clearly shows: 1. When your hours were reduced (with the memo as evidence) 2. How long you stayed hoping for improvement (August to December) 3. When you resigned Keep it factual and straightforward. Good luck!
One thing to remember is that the rules were different for 2021 because of COVID relief programs. Depending on WHEN in 2021 you received unemployment and how much income you had overall, some unemployment benefits might have been tax-exempt under the American Rescue Plan. So even if you did forget to report it, you might not actually owe anything additional.
I had this exact problem two weeks ago! The website was down all Sunday and Monday, and I panicked because I thought we only had 48 hours to file. But the ESD rep told me we actually have the entire following week to submit a claim before it's considered late. So if your claim week ends Saturday, you have until the following Saturday to file. That info really reduced my stress level!
Just to provide the complete information for future reference: 1. Regular weekly claim phone line: 800-318-6022 2. TTY/TDD line for hearing impaired: 800-365-8969 3. ESD Technical Support (for eServices issues): 855-682-0785 And if you encounter website issues in the future, try these steps first: • Clear browser cache and cookies • Try a different browser (Edge sometimes works when Chrome fails) • Try a mobile device on cellular data instead of wifi • Try very early morning (5-6am) or late evening (10-11pm) when server load is lower
Cynthia Love
my cousin works at esd (not in claims tho) and she says they have a special team for imeplementing appeals and theres only like 5 people doing ALL of them for the whole state!!!! thats why it takes sooooooo long. the status date changing means ur still in the queue but not necessarily that anyone is actually looking at ur claim that day. good luck!!!!
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Liam Duke
•This tracks with what I've heard from ESD staff too. The appeals implementation team is severely understaffed relative to their workload. They prioritize by date of decision and complexity, so larger backpay amounts tend to take longer because they require additional review steps.
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Dana Doyle
UPDATE: I finally got through to ESD using that Claimyr service someone suggested above. The agent confirmed my appeal is in the implementation queue but said it's flagged for "large payment review" which adds 7-10 business days. She escalated it to a supervisor who promised to look at it by end of next week. The agent also confirmed that the date changing daily is just the system acknowledging the claim is still pending, not that someone actively worked on it that day. I'll update again when/if the payments come through. Thanks everyone for your help and advice!
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Ben Cooper
•Glad you got through! The escalation to a supervisor should help speed things up. When mine was escalated, it was processed within 5 business days. The "large payment review" is standard for any backpay over $10k, so that makes sense with your 21 weeks.
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