I'm going through a very similar situation right now and this thread has been absolutely invaluable! I was just approved for PFML for bonding leave with my newborn, and my company's benefits coordinator told me I could "definitely use both PFML and my parental leave benefits together." But after reading through all these experiences, especially Ethan's $2,300 overpayment nightmare and Carmen's detailed explanation about the hour-by-hour rules, I'm realizing I need to be much more careful about this. The distinction between using programs "together" versus using them for the same HOURS is huge - I don't think my benefits coordinator understands this nuance either. I'm definitely going to call ESD before I submit my first weekly claim to get specific guidance on how to properly report any employer payments. Based on everyone's advice here, my plan is: 1) Try calling at 8:15 AM on Tuesday or use Claimyr to get through faster, 2) Get written documentation from my employer about their parental leave policy and how they plan to coordinate with PFML, 3) Be extremely detailed on weekly certifications about any overlapping hours/payments, and 4) Screenshot everything for my records. Thank you all for sharing your real experiences - you've probably saved me and many others from some serious financial stress! It's clear that being proactive upfront is way better than dealing with overpayment recovery later. I'll update this thread after I talk to ESD in case it helps others in similar situations.

I'm in a similar situation and this entire thread has been incredibly helpful! I was just approved for PFML to care for my grandmother after her hip surgery, and my employer told me I could use my sick leave "alongside" PFML. But after reading about Ethan's $2,300 overpayment and all the detailed explanations about hour-by-hour reporting, I'm definitely going to be much more cautious. The key insight I'm taking from everyone's experiences is that transparency upfront is absolutely critical. I'm planning to call ESD this week (trying the 8:15 AM Tuesday strategy) to get specific guidance before I submit any weekly claims. I'm also going to follow the advice about documenting everything in writing from my HR department and taking screenshots of all my weekly certifications. One question for those who've successfully navigated this - when you reported employer sick leave payments on your weekly PFML certification, did you report the gross amount or the net amount after taxes? I want to make sure I'm providing the right information to ESD's system for accurate benefit calculations. Thanks to everyone who shared their real-world experiences here - you've probably saved me from a major financial headache down the road!

I really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences with this! As someone who's been on unemployment for a few months now, I was also considering doing some gig work but was worried about the reporting requirements. It's clear from all the responses that honesty is the best policy with Washington ESD. I'm going to start doing some Instacart deliveries and make sure to keep detailed records of all my earnings. Better to lose a small portion of my benefits than risk getting in trouble for not reporting. Thanks for all the helpful advice - this community has been invaluable during this tough time!

I just wanted to add my experience as someone who's been doing multiple gig apps while on Washington ESD benefits for the past 4 months. I do DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub, and I report ALL earnings from each platform every week. What I've learned is that you can actually do quite well with the partial benefit system - even after Washington ESD reduces my benefits by 75% of my gig earnings over $5, I'm still bringing in more total money than just unemployment alone. The key is being strategic about how much you work each week to maximize your total income (benefits + gig work). I keep a detailed log in Google Sheets with separate columns for each app, and I report the combined total as self-employment income on my weekly claim. Never had any issues with Washington ESD as long as everything is reported accurately and on time. For anyone hesitant about starting gig work while on unemployment - just do it, but do it right!

Thanks for this thread. I bookmarked it in case I need this info later. Unemployment system seems complicated but at least there are ways to get help.

Great thread! I just wanted to add that if anyone is still struggling to find their EAN, you can also check if your employer ever sent you any year-end tax documents early or if you have access to any online payroll systems (like ADP or Paychex) where the EAN might still be visible even if the company closed. Sometimes those systems stay active for a while after closure for tax purposes. Also, if the restaurant was part of a larger chain or franchise, the parent company might still have records they can help you access.

This has been such an educational thread! I'm fairly new to Washington (moved here about 6 months ago from Oregon) and I've been totally confused about this whole system. In Oregon, employees DO contribute to unemployment insurance, so when I saw the PFML deduction on my Washington paystub, I just assumed it was the same thing with a different name. Now I understand that Washington's UI system is completely employer-funded, which actually makes me feel better about having filed for benefits when my previous job ended due to company restructuring. My former supervisor made some comment about "hoping I wouldn't stay on unemployment too long" and I thought she was just being supportive, but now I realize she was probably worried about their experience rating! It's honestly kind of frustrating that this basic information about how our unemployment system works isn't more readily available or clearly explained. I had to stumble across this community discussion to finally understand something that directly affects my rights as a worker. Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge here - especially those with HR experience who broke down the technical details about tax rates and experience ratings.

This thread has been incredibly enlightening! I've been working in Washington for about 2 years and just like so many others here, I completely misunderstood how the system works. I always thought that PFML deduction was for unemployment insurance and that I was basically "prepaying" for potential future benefits. Learning that UI is 100% employer-funded actually explains a lot about my last job situation. When our department got restructured and several of us were laid off, my manager kept emphasizing how we should "quickly find new opportunities" and made it sound like filing for unemployment would somehow burden our former coworkers. Now I realize she was probably just worried about the company's experience rating affecting their future tax rates! It's honestly pretty frustrating that this fundamental information about how our safety net works isn't clearly communicated. Like others have mentioned, this should definitely be covered in employee orientations or at least explained somewhere obvious on the ESD website. How are we supposed to make informed decisions about our benefits if we don't even understand how they're funded? Thanks to everyone who took the time to explain the technical details - especially the difference between the immediate employer payments into the trust fund vs. the potential future rate increases based on claims history. This is exactly the kind of practical knowledge that workers need but rarely get access to!

I went through this exact same frustrating experience last year when I got laid off from my landscaping job! The status changes on ESD are honestly terrible at communicating what's actually happening. From my experience, "pending" means your claim is basically sitting in a digital inbox waiting to be assigned to someone, while "processing" means an actual ESD worker has picked up your file and started reviewing it. Processing is definitely progress! One thing that really helped me was keeping a detailed log of every status change with dates - it helped me see that there was actually forward movement even when it felt like nothing was happening. Also, since you mentioned working construction with multiple employers, that's probably why your claim is taking a bit longer. They have to verify wages and employment with each contractor, and some are faster at responding to ESD's requests than others. Keep filing your weekly claims no matter what the status says - that was something my case worker emphasized when I finally got through to them. The Tuesday 8 AM calling strategy that others mentioned really does work better than random times. Hang in there, the processing status means you're definitely moving in the right direction!

I'm going through this exact same situation right now! My unemployment claim has been stuck in processing for about 5 days after being pending for almost 2 weeks. As someone who's never filed for unemployment before, the whole system feels really overwhelming and confusing. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly helpful though - I had no idea that processing actually meant someone was actively working on my file rather than just another form of waiting. I'm also coming from a construction background where I worked for multiple contractors last year, so it sounds like that complexity is pretty common for causing delays in our industry. I'm definitely going to try that Tuesday 8 AM calling strategy that so many people have mentioned, and I just set up the text notifications after reading all these great tips. It's honestly frustrating how unclear the official ESD website is about what these status changes actually mean - this community thread has been way more informative than anything I could find through official channels. Thanks for starting this conversation and creating such a helpful resource for all of us trying to navigate this confusing process!