The 26 week limit is stressful but remember that most people do find work before they exhaust their benefits. Try not to panic and focus on your job search strategy.

I went through the same situation last year after being laid off from my manufacturing job. Washington state provides up to 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits, which is pretty standard across most states. The key thing to understand is that this 26-week period starts from your benefit year begin date (when you first filed), not when you actually start receiving payments. So if there are any processing delays, you're not losing those weeks. With your 2 years of steady work history, you should qualify for the full 26 weeks assuming you meet the wage requirements during your base period. Make sure to file your weekly claims consistently and keep up with the job search requirements (3 activities per week). Good luck with your job search!

That's great news! I'm glad you were able to get it resolved. For future reference, whenever your payment status changes or you report earnings for the first time, it's normal to see processing delays. ESD needs to manually verify the first instance of part-time work for most claims. Once you've reported part-time work a few times, the process usually becomes more streamlined. Also, keep in mind that you can work part-time and still receive partial unemployment benefits as long as you don't exceed your weekly benefit amount in earnings. Always report all hours and earnings accurately - even small errors can trigger lengthy adjudication processes.

So glad you got it sorted out! I was worried for you reading through this thread. That Claimyr service sounds like a game-changer - I've wasted so many hours on hold with ESD over the years. I'm definitely bookmarking that for future reference. It's ridiculous that we have to use third-party services just to reach our own state unemployment office, but whatever works! Hope your rescheduled interview goes smoothly and your payment comes through tomorrow as expected.

Congrats!! So happy you got it fixed! The ESD system is such a nightmare sometimes. I'm still waiting on mine to get processed... going on 3 weeks now 😩

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with something similar right now where my claim got flagged for "insufficient work history" even though I can see all my previous employers listed in my account from last year's claim. It's so frustrating when their own system can't seem to talk to itself properly. @Heather Tyson thanks for posting the update - it gives me hope that there's actually a solution! I'm definitely going to try the reconsideration route first and see if I can get through to an agent to explain the system mismatch issue. The employer acquisition angle is really interesting too - makes me wonder if there are other corporate changes that could cause similar problems. Has anyone else noticed if ESD's system struggles more with claims after mergers/acquisitions? Seems like that might be a common issue they haven't figured out how to handle automatically.

The most important thing is to apply as soon as you're unemployed, even if you're not 100% sure you qualify. You can't get retroactive benefits for weeks you didn't file, so don't wait too long to find out.

For anyone still confused about the calculation, here's a simple way to think about it: If you worked 20-25 hours per week for 8 months like Connor mentioned, that's roughly 640-800 hours total (assuming 32 weeks). Since you need 680 hours minimum, you'd likely qualify on the hours requirement. The wage part is usually easier to meet if you're working consistently - you need $6,240 total in your base year and at least $1,040 in your highest-earning quarter. With two part-time jobs over 8 months, you should be well above those thresholds.

Does anyone know if I can switch back and forth between phone and web filing? Or will that mess up my claim somehow? Sometimes I'm not somewhere private where I can make the call with all my personal info.

Wow, this is a game changer! I've been filing online every Sunday for 6 months and always getting frustrated waiting until Wednesday or Thursday for my payment. Just tried the phone system last night after reading this and sure enough - payment hit my account this morning! The IVR was actually pretty straightforward once I got used to it. Thanks for sharing this tip - wish I'd known about it months ago! For anyone hesitant to try it, definitely worth the slight learning curve to get paid 2+ days faster.