if you're still having trouble getting through to talk to someone at washington esd about your specific calculation, i had good luck with claimyr too. they got me connected pretty quickly when i was stuck in adjudication and needed to talk to an agent

I just went through this same process a few months ago and it was so confusing at first! Based on what everyone's saying here, it sounds like you're on the right track. With your $52k income, you'll want to look at your highest earning quarter from your base period. Since you mentioned variable hours, that overtime probably helped boost one of your quarters significantly. From my experience, the actual amount usually ends up being pretty close to what the online calculator shows once you get the quarters right. The hardest part is just figuring out which quarters count as your base period - but once you have that, the rest falls into place. Good luck with your claim!

The credit you get for paying Washington state unemployment taxes is substantial though. Most employers end up paying very little in actual FUTA after the state credit is applied.

This thread has been super helpful! I'm in a similar situation with my small marketing agency. Based on what everyone's saying, it sounds like I need to register for FUTA with the IRS separately even though I'm already set up with Washington ESD. The fact that the federal and state systems don't communicate with each other is really frustrating - seems like there should be a better way to handle this for small business owners who are just trying to do the right thing.

UPDATE: I ended up filing my new Washington ESD claim online yesterday. The process was actually pretty straightforward once I had all my wage information gathered. Now I just have to wait for them to process it and hopefully get approved. Thanks everyone for the advice!

I just want to echo what others have said - I moved from Texas to Washington last year and had to start completely fresh with Washington ESD. The good news is that while you can't transfer your claim, Washington's benefit calculation will include wages from all states during their lookback period. One thing I'd add is to make sure you understand Washington's job search requirements right away - they're stricter than some states and you don't want to get dinged for not meeting them while your claim is processing. Also, definitely register with WorkSource Washington as soon as possible since that's mandatory for most claimants. The whole process took about 2-3 weeks for me but it was worth getting everything set up properly from the start.

btw does anyone know why they keep asking the same questions every few weeks?? i swear i've filled out the retirement thing like 3 times on my claim

This is such a common issue! I went through the exact same thing a few months ago. Got that retirement questionnaire at age 38 and was like "what the heck?" The key thing is don't panic - it's totally normal for ESD to send these out even to younger claimants. What I learned is that it's triggered by your work history, not your age. If you worked anywhere that had ANY kind of retirement benefit (even just a basic 401k option you never used), their system flags it for review. Make sure you respond within their deadline even if every question seems irrelevant. I just answered "No" to everything and wrote in the comments section something like "I am 38 years old and have no retirement income or pension benefits." Cleared up in about a week after that. The worst thing you can do is ignore it thinking it's a mistake - that's how claims get stuck in limbo for months!

UPDATE: I wanted to let everyone know what worked for me! I tried several of the suggestions here: 1. First, I sent the hardship message through the ESD portal - no response after 3 days 2. I tried calling at 7:59am - still couldn't get through after multiple attempts 3. I used Claimyr as suggested above and actually got through to a real person! The agent explained that my claim was flagged because I had worked remotely for a company in another state for 3 months last year, which triggered an interstate wage investigation. She expedited my review and my claim was approved just two days later! I received all my back payments yesterday (about $5,800 total for the weeks I'd been claiming). Such a relief! Thanks to everyone who offered advice here.

Wow, what a journey! I'm so glad you got it resolved @Benjamin Carter. This thread has been super helpful for me too - I'm currently at week 6 of adjudication and was starting to panic. The interstate wage issue explanation makes total sense, and it's frustrating that ESD doesn't communicate these specific reasons upfront. I'm going to try the Claimyr service since calling directly hasn't worked for me either. Thanks for coming back to update us with what actually worked - that kind of follow-up is so valuable for others going through the same thing!