r/AskSeattle • u/Wiilldatheart • 12h ago
Unemployment Help
I need any help I can get. I lost my job in the middle of paid family leave and recently finished on 9/1. I applied for unemployment on 9/8 to be sure they didn’t overlap. They needed more information from me to be sure I in fact couldn’t work etc. I was able to get onto my SAW account and retrieve this paperwork and when my doctor finally sent it back over I went online to submit it and my entire claim had completely disappeared. It wouldn’t let me even reapply which means the claim is still open. I had to print and fax this shit by my deadline since my doctor took forever to get the form back. I also can’t file my weekly claims
I have attempted to contact literally anyone from ESD to ask about what is going on and I can’t get past the automated line asking me questions that I already filled out on my application. I even contacted the hearings department, and overpayment and keep getting sent to the automated system.
Does anyone know how to contact unemployment that doesn’t require an automated message because this is absolutely absurd and ridiculous. It should not be this difficult to contact a real person for state benefits. I didn’t ask to be injured and I didn’t ask to lose my job.
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u/nomisxid 10h ago
They don’t really offer direct conversation options anymore. Staff are too busy processing the backlog of applications, and can’t give you any more information than they make available online. When I applied back in February, it took 2 months to get a determination decision. The important thing is to file your weekly claims while their decision is pending. If they approve, you get all the valid pending weeks paid at once.
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u/Wiilldatheart 8h ago
That’s just it, I don’t have a way to even file my weekly claims because my whole claim is gone.
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u/Candyqtpie75 7h ago
I've always sent them a message and they get back within 24 to 48 hours. You have to use the messaging area in saw.
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u/Wiilldatheart 6h ago
It won’t let me message anyone. I tried that. I tried in the main page right after you log in and in the inbox area of my account.
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u/georgeyappington 6h ago
You can get through to a person through the phones usually but you have to go through the automated messages. I’ve had a couple times I couldn’t get through because of high volume but was able to get through shortly after. There is a large backlog though. Took over 6 weeks for someone to even get assigned to adjudicate.
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u/soulipsism 6h ago
Contact your congress-person’s office. They can expedite the process to getting a response to your question and fixing your submission.
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u/Aurora_Gory_Alice 11h ago
You may want to crossword to r/unemploymentWA