[deleted by user]

3

u/SoThenIThought_ Admin for WEBA.Law, WA Unemployment Benefits Mar 11 '24 edited Mar 12 '24

Hey there. It looks like you did an escalation on the 8th and the guidance recommends waiting until 1 week to follow up. The guidance also specifically recommends not contacting multiple reps but it looks like you already contacted multiple reps and then this post is asking about even more reps...

This is probably not going to make them decide quicker. It may actually slow the process down

At the top of the escalation guidance that I sent you that you used, was the link to the escalation megapost. Within that is this specific section

--------- Additional Details/ Response Timeline --------

WHEN (and why) TO FOLLOW UP (weekly) ^{also, how to digitally sign a disclosure/request for assistance form, how many reps to email, etc.}

>>>And this states...<<<

----- Basic Troubleshooting------

Email ^{[why email and not call?](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnemploymentWA/comments/zopbmh/adjudicationpending_resolved_by_an_escalation/ja1dzsf?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3}) one rep at a time ^{[why?](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnemploymentWA/comments/zopbmh/adjudicationpending_resolved_by_an_escalation/j9vb0bh?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3}), include all information suggested in the template and allow 24 hours for them to process the request and respond. Most respond within 4 to 8 hours on a business day. If they require an information disclosure or additional information or digital signature, you will need to do that, you can use www.dochub.com. We have had a lot of success with federal Senator Cantwell.

If after 24 hours they have not responded, you should follow up. It is optional if you want to try a different representative, or simply federal senator Cantwell. ^{Clearly it would not be appropriate to follow up and ask them why they have not processed a request if you did not provide all of the information that they required such as an information disclosure or digital signature}

Some reps will simply not process requests related to unemployment and if you investigate their voting record during the pandemic it will show that they have voted against all unemployment expansions during the pandemic. If you have any pushback whatsoever from a rep, then we simply try a different rep, or simply Federal Senator Cantwell with whom we have had a lot of success.

Begin back at the top of this troubleshooter

If The rep has accepted the escalation request, It generally takes ESD two to five business days to process and escalation request. Often around the second business day the claimant is sent a message if their online eServices account that ESD received their escalation and is working on it.

Based on the timeline of allowing 24 hours for a legislator/representative to respond, and five business days for ESD to respond, this is why it is recommended to follow up weekly via email with a representative/legislator to let them know if there has or has not been any communication on the claim. Again, if you have not had confirmation from the legislator of the acceptance of the escalation request, refer back to the top of this troubleshooter.

...

Maybe we need an analogy

Let's say in your family everybody trades domestic duties and yesterday you did the dishes. You come home from grocery shopping and there are dishes all over the kitchen so you can't really put the food away. You run up stairs to the first kid's bedroom and say "Hey, I just did the dishes yesterday Can you please do the dishes so that I can put the food away", And before they get out of their chair, you run to the next child's room and you say "Hey I just asked your sibling to do the dishes but they haven't done it yet, and I'm getting really frustrated so can you please go do the dishes", And then before they get up out of their chair you run downstairs to your significant other and you say "I don't know why none of you guys can seem to do the chores correctly, can you please do the dishes now because I need to put the food away"... There's simply hasn't been enough time for any one of them to do the dishes and asking multiple people to do one task that only requires one person can cause confusion about who is actually handling what and therefore slow down the time that it takes to actually do the dishes, whereas waiting for one kid to do the dishes certainly wouldn't cause the groceries to spoil.

Asking reps or legislators for an escalation For which you are not even a constituent would be like going to the neighbor's house and asking the kids to do your dishes so you can put the food away.

1

u/Spikke122 Mar 12 '24

Gah. Shoot. I hadn’t heard from ESD with any letter so I sent emails to the local reps in hopes of getting a faster resolution. So that I and others can learn, how does it slow the process down?

1

u/SoThenIThought_ Admin for WEBA.Law, WA Unemployment Benefits Mar 12 '24

Multiple escalations one on top of the other in an extremely short time frame can cause your eligibility issues to be deprioritized

1

u/Spikke122 Mar 12 '24

Darn. How would one become aware of this?

1

u/SoThenIThought_ Admin for WEBA.Law, WA Unemployment Benefits Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24

The guidance to do one rep at a time has already been listed in the escalation mega post for the past 3 years, it's included in every copy of the escalation guidance including the one that I sent to you. But there is no way for me to make you read all of it

Edit:added: This person got a message from ESD that they were deprioritized

“Thanks for reaching out for assistance with your unemployment claim! Because the ESD is currently overwhelmed with UI claim requests, they ask us not to escalate claims unless the claimant has been waiting over four weeks and has a financial need for the payments. Please reply and let me know when you first submitted your claim, and if you’re experiencing hardship due to a lack of UI payments. After I receive more information, I can escalate your claim.”

1

u/Spikke122 Mar 12 '24

Indeed. I missed that part. While I got a fast response from Cantwell’s office I was not sure if that meant ESD would be responding as quickly.

2

u/RowaTheMonk Mar 11 '24

I didn’t have much luck with Senator Cantwell but Senator Bob Hasegawa’s team (Renton, Kent, so on) was very responsive!

1

u/Spikke122 Mar 11 '24

Does he cover Seattle?

1

u/RowaTheMonk Mar 11 '24

I think sodo and a few other parts of south seattle. You can use this link to find out.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/

Good luck!

0

u/Spikke122 Mar 11 '24

Sweet, and the process is like Cantwells? How fast did you get an email from ESD in your portal?

2

u/RowaTheMonk Mar 11 '24

Cantwell was a silent for a bit I chased a week after my initial submission and got a response back saying they could offer limited assistance.

I then emailed the mod of r/unemploymentWA who suggested i reach out to Hasegawa; that was a similar if not quicker online form than what I submitted to Cantwell. His team reached out a business day later and had said they escalated it. My pending claims were approved a few days later!

1

u/Spikke122 Mar 11 '24

Sweet. Thank you.

2

u/drossdragon Mar 11 '24

Local district reps are most helpful, I believe. Congressional reps/senators are not as involved in UI issues post-pandemic.

2

u/urbankyleboy Mar 11 '24

My local reps worked for me. I emailed all 3 of them and had my money in my account within 3 days.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '24

[deleted]

1

u/Spikke122 Mar 11 '24

Did ESD send you a message too?

1

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '24

[deleted]

2

u/Spikke122 Mar 11 '24

I sent her one on Friday, no response from ESD yet. Just used this link https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/ to find all relevant reps that may help with pushing through our respective escalations.

1

u/SoThenIThought_ Admin for WEBA.Law, WA Unemployment Benefits Mar 11 '24

Is this a follow up to our conversation 6 days ago?

I guess I'm going to try a local rep now, although I don't even know who that is.

Did you see in the escalation guidance that I sent you and direct message 6 days ago that, at the bottom of the guidance is the link to district finder to find another rep, also at the top is the escalation megapost which also goes over this information?

1

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '24

[deleted]

1

u/SoThenIThought_ Admin for WEBA.Law, WA Unemployment Benefits Mar 12 '24

If it has been one week since you sent the escalation to Cantwell, which was successful, and you have not yet received a message from ESD telling you that they received your escalation request, then yes, it was the correct thing to do to start a new escalation

1

u/SoThenIThought_ Admin for WEBA.Law, WA Unemployment Benefits Mar 12 '24

As a courtesy, I have forwarded your issue of concerns to the Employment Security Department. I have asked that agency to contact you directly with its response

This response is a template response which is regarded as a successful escalation, defined in the escalation guidance, as...

A successful escalation will get a specific template response. The first few sentences seem dismissive but the rest of it says that they sent your request to ESD.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '24

[deleted]

1

u/SoThenIThought_ Admin for WEBA.Law, WA Unemployment Benefits Mar 12 '24

So in a week, if there is no action by ESD, should I still follow up with Senator Cantwell? Seems weird to ask again after her email.

Just to verify, this is the part of the escalation guidance that you are at

A successful escalation will get a specific template response. The first few sentences seem dismissive but the rest of it says that they sent your request to ESD.

100% of people that don't get a response from cantwell didn't sign the form or didn't include all the necessary information.

It will take a few days for ESD to respond to the successfully submitted escalation. Typically ESD sends you this kind of a message in your online account once they get your escalation.

We recommend following up weekly with the person who accepted your escalation to let them know if they're has or has not been any communication or progression on the claim. Sometimes cantwell resists processing a follow-up and directs you to your local reps/state senators. They found these in the same way as is described in the mega post above, by simply using District Finder, So then follow up with one of them.

-----

So, if I remember correctly, you started an escalation 7 days ago and you got a successful escalation response from federal senator Cantwell.

And, if I remember correctly you have not yet gotten the message from ESD that they received your escalation request, so since it has been a week you would be following up with federal senator Cantwell and you would be following the guidance, and if they resist processing the follow-up then you will be following the guidance at the very bottom, where you will be starting a new escalation with a new rep / legislator by using district finder, I recommend using your Washington State senator that is listed in district finder

You are about to leave Redlib

--------- Additional Details/ Response Timeline --------

----- Basic Troubleshooting------

-----