You may be facing unemployment in Washington and are concerned how you will pay for bills, cover rent each month and get by with little to no money.
Thankfully, Washington does have unemployment insurance that helps in times of needs, but are you eligible for the weekly benefit between $317 to $999? Will unemployment cover your expenses? What are your chances of hardship?
Here's what we will cover in this article:
There are many reasons why someone may be unemployed. Unemployment can be caused by termination of employment, furlough, layoffs, or by resignation. All these options have various levels of severity and several reasons why they would happen. Typically, unemployment insurance (UI) kicks in to help financially if you have been relieved of work duties to no fault of your own. Such as a layoff or being furloughed. In some instances, you can still claim and receive unemployment benefits if you were fired.
One of the most important questions to understand is how much you will receive from your unemployment benefit in Washington and how long you will receive it. The State of Washington Unemployment Department has a system for determining how much your weekly UI amount will be. The calculator will also help estimate the maximum length of time that you can receive unemployment in Washington which is 26 weeks.
As such, please feel free to use the Washington unemployment calculator below to estimate your benefit amount.There are several factors that go into determining that amount. If you are curious about how much you will make you can take our unemployment calculator below. These are just estimates based on the official Washington unemployment calculations, as we strive to make sure that our data is as accurate as possible.
You should contact your local Washington unemployment office for clarification and verification of eligibility if this applies to you.
For your reference, here is the Washington unemployment eligibility language: To determine if you are eligible for unemployment benefits we examine: 1. Whether you worked enough hours in your base year: You must have worked at least 680 hours in your base year. At least some wages must have been earned in Washington, unless you recently left the military and are currently located in Washington state. 2. The reason you're unemployed or not working full time. We'll consider whether you: 3. Your availability for work for the weeks you claim.
The process to file a claim for unemployment compensation in Washington is straight forward.
You can start to file your Washington unemployment claim here.
To get started filling your claim plan to spend about 45 minutes to 1 hour on it. You can often either file online or by calling your local unemployment center at 800-318-6022. You may need to have the following information available prior to starting your claim:
If you need assistance filing your claim, you may also search the official website for videos or FAQs.
The process to receive your first unemployment payment in Washington takes about from the date that you filed your initial claim.
After you file your initial claim, you will need to continue filling regular weekly claim each week that you would like to receive benefits. Keep in mind that there me be a mandatory 1-week waiting period that you will not receive benefits for.
The waiting week is the first week you file a weekly claim and meet all eligibility requirements. Before you can start receiving benefits, Washington law requires one waiting week per claim. You will not be paid any money for the week, but claiming the week is required to receive credit for it as a waiting week.
You may be able to find the status of your unemployment on Washington’s unemployment page.
The Washington Unemployment Department has several options to contact them. You can either call their main phone number at 800-318-6022, or you can contact your local unemployment office.
Following the conclusion of your waiting week, you will start receiving weekly benefits for the weeks that you claimed to not have worked. You may be able to receive the benefits from the following method:
You can file a claim for the week prior every Sunday, claims and payments are typically processed within 2 business days. Providing that there were no issues with the information that you submitted. If there was an issue, you will be mailed a letter within 5 business days explaining what you need to do to correct the error so that you can receive your benefits.
The definition of unemployment is someone who is able and ready to work and is not receiving any income from either an employer or self-employment, so there is an aspect of maintaining eligibility in Washington that is important to understand.
Check out the Washington page regarding maintaining eligibility.
To remain eligible for UI benefits in Washington you may have to do the following every week:
Make sure to update the unemployment department if anything changes or you are unable to work. This could impact your eligibility and potentially lead to overpayment, which in some instances could be considered fraud.
If you are working part-time and earn less than your weekly benefit amount, you may be eligible to receive benefits. You must also continue to seek, and be willing to accept permanent, temporary, full-time, and part-time work during each week you continue to claim. You may earn some of your weekly benefit amount (whichever is more) before your benefits are affected. Any earnings above that amount will reduce your benefit payment dollar for dollar.
You must report all work and gross earnings for the week in which you worked, even if you have not been paid yet.
Gross earnings are your earnings before taxes, or any other deductions have been taken out. If you do not accurately report any earnings you end up being overpaid and may face penalties or possible fraud charges. If you have any questions about what is considered income, contact your local unemployment office.
In some instances, your claim for unemployment benefits may be denied. Here are some common reasons why your claim could be denied:
In many cases you can appeal the decision if you believe that you made a mistake or that you should be eligible to receive benefits.
For more information, check out the Washington unemployment denial appeals process.
If your claim is denied, or your weekly amount is reduced you will be mailed an Administrative Decision within a certain number of business days of it happening.
You may receive a form along with the decision which you should fill out and return if you choose to appeal the decision. It is important to note, that if you choose to appeal the decision you should continue to file your weekly claims for benefits.
That way, if the appeal is reached in your favor, you can be paid out for all the weeks you were eligible for. Administrative decisions become final within 20 days (about 3 weeks) from the date they were mailed. It is pertinent that you respond quickly to ensure your greatest chance of success.
You can learn more about the Washington appeals process here.
When you return to full-time work or earn more than or equal to your weekly benefit amount, you can just stop claiming Washington weekly benefits. If you began work in the last week you are claiming, be sure to report your gross earnings, even if you have not been paid yet.
The Employment Department may automatically stop your claim if you:
If your claim was stopped, you must restart your claim in order to receive benefits. Remember your claim is good for 52 weeks. Stopping your claim during that 52 week period will not cancel your claim.
If your claim was stopped because you returned to work, you can restart your claim by using the Online Claims System, or by calling the UI Center. If you have no earnings to report, and your claim was stopped, you need to contact the UI Center so a claims specialist can restart your claim.
Restart your claim during the week you want to begin claiming. You will need to provide employer information if you have worked since you last claimed. This includes the dates worked, the names, phone numbers and addresses of your employer(s), and your gross earnings from those employers. Once you have restarted your claim, remember you must also claim the week after it is over.
Many individuals who get unemployment may be at risk of facing financial hardship. As such, here are some options in Washington to consider if your debt may go behind from unemployment.
If you face unemployment, you may have an easier time qualifying for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Washington. That said, you often have to qualify for bankruptcy using the Washington bankruptcy means test and income limits. For example, below are the income limits for bankruptcy cases filed on or after May 15, 2022 for Washington.
| # of People | Annual Income |
|---|---|
| 1 | $83,033 |
| 2 | $99,852 |
| 3 | $121,292 |
| 4 | $141,177 |
| 5 | $151,077 |
| 6 | $160,977 |
| 7 | $170,877 |
| 8 | $180,777 |
| 9 | $190,677 |
Please note that the income limit is an additional $9,900 per household member greater than 9,
You’re probably wondering how much it costs to file bankruptcy in Washington. The cost to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy is $338, and the cost to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy is $313. This is just the filing fee, and you may be able to get that waived if you are under the fee poverty guidelines for Washington as seen below.
| # of People | 150% Poverty Guideline |
|---|---|
| 1 | $15,060 |
| 2 | $20,440 |
| 3 | $25,820 |
| 4 | $31,200 |
| 5 | $36,580 |
| 6 | $41,960 |
| 7 | $47,340 |
| 8 | $52,720 |
| 9 | $58,100 |
| * Add $5,380 for each individual in excess of 9. | |
That said, the Chapter 7 attorney costs in Washington may range from $700 - $1500 and the Chapter 13 attorney costs in Washington may be approximately $3,500.
Specific cities may have different attorney fee ranges. For example, the estimated attorney fee is $1,500 in Seattle and $1,500 in Spokane
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Washington may not be as common if you face a longer term unemployment. You are on a fix 3 or 5 year payment plan, but if you are not receiving income due to unemployment, it may be difficult to continue making the payments.
Washington Debt Relief is a common option if you want to avoid bankruptcy and want to pay back some of the debt through settling the debt. Please note that you may save money on your debt, but you may face creditor lawsuits, your credit score may be impacted and you may receive collection calls.
Two other common alternatives in Washington are Debt Management and Debt Payoff Planning. In debt management, a credit counseling agency would attempt to negotiate the interest rates of the debt. With debt payoff planning, you would line up your debts and attempt to pay more to each debt each month.
Hopefully this article helps you understand how unemployment works in Washington while allowing you to estimate your benefit amount and how long you would receive that benefit. Please feel free to take the Washington unemployment calculator and let us know if you have any questions at support@tryascend.com.
