Employment Security Department: Frequently asked questions -- March 2009

Employment Security publishes the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate once a month. Workforce Explorer’s Web site includes the latest employment information.

Workers who lose their job through no fault of their own can apply for unemployment benefits online or by phone at 800-318-6022. Telephones and computers are available at all WorkSource offices. Telephone and the Internet are the primary options for filing unemployment claims because they allow us to provide higher-quality and generally faster customer service. When people used to visit local offices to apply for benefits, it was not unusual to wait in line for several hours. 

We also use a standard script on the phone and online that allows us to capture accurate information more quickly. This results in a shorter application process and gets benefits to unemployed workers faster. 

Unemployment benefits are calculated based on earnings. To calculate the benefit amount: 
1.     Add the total wages for the two highest quarters in the past year*.
2.     Divide the total by two.
3.     Multiply by 0.0385. This is the weekly benefit amount, up to a maximum that is established in state law. The state stimulus package adopted in February 2009 temporarily increases the minimum benefit to $155 a week and provides an additional increase of $45 a week for most benefit recipients. In addition, the federal stimulus package temporarily increases benefits by $25 a week for most claimants. Both increases began in May 2009. Together, the two stimulus increases temporarily raise the minimum weekly benefit to $225 and the maximum to $611 for most people receiving unemployment benefits.
 
A person can collect "regular" unemployment benefits for a maximum of 26 weeks. Note:  In 2008, as unemployment rates rose across the country, Congress approved Emergency Unemployment Compensation for people who had run out of regular benefits. In Washington, this provides up to 33 additional weeks of benefits on top of regular unemployment for qualified applicants.
 
* Benefits are calculated based on wages from the previous base year, not the calendar year. The base year if the first four of the last five calendar quarters.

To be eligible for benefits, a person must have worked at least 680 hours in the past year and must have lost a job through no fault of his or her own. To remain eligible each week, the claimant must be physically able to work, available for work and actively seeking suitable work (see “What are the requirements to remain on unemployment?” below). Victims of domestic violence or stalking who voluntarily leave work to protect themselves or their families also may be eligible for unemployment benefits. Spouses of military members who leave their jobs because the military member is transferred also may be eligible for benefits. Spouses must work as long as they can before the transfer. 

Beginning in 2009, corporate officers are covered by unemployment insurance unless the corporation exempts the officers from coverage by January 15.  Only certain officers will be eligible to be exempted.  See Corporate Officer FAQs for more information.

People who collect unemployment must be able to work, available for work and actively seeking suitable work. They must verify that they are meeting these requirements by filing a claim each week. Claims can be filed online or by phone at 800-318-6022. Most claimants are required to apply for at least three jobs or take three workshops through their local WorkSource office every week while they collect benefits. Members of full-referral unions must comply with their union’s dispatch rules.

People who live in other states and worked in Washington may be eligible to collect unemployment benefits in Washington. They are still subject to job-search requirements, which are verified through their local employment centers. If someone goes on vacation and is not available for work while collecting benefits, he or she must report it when filing the weekly claim. People on vacation who are not able and available to work are not eligible for benefits that week.

Employment Security does verify that people are looking for work while collecting benefits. In 2008, more than 53,000 claimants were interviewed to confirm that they were looking for work.  The department identified $7.2 million in overpayments from those job-search reviews. Roughly 10,000 claimants did not report for interviews and were denied benefits as a result.

Suspected unemployment benefit or tax fraud can be reported by calling (toll-free) 866-266-1987.

Employment Security has an aggressive fraud-detection program to prevent people from collecting benefits to which they are not entitled. The agency uses a variety of techniques to catch people, including cross-matching records with the Social Security Administration and the state Department of Labor & Industries. Employment Security also compares unemployment records to the state and national list of new hires, and investigates tips from the public.
 
Those who are caught collecting benefits they shouldn’t receive must pay back the money, with interest, and will be denied benefits for 26 qualified weeks out of the next two years.  Beginning in 2008, state law also imposes a monetary fine for repeat offenders.
 

Each year, the department audits a sample of unemployment claims to measure the accuracy of the benefit payment system. An internal audit sampled 480 out of 319,440 unemployment claims paid in 2008 and found that 88.6 percent were paid accurately. Overpayments were found in 11.4 percent of the reviewed claims. About 90 percent of overpayments occur because inaccurate information is provided by claimants or by employers. Common issues include claimants not telling the truth about why they lost their jobs and employers misreporting wages on quarterly tax reports. Another primary cause of overpayments is claimants not actively looking for work while collecting benefits.

Agency errors, such as approving training for claimants who were not eligible and data-entry mistakes, account for a very small percentage of all overpayments.

Many people think that a lot of claimants file for unemployment year after year, but the data do not support this notion. According to a study of unemployment claimants from January 2002 through June 2006:

•  89 percent filed only one or two claims during that time
• Out of $4.3 billion paid out in claims, about 17 percent went to people who filed three or more claims
• Repeat claimants (three or more claims) collected an average of 53 percent to 56 percent of the total benefits available to them.
  

In 2008, Washington had the fifth-highest benefit rate in the nation. This is largely because Washington is a high-wage state and benefit rates are based on income. Washington ranks tenth in the nation for the percentage of the average weekly wage that is actually replaced by weekly benefit payments, at 41 percent.

On average, people collected unemployment benefits for 13 weeks in 2008. A person may collect regular unemployment benefits for up to 26 weeks.

Disaster unemployment assistance is available to people who are unemployed due to a disaster and who are not eligible for regular unemployment benefits. These include business owners and corporate officers, people who were injured in the disaster and cannot work, people who are prevented from starting a new job due to the disaster, and those who became head of their household due to a death caused by the disaster. Disaster unemployment assistance is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.