If the Employment Security Department (ESD) has denied your unemployment benefits, you have the right to file an appeal with ESD. Here is a link to ESD's dashboard. (https://esd.wa.gov/unemployment/dashboard)
Your appeal will be heard by the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). OAH is an independent agency and is not associated with the ESD.
Due to the historically high volume of appeals (more than 100,000 in 2021), it is taking much longer to process them. This dashboard shows the average processing time for appeals, including:
Next steps:
When your hearing is scheduled, you will receive a notice of hearing in the mail. This will explain how to prepare for your hearing. It will include instructions for calling in to the telephone hearing. OAH will send the notice of hearing at least 7 days before your hearing. The OAH website has much more information about how to prepare for your hearing.
How to check if OAH has your case:
Call us at (800) 583-8271 to learn how to use our portal to access your case and submit documents.
If you have not received a notice of hearing within 60 days of filing your appeal, please contact the OAH Call Center at (800) 583-8271. The Call Center may be able to provide you with a participant ID to the OAH Portal to check the status of your appeal.
OAH is aggressively working to reduce the number of pending cases:
• We are adding more ALJs and staff to work on these cases.
• We are working with ESD to identify cases that can be resolved without a hearing.
• We are making outbound calls to ensure parties have all necessary process information in advance of the hearing to reduce postponements and “no shows.”
We also have an expedited hearing process for claimants with significant financial hardship.
