In late June, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the eligibility criteria listed in the state law were not exclusive. Therefore, if applicants for unemployment benefits had other good reasons to quit their jobs, it was within the discretion of the Employment Security Department (ESD) to approve such applicants for benefits. In response the ESD has issued an emergency rule, under which applicants who quit due to work-related conditions might still be eligible for unemployment benefits. This “allows Employment Security to begin reviewing all voluntary-quit decisions that are not yet final. These include decisions still in process at Employment Security or under appeal at the Office of Administrative Hearing or at the Commissioner’s Review Office.” Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on this emergency ruling by the Washington ESD.