Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

Re: Unemployment Insurance

I agree with Ms. Beecher. You may also want to contact the owner of the company.

Re: Unemployment Insurance

Well, your employer is in violation of the law, for starts, unless you were an officer of the company AND were notified in writing that your wages were not being reported. Unfortunately, the penalties for violation of the law do not seem to include compensation payable to you. (In other words, the state can fine the employer, and jail time of up to a year is also a possibility, but the statute covering the penalties does not include a way for you to collect from your employer.)

My reading of RCW 50.20.010 is that you should be able to collect benefits if you meet the qualifications. It does not include a requirement that your employer has complied with the law and paid in. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the state has a way to collect from the employer, but you don't.

However, I have not done an in depth study of the law on this for you, because I will instead recommend that you contact the Unemployment Law Project (http://unemploymentlawproject.org - sorry, lawguru software will not let me add their phone number). This is a nonprofit group that provides free legal advice regarding unemployment compensation. They will be able to tell you whether my cursory reading of the statutes is correct and if so, or even if not, what your next step is.

Good luck!