Quick clarification on something important: Your father may qualify for Disability Insurance Benefits instead of returning to his UI claim. If his stroke occurred before he could return to work, his disability claim could potentially be backdated to when his medical condition began (the date of his stroke).\n\nHowever, be aware that there's a maximum filing timeframe - claims filed more than 49 days after the disability began may be disqualified unless there's a good reason for the delay. In your father's case, if you file within 49 days of his stroke, you should be fine.\n\nAlso, once the SDI claim is approved, he would receive approximately 60-70% of his regular wages (based on a calculation of his highest quarter earnings in the base period), up to the maximum weekly benefit amount, which is $1,620 in 2025.

Thank you for this additional information. So if I understand correctly, we should focus on the SDI claim first since it can be backdated to when he had the stroke, and then separately try to resolve the UI claim for the February-to-stroke period? The SDI benefit amount sounds much better than what he would get from UI anyway.

My cousin works at EDD and told me that if you get final paychecks AFTER your disability started, they will adjust your benefit start date. So you'll probably start getting SDI payments after May 15th (that's May 8th + the 7 day waiting period). Hope that helps!

Update: I filed my claim yesterday with April 21 as my disability start date and made sure to include information about my May 8th paycheck. The EDD representative I finally reached confirmed that was the correct approach. Now I'm just waiting for my doctor to submit the medical certification. Thanks everyone for your help!

Update: I've had several clients resolve this successfully by doing the following: 1) Have your doctor fax a "Disability Claim Closure Request" (they should know what this is) to EDD specifying the exact end date 2) Once that's processed (usually 2-3 business days), your PFL claim should automatically activate If you need this resolved immediately, calling is still your best option. Be very specific with the agent about needing to close the disability claim on the original expected return-to-work date so your PFL can begin.

let us know what happens! i might need to do PFL after my disability ends next month too

Here's what worked for me: 1. Call early in the morning, like right when they open. 2. If you get the 'too many callers' message, hang up and immediately redial. 3. Once you're in the queue, DO NOT HANG UP no matter how long it takes. 4. Have all your info ready - claim number, last employer details, etc. 5. Be polite but firm with the rep you get. It took me about 2 hours of redialing, but I finally got through and got my issue resolved. Good luck!

lol watch them fix the phone system right after we all finally get our claims sorted 🤡

Yo creo que deberíamos organizarnos y hacer una protesta frente a las oficinas. Ya es hora de que nos escuchen y mejoren el servicio!

Che, yo trabaje en un call center hace tiempo y te puedo decir que el problema no son los agentes, sino el sistema. Nos daban objetivos imposibles y herramientas que no funcionaban bien. Es frustrante para todos.