EDD SDI application confusion - reporting last full week's pay for biweekly earner

I went thru this exact thing last year. What the EDD wants is just the WEEKLY amount. So yeah, divide the biweekly payment by 2 and put that number. But make sure you're using the gross amount (before taxes and stuff) not the take-home pay!

For the "last full week's pay" section, you need to enter your cousin's gross (pre-tax) wages for the last complete calendar week (Sunday through Saturday) that they worked before their disability began. Since he's paid biweekly, you'll need to calculate what portion of his paycheck applied to that specific week. If he worked the same hours both weeks, dividing by 2 is correct. If his hours varied between those two weeks, you should calculate the actual earnings for the specific last calendar week before disability. Also, make sure to keep documentation of how you calculated this figure in case EDD has questions later.

my wife did this wrong and the edd sent back her application and made her start all over!! be super careful bcuz they are PICKY about this stuff

When I applied for SDI last month, I called EDD about 15 times before getting through to confirm this exact question (also get paid biweekly). Was so frustrating. After calling for 3 days straight, I finally found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an EDD agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/1X-mEsLtbmQ?si=1hcSq3KFtCr4oAmd The agent confirmed that for biweekly pay, you should report the gross earnings for the last complete calendar week (Sunday-Saturday) before disability started. If the hours were consistent across pay periods, dividing by 2 is fine. But if your cousin worked overtime in one of those weeks, you'd need to be more specific about which hours fell in that final week.

i think everyone here is overthinking this?? just look at his last paycheck stub thing and it should show the breakdown by week? most payroll systems do that now

I've processed TONS of disability paperwork in my HR career, and this question always confuses people! The "last full week's pay" refers to the last complete calendar week (Sunday-Saturday) before the disability began. If your cousin's disability started on a Monday, then you need the week that ended on the Saturday before that Monday. Since he's paid biweekly, you'll need to calculate what portion of his pay applies to that specific week. If his work hours and pay were consistent across both weeks of the pay period, then yes, dividing by 2 is correct. Make sure you're using GROSS pay (before taxes and deductions). If he had any overtime, shift differentials, or varying hours between those two weeks, you should try to calculate the actual earnings for just that last week specifically. If you can't determine that precisely, use the average as you suggested, but note in the comments section that you provided an average weekly amount from a biweekly pay period.

U know what REALLY sucks is when ur on variable pay like me (commission sales) n ur trying to figure this out. I just averaged my last 3 months paychecks and put that down n somehow they accepted it lol 🤷‍♂️

BTW make sure ur cousin knows there's a 7-day waiting period before benefits start!! So many ppl dont realize this and then freak out when they don't get paid for the first week. EDD wont tell u this up front, its buried in the fine print somewhere