EDD SDI certification question - automatic payments or bi-weekly certification required?

Good news! SDI works differently than unemployment. Once your claim is approved, payments are generally automatic until either your claim period ends or your doctor releases you to return to work. You don't need to certify every two weeks like with UI benefits. Depending on how long your doctor initially certified you for, you may need to submit a supplemental medical certification if your recovery extends beyond that initial period. Did your doctor specify an expected recovery date on your initial paperwork?

your confusing SDI w/ unemployment!! with SDI u dont gotta certify every 2 weeks, its auto until the end date on ur claim or till ur doc says ur good. thats why they call it DISABILITY not unemployment lol

What everyone is saying is right - SDI doesn't require bi-weekly certification like unemployment. BUT there's one important thing to know: if your doctor initially certified you for less time than you end up needing, you'll need to get another medical certification before your current one expires. Otherwise, your payments will stop automatically at the end of your initial certification period. I had a similar back surgery last year and my doctor initially certified me for 8 weeks, but I ended up needing 12 weeks total. I had to get my doctor to fill out another certification form around week 6-7 to extend my claim. Don't wait until the last minute because processing can take time!

I went through this exact situation with my knee replacement in January. SDI is mostly automatic, but there are some situations where they might send you forms to fill out: 1. If they need to verify your continued disability (random checks) 2. If you're approaching the end of your initial certification period 3. If anything changes with your claim Make sure you keep an eye on your mail AND your SDI Online account. Sometimes they send notices to one but not the other. And watch out for the EDD debit card - if this is your first claim, they'll send you one even if you selected direct deposit. You'll need to activate it and transfer any funds from it to your bank account, as sometimes payments get split between direct deposit and the card.

The system is DESIGNED to be confusing! I was on disability last year and everything was fine until suddenly my payments stopped. No warning, nothing. Turns out they sent some random verification form to my old address even though I updated my info online. When I called, the rep admitted this happens ALL THE TIME but they keep doing it anyway! The whole system is a mess and they WANT people to miss deadlines so they don't have to pay.

Just wanted to share something helpful - if you do need to contact EDD about your disability claim (which you probably won't need to for regular payments), I recently used a service called Claimyr when I needed to talk to someone about my extension paperwork not being processed. Saved me hours of busy signals and automated hangups. Their site is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/1X-mEsLtbmQ?si=1hcSq3KFtCr4oAmd It got me through to an actual person in about 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone needs to actually reach EDD.

wait so lets say my doctor certified me for 3 months but I feel better after 2 months and want to go back to work early... do I need to tell EDD or just start working?? will I get in trouble if I don't tell them??

One other thing to watch for - around the time your claim might need extension, you'll often get a form called the "DE 2525XX" (Continued Claim Certification) in the mail. This is NOT the same as regular UI certification. It's basically asking if anything has changed with your medical condition or work status. Complete and return this form right away if you get it, as your payments can be delayed or stopped if you don't. Some people confuse this with regular certification and ignore it, thinking their payments are automatic. The form is simple but important.

im on pregnancy disability and its totally different from regular disability just fyi. for pregnancy you DO have to submit forms every time even when its automatic for regular disability. the EDD website is super confusing about this!!! i almost lost a payment because i didnt realize this.