California Unemployment
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When can you get unemployment benefits in California EDD?
Lost my job at a logistics company last month after they cut my entire department. First time I've ever had to file for unemployment in my life and I genuinely have no idea how any of this works. I went on the California EDD site and started an application but I keep second-guessing myself on the basics — like when am I actually allowed to start collecting? Do I have to wait until I find a new job and it falls through, or can I file right now? And does it matter that I only worked there for about 14 months? I keep reading different things online and I'm going more confused by the minute. Any help appreciated.
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Is unemployment based on gross net income? California EDD explained
Okay so I just got laid off last week and I'm filling out the application on myEDD right now and I keep getting tripped up on the wages section. When California EDD calculates what your weekly benefit is going to be, do they look at your gross pay (before taxes) or your net pay (what actually hits your bank account)? My gross and net are pretty different because I have a lot of deductions coming out each check for health insurance and my 401k contributions. I want to make sure I'm putting in the right numbers because I don't want to mess up my claim from the start. Anyone know which one EDD actually uses?
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Filed last month when my hours got cut below 32 a week, not a full layoff. EDD bases partial unemployment on gross wages too right, same calculation even though I'm still working?
okay good, was afraid my situation being partial instead of full layoff changed how they calculated everything. glad to know the gross wage basis is the same.
Partial unemployment is really underused. A lot of people don't realize you can file when hours get cut, they think you have to be fully out of work.
Last thing worth flagging here: taxes on unemployment benefits. Your benefits are federal taxable income. You can opt into 10 percent federal withholding each time you certify if you don't want a surprise at tax time. California doesn't tax them at the state level so at least there's that. The 1099G will be in UI Online by January 31 if you go paperless, or EDD mails it in January.
A lot of people get a rough surprise in April when they haven't withheld anything. The 10 percent option you can choose right in the certification process, doesn't require any separate form.
California not taxing it is actually nice. Federal is enough of a hit on its own.
Can you work part time and still collect unemployment in California EDD?
So I got laid off from my full-time warehouse job about six weeks ago and I've been certifying every two weeks since. My buddy offered me some shifts at his food truck — maybe 15-20 hours a week, nothing guaranteed — and now I'm panicking because I don't know if taking any of that work kills my benefits entirely. Like does even ONE shift mean I lose everything for that week? I tried reading the EDD website but honestly it made my head spin. Can you work part time and still collect unemployment or is it all-or-nothing? Really need to figure this out before I commit to anything with my buddy because I can't afford to lose my UI payments completely.
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My situation just got more complicated and reading this thread has been helpful. Got laid off from my restaurant job and immediately picked up catering gigs through a staffing agency — but the staffing agency pays on a net-30 basis so I literally don't get paid for work I do today until a month from now. How do I certify the right week when the payment is so delayed? Getting anxious about this.
The Report Wages option in UI Online is good for exactly this — you can enter what you earned per week before certifying and see how it'll affect your payment, so you're not just guessing.
Thank you, didn't know that was in there. Going to look for it tonight when I log in.
Coming back to update — I went ahead and took the food truck shifts this past week. Used the Report Wages tool before certifying like a few people here suggested. Reported everything I earned, certified, and got a partial payment two days later. The math worked out exactly the way people here explained it. Honestly I was way more stressed about this than I needed to be. Thanks everyone.
Great outcome. The first partial certification is always the scariest and then it becomes routine pretty fast.
And now you know what week to report it under for every future shift. You've got the hang of it.
How much is unemployment a month in California? Trying to budget on EDD
Okay so I just got laid off from my warehouse job last Friday and I'm trying to figure out if I can even survive on unemployment while I look for something new. My rent is $1,650 and I honestly have no idea how to plan around this. How much is unemployment a month in California? Like is there an actual number I can count on or does it vary? I've heard people say it's like $450 a week max but I also heard it depends on what you made before. I filed online through myEDD (https://myedd.edd.ca.gov/) yesterday and it's just showing my application as submitted. No numbers yet, nothing. I need to figure out if I should be burning through my savings or if EDD will actually cover most of my basics.
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The live chat option from the Help button in UI Online is something more people should know about — available Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. — but you have to be logged into your account to access it. Phone line at 1-800-300-5616 is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Early morning right when it opens tends to have shorter wait times than calling at 10 or 11.
If you use the chat, have your claim info ready — they move faster when you can answer questions immediately rather than going back to look things up.
The 8 a.m. opening on the phone has gotten more competitive over the years. I tried for days calling right at 8 and still got the 'high call volume' message. The live chat was actually faster for a simple question I had.
Accrued PTO payout question from earlier — I had the same situation and ended up needing to phone EDD directly about it. DE 429Z came showing my weekly amount at $298, but then my Claim History showed weeks Pending right after my vacation payout was reported. Used Claimyr to reach an EDD agent about it since the phone line was impossible to get through. The agent pulled up my account and said EDD was reviewing how the vacation pay fell within my claim weeks and that I'd get a Notice of Determination in the mail once they'd made a decision. All my certified weeks were queued up and waiting so I didn't lose them.
Certifying through any pending period is the most important thing. Weeks you don't certify can't be paid even if EDD later decides you were eligible for them.
The Notice of Determination is what actually tells you how EDD ruled on a question like that. If you disagree with it you have 30 days from the mailing date to appeal using the DE 1000M form that comes with it.
What does processed pending payment mean for unemployment in California EDD?
Filed my claim about five weeks ago after getting laid off from my warehouse job in Sacramento. Everything seemed to be going okay at first — I got the DE 429Z in the mail showing my weekly amount, registered on CalJOBS, did all the stuff EDD said to do. Certified for my first two weeks and then... nothing. When I go into UI Online and look at my Claim History, both weeks show as 'Processed' but then there's this 'Pending Payment' status sitting there. No money on my Money Network card, no explanation anywhere on the screen. I don't know if 'Processed' means EDD looked at my weeks and 'Pending Payment' means the money is still on its way, or if something is wrong with my claim and it's stuck. It's been six days since I certified. Is this normal or is my claim actually in trouble? Anyone dealt with this exact status before?
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Did you register in CalJOBS and post a resume within the 21-day window they give you after the DE 8405 notice? Missing that step can hold up payments too. It doesn't come up as an obvious flag in UI Online but it can affect things behind the scenes.
Good — that rules out one more possible cause. With identity done, CalJOBS done, and a clean layoff, the most likely thing is either a system lag or a wage verification step on EDD's end.
Always smart to have a record of when you completed the CalJOBS step, exactly for situations like this where EDD might be investigating what's held up.
Tried messaging through UI Online yesterday for my own claim that's been in the same status — ended up getting a response today saying EDD needed additional information to verify my wages from my last employer. So for anyone wondering if the message option actually works, it did in my case. Couldn't get through on the phone but the message got answered in about 24 hours. Used Claimyr on a separate week that was stuck for a different reason — that one I needed to actually speak to someone about because the written message wasn't resolving it. The agent told me the hold on that week was tied to an employer response that hadn't come in yet.
An employer response hold — meaning EDD was waiting on information from your former employer before releasing the payment?
Yes, the agent explained that EDD had reached out to the employer to verify separation details and the employer hadn't responded in time. Once that cleared, the payment released. The employer not responding doesn't automatically deny the claim, it just causes a delay.
Cass Green
Part-time work while collecting — this is where people get nervous for no reason. Working some hours doesn't end your benefits automatically. Report every dollar you earn the week you earned it. The first $25 or 25 percent of gross earnings (whichever is higher) doesn't get subtracted, only the rest does.
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Myles Regis
AuthorThis is really helpful for me since I'm planning to freelance a little while I look. So I'd just report those earnings on each certification and EDD adjusts the amount?
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Cass Green
Exactly that. Use the Report Wages option in UI Online to track what you earned before you certify for the week. And remember it's the week you did the work, not the week the client pays you.
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Jacinda Yu
Technically the right thing to do when you can't reach EDD but need an answer fast — there's also the Ask EDD option on EDD's site, which is a contact form. Gets a response in a few days usually. Not as good as a phone call but beats sending a message into nothing.
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Jacinda Yu
Fair point. For anything involving my actual claim numbers I'd probably still try the phone.
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Callum Savage
Had a similar experience — Ask EDD gave me a form letter about certification timelines when I needed to know about a specific hold on my account. Ended up using claimyr.com to reach an agent who could actually see my claim and told me which weeks were still pending and why the amount was lower than I expected on the DE 429Z.
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