I'm a substitute teacher who went through this exact process last year and wanted to add a few practical tips that really helped me! Beyond all the great advice already shared, here are some specific things to consider: **Before applying**: Call your district's benefits office (not just HR) - they often have more detailed information about substitute employment classification and may have template letters they've provided to other subs for EDD purposes. **Application strategy**: When describing your work pattern, be specific with numbers. I wrote something like "worked 0 days in 8 out of 20 weeks this semester" - concrete data helps EDD understand the inconsistency better than general descriptions. **During the process**: Save EVERYTHING - emails about available assignments, your substitute portal login history showing when you checked for jobs, even text screenshots if your district uses those. I had to provide additional documentation during my claim review and having everything organized made a huge difference. **Work search requirement**: Remember that while collecting benefits, you'll need to document job search activities. Apply for summer camps, tutoring centers, educational nonprofits, etc. - not just traditional teaching jobs. **Patience with the system**: My initial application was "pending" for almost 5 weeks before approval. Don't panic if it takes time - the system moves slowly but many subs do get approved eventually. The financial relief during summer was incredible after months of unpredictable income. Definitely worth the paperwork hassle! Feel free to ask if you have questions about any specific part of the process.

I'm a substitute teacher who just went through this process successfully this past summer! Reading through this thread brings back so many memories of my own confusion and stress about the whole situation. Here's my experience and some additional tips: **My situation**: Similar to yours - inconsistent work for about 8 months as a sub, some weeks with 4-5 days, many weeks with absolutely nothing. I was also terrified about applying because I'd heard horror stories about EDD denying educational workers. **What actually happened**: I applied the day after my last assignment in June and got approved after about 4 weeks! The key was being completely transparent about my situation and using the right language that EDD recognizes. **Specific tips that worked for me**: 1. I requested a letter from my district specifically stating I was a "substitute employee with no guaranteed minimum hours or income" - this was crucial documentation 2. I tracked my work pattern for the last semester: 23 total days worked spread across 36 possible weeks, with 13 weeks having zero assignments 3. When they asked about "reasonable assurance," I explained that being on the substitute list only means I'm eligible to be called, not that I'm guaranteed any actual work **During summer**: I collected benefits for 9 weeks while actively job searching. The work search requirement wasn't too burdensome - I applied to summer programs, tutoring centers, and even some retail positions to show I was genuinely seeking employment. **One thing nobody mentioned**: Keep copies of any substitute handbook or orientation materials that mention the "as-needed" or "on-call" nature of the work. This helped support my case that substitute teaching isn't regular part-time employment. Don't let fear stop you from applying - you have a legitimate claim! The worst they can say is no, but many of us do get approved. Good luck!

I'm dealing with something similar right now! Just got laid off from my regular job last month and have been doing DoorDash on the side for extra income. The whole reporting process definitely seems more complicated than what I heard about during the pandemic. From what I've learned so far, the key difference is that during COVID there was PUA which was specifically for gig workers, but now we're back to regular unemployment rules. I've been reporting my DoorDash earnings each week when I certify - it's nerve-wracking at first but you get used to it. One thing that's helped me is setting up a simple spreadsheet to track my weekly earnings from DoorDash. I note the week dates and exactly what I earned (after platform fees but before my gas/car expenses). Then when I certify, I just reference that spreadsheet. The good news is that as long as you're honest about your earnings, you should still get some benefits even if they're reduced. It's way better than risking fraud penalties by not reporting! Hope this helps - we're all figuring out the post-pandemic rules together.

I've been in a similar situation and want to emphasize something that might not be totally clear from the other responses: the earnings threshold that triggers $0 benefits isn't just your weekly benefit amount. EDD has a specific formula: if your gross weekly earnings exceed 130% of your weekly benefit amount, you get $0 for that week (but your claim stays active). So if your weekly benefit is $450, you'd get $0 if you earn more than $585 from Uber in a week. Below that threshold, they use the 75% deduction rule others mentioned. This is very different from pandemic PUA rules where you could earn quite a bit more before losing benefits entirely. Also, make sure you understand that EDD considers the week you WORKED, not when you got paid. So if you drove Uber Monday-Sunday, report those earnings on the certification for that same week, even if Uber doesn't pay you until the following Tuesday. Keep screenshots of your weekly earnings summary from the Uber app - this will save you if there are any questions later!

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this E4301 nightmare - I just went through the exact same thing last week and it nearly drove me to tears! What finally worked for me was actually a combination of several suggestions I found scattered across different forums. First, I had to temporarily unfreeze my credit (I'd completely forgotten about that), then I used my EXACT legal name as it appears on my Social Security card rather than how I normally write it. The game-changer though was matching my address format to what appeared on my most recent W-2 instead of my credit report - apparently the IRS database formatting is what ID.me prioritizes for some reason. I also switched to using my old phone number from before I got married and changed my name. It took about 6 different attempts with various combinations, but I finally got through. Don't give up - there's definitely a magic formula that will work for you, it's just a matter of finding the right combination of variables that their broken system wants to see!

This whole thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I'm dealing with the same E4301 error for the past week and honestly thought I was going insane until I found this discussion. The variety of solutions that worked for different people really shows how fundamentally broken ID.me's verification system is. I've been trying the one-variable approach but clearly need to switch to the multi-variable strategy that worked for @Hazel Garcia and others. Planning to try: unfreezing my credit (totally forgot I had that!), using my full legal name exactly as it appears on my Social Security card, formatting my address to match my W-2 instead of credit report (thanks @StarSeeker for that tip!), and digging up my old phone number from before I moved carriers. The fact that we need to become digital forensics experts just to access unemployment benefits is absolutely ridiculous, but at least this community has created an amazing troubleshooting guide! Will definitely report back with my results - hopefully I can add another success story to help the next person stuck in E4301 hell.

I'm completely new to this community and just started collecting unemployment after being laid off from my accounting job last week. This entire discussion has been absolutely incredible to read through! I was really panicking about potentially needing to withdraw from my 401k to cover some unexpected home repairs, and I had zero knowledge about how it would affect my EDD benefits. Seeing Cass's real-world experience unfold exactly as all the experienced community members predicted - with just that one-week impact and then everything returning to normal - has given me such enormous relief. The detailed step-by-step explanations from Holly about proper reporting procedures and all the personal experiences shared by Malia and others make this process so much clearer than anything I could find trying to navigate the confusing EDD website on my own. It's truly amazing how knowledgeable and supportive everyone is here - the willingness to share real experiences and practical advice to help newcomers like me understand the system is invaluable. The key takeaway about being completely honest and accurate in reporting, even when it means losing benefits for that one week, is exactly the kind of guidance I desperately needed. Thank you all for creating such a welcoming and informative community where people can get real answers during these incredibly stressful financial situations!

I'm brand new to this community and just started collecting unemployment after being laid off from my manufacturing job yesterday. This thread has been absolutely incredible to discover! I was really stressed about potentially needing to withdraw from my 401k to help with some urgent car repairs that I need to get back to job searching, and I had no clue how it would impact my EDD benefits. Reading through Cass's entire experience from start to finish - seeing the initial worry, getting advice from knowledgeable members like Holly and Finley, and then the real-time update showing it really did only affect one week exactly as predicted - has been such a huge relief. The way this community shares practical, real-world experiences instead of just confusing official guidelines is amazing. It's so reassuring to know that being honest and reporting accurately is the right approach, even if it means taking that one-week hit. The support and knowledge here makes dealing with unemployment feel so much less overwhelming. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this discussion - this is exactly the kind of guidance newcomers like me desperately need!

@Brandon Brown Yes, federal holidays absolutely affect EDD's certification schedule! Veterans Day would definitely push things back by a day or two. Based on all the experiences shared in this thread, holiday delays are super common with EDD's system. Since last Tuesday was Veterans Day, your certification weeks will probably appear Monday or Tuesday instead of the usual Sunday. The same thing happened during Memorial Day weekend as discussed earlier in this thread - everyone's weeks were delayed until Monday/Tuesday. EDD's system runs these batch processes overnight on Sundays, but when there's a federal holiday, it throws off their entire processing schedule. It's frustrating that they never communicate these delays proactively, but it's completely normal. I'd check again tomorrow (Monday) afternoon and Tuesday morning if nothing shows up. If you still don't see your weeks to certify by Tuesday evening, then you might want to call EDD. But based on everyone's experiences here, it's almost certainly just the Veterans Day delay affecting the system. Hang in there - the waiting is always nerve-wracking but holiday delays are just part of how EDD operates unfortunately!

@Brandon Brown I'm dealing with the exact same thing right now! Veterans Day definitely threw off the usual schedule. I've been collecting for about 3 months and every single federal holiday causes this delay - it's like EDD's system gets completely confused by any break in their routine. What I've learned from this amazing thread and my own experience is that the certification weeks usually appear 1-2 business days after they normally would when there's been a federal holiday. Since Veterans Day was Tuesday, I'm expecting my weeks to show up either late today or tomorrow morning. The waiting is always stressful, especially when you're counting on that income, but this is just another one of those EDD quirks we all have to deal with. I'd definitely check again tomorrow afternoon and if nothing shows up by Tuesday, then maybe consider calling. This thread has been such a lifesaver for understanding all these unwritten rules about how EDD actually operates. It's crazy that we have to figure this stuff out through trial and error instead of EDD just communicating it clearly!