California Unemployment
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Which do I pay unemployment taxes to in California EDD?
Okay so I've been going back and forth on this and I cannot figure it out. My coworker told me that the unemployment tax comes out of our paychecks every week the same way CASDI does. But then my other coworker said no, it's the employer who pays it, not us. And now I genuinely don't know which is true. I've looked at my paystub and I see the CASDI line but I don't see anything labeled 'unemployment' anywhere. So who exactly pays unemployment taxes in California? Is it me, my employer, or both of us? I want to understand this before I file my claim next week because I want to know what I'm actually owed and where the money comes from.
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Can you get unemployment if you are part time and your hours get cut even more?
So I've been working part time at a shipping warehouse for about two years, usually pulling around 24 hours a week. Last month my supervisor cut me down to 8 hours with zero warning - just said business was slow and that was that. I'm making maybe $190 a week now versus the $410 I was bringing home before. I looked at the EDD site and I genuinely cannot figure out if someone in my situation can even file. Everything seems written for people who lost their jobs entirely. Can you get unemployment if you are part time and only had your hours slashed instead of being let go completely? I have bills stacking up and I really need to know if this is worth trying.
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CalFresh is worth looking into alongside a partial claim if money is really tight. Unemployment benefits count as income when you apply, so they'd factor into the eligibility calculation, but you can still qualify for food assistance while receiving unemployment payments. Apply through BenefitsCal or call 1-877-847-3663 - the county decides the amount based on your full income picture including the unemployment payments.
Worth a check. The income thresholds are set by the county so the only way to know is to actually apply or call and ask. Some people assume they won't qualify and don't apply when they would have.
Used BenefitsCal last year during a job gap and the application is pretty straightforward. They ask for income documentation including any unemployment award letters so have your DE 429Z handy.
For anyone still on the phone access struggle - I had three weeks of Pending weeks and no luck reaching EDD, tried Claimyr and got an EDD agent on the line who actually looked up my claim. The issue was my identity verification through ID.me hadn't synced with my claim properly even though ID.me showed me as verified on their end. The agent flagged it internally and my pending weeks cleared within two business days.
So there are cases where you do everything right - ID.me verification, CalJOBS, certifying - and it still gets stuck because of a backend sync issue? That's frustrating.
Pretty much. The only real indicator something is wrong is Pending weeks in Claim History and nothing moving. At that point reaching an agent is the only way to find out what's actually stuck.
Can I get unemployment if I retire? California EDD rules explained
So I'm in a weird situation and genuinely don't know how to handle this. I've been with the same company for 22 years and they offered me an early retirement package last month - basically a buyout deal where they're eliminating my position and giving me the option to 'retire' instead of being laid off. HR keeps calling it a retirement but honestly it feels more like they're just getting rid of my role and dressing it up with nicer language. I'm 61, not exactly the age I planned to stop working, and I definitely need income while I figure out what comes next. My question is whether California EDD will treat this as a voluntary quit (retirement) or more like a layoff situation. The package includes a lump-sum severance payment on top of the retirement offer. I applied to UI Online last week and I'm just sitting here wondering if I even have a valid claim or if EDD is going to deny me because of the word 'retirement' in my separation paperwork. Anyone been through something like this? The whole thing has me stressed out because I need these benefits to actually come through.
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Following this thread closely because my situation is almost identical - 24 years, company-wide 'voluntary retirement incentive' offered to everyone over 55 in my division, position being eliminated anyway. Applied through myEDD two weeks ago and I'm just watching Pending weeks stack up. Used Claimyr last Thursday to get an EDD agent on the phone after spending two mornings getting nowhere with the hold times. Turned out there's an open issue on my claim because the employer filed their DE 1101CZ response coding my departure as voluntary. Agent said the interview notice - DE 4800 - should be in my mail within about a week.
She didn't say which way it would go - said EDD decides after the interview based on both sides. But she confirmed the position elimination is exactly what the interview is designed to sort out.
At least you know what's holding it up now. Pending with no explanation is so much worse than Pending with a reason.
For anyone searching this thread later: the base period wages used to calculate your weekly benefit amount come from the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. If your highest earning year was recent but falls slightly outside that window, your weekly amount might look lower than you expected. EDD automatically checks an alternate calculation using the most recent four quarters if the standard one doesn't get you to a valid claim, but that alternate path doesn't bump up the amount on a claim that's already valid.
Exactly - a raise or a strong quarter in the most recent three months often falls outside the standard base period. That's how the timing works, not an error EDD made.
I had no idea about any of this. I just assumed the weekly amount was based on whatever I made most recently. The base period thing is confusing.
How bad is unemployment right now in California? EDD wait times and what to expect
Laid off from my warehouse job about six weeks ago and I genuinely had no idea what I was dealing with until I started going through the California EDD process. Filed online through myEDD pretty quickly, got the DE 429Z in the mail showing my weekly amount, registered on CalJOBS, all of that. But I keep seeing people online saying EDD is slammed right now and I'm starting to wonder if my experience is typical or if I got lucky somehow. My claim has been pending for going on four weeks with no explanation in UI Online. No notice about a phone interview, no denial, nothing. Just every week sitting there saying Pending in my Claim History. Is California EDD actually this backed up right now? Anyone else dealing with this level of delay, and is there anything I can do to move things along or do I just keep waiting?
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For what it's worth, I just got through the other side of a six-week pending situation. The whole thing resolved when EDD finished its review of my separation — I was laid off but there had been some performance documentation the employer submitted that made EDD want to look closer. Everything came out in my favor, all six weeks of certified payments released at once. The uncertainty during those weeks was awful but the system ultimately worked for my case.
It really does. And once payments hit your Money Network card it's like the nightmare just ends. Keep certifying every two weeks no matter what.
The employer submitting performance documentation on a layoff is something a lot of people don't think about. EDD still makes claimants do the phone interview when that happens even if you were laid off in a group. Good outcome though — a layoff is a layoff and EDD knows employers can't just label something misconduct to avoid claims.
The EDD situation right now honestly depends a lot on what region you're in and what industry you came from. I work with a few people from different companies and the ones from the tech sector have been getting processed noticeably slower than people from retail or hospitality. Might be coincidence but the volume of tech layoffs has been really high this year.
Makes sense that warehouse layoffs would cause regional processing spikes. I'm in an area where there was definitely a lot of layoffs around the same time I filed.
That regional clustering probably explains the delay as much as anything specific to your individual claim. Cold comfort when you're waiting but it means it's not necessarily anything you did wrong.
Does unemployment count as income for mortgage? Asking about my California EDD situation
Okay so I'm kind of freaking out and need some real answers here. Got laid off from my project management job in the tech sector back in August and have been collecting UI through California EDD since then. My weekly benefit amount came out to $390 on the DE 429Z they sent me. Here's the thing though - my partner and I have been in the middle of a home purchase process for about five months and our closing date got pushed to next month. The mortgage lender just came back asking for updated proof of income documentation and I'm panicking because my last paycheck was three months ago. Does unemployment count as income when a mortgage lender is looking at your financials? I know EDD sends out a 1099G every January and the benefits are federally taxable, but I don't know if that makes them "income" in the way a lender cares about. Has anyone actually gone through this while actively collecting California EDD unemployment benefits? The lender's question caught me completely off guard.
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My layoff was in a different industry but I faced a similar question from a lender. Asked EDD's live chat through the Help button in UI Online whether they could send a letter confirming my benefit details for a lender. The chat agent said the DE 429Z is EDD's official document showing the weekly amount and I could share that directly - there isn't a separate verification letter EDD issues. Worth knowing so you don't waste time asking for something that doesn't exist.
Exactly. The DE 429Z plus your payment history from UI Online is probably the most you're going to get from EDD. The lender will have to work with those.
Payment history printout from UI Online alongside the DE 429Z is a solid package. Shows consistent payments coming in which at least demonstrates the claim is active.
Signed offer letter timing is everything in this scenario. If you can get an offer within the next few weeks and your lender will accept it as qualifying future income, you might be able to close on the original timeline. Worth asking your loan officer today what their lead time is from receiving an offer letter to being able to close.
Ask specifically: does unemployment count as income under your guidelines, what documentation do you need if it does, and what does a job offer letter need to contain for future income qualification. Those three questions will tell you everything.
Phoning EDD the same day you hear from the lender about anything unexpected is also worth doing - if the lender flags something weird on your financials that touches your EDD claim you want EDD's side of the picture before you respond to the lender.
GalaxyGuardian
CalFresh question adjacent to this: does collecting unemployment affect whether you can get food assistance?
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GalaxyGuardian
Good to know collecting unemployment doesn't automatically disqualify someone. I'll look into BenefitsCal.
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Andre Dupont
Calling 2-1-1 is also really useful for finding other local resources if someone is trying to cover all the bases while unemployed.
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Liam Fitzgerald
Severance pay question: if my employer is giving me severance, do I have to wait until it runs out before filing?
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Liam Fitzgerald
That's a relief. I was under the impression I had to exhaust the severance first before I was even eligible to file. Applying right away makes way more sense.
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NebulaNinja
The sooner you file the sooner your benefit year starts and the sooner you're in the system. Even if the first few weeks are affected by other income, being filed means you're already in the queue.
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