Last thing worth raising: Paid Family Leave is a third program EDD runs that sometimes gets confused with SDI. PFL is specifically for caring for a seriously ill family member or bonding with a new baby — it's not for your own medical situation. Your situation is squarely SDI. But if anyone reading this thread is out because they're caring for a sick parent or partner, that's PFL territory, not SDI and not unemployment.

My claim from earlier this year was a disability-to-UI transition and I still had a question about which weeks EDD was going to count once I reopened. After trying the phone line multiple times without getting through, I used Claimyr to reach an agent who pulled up my actual claim and confirmed which weeks were showing in Claim History as pending versus paid. Turned out one week was flagged because I'd certified while still technically in the SDI period by one day — the agent told me EDD would send a Notice of Determination on that week and to watch for it in the mail.

Last month my own quit claim finally got resolved and the pending weeks cleared. The interview was the turning point - I'd quit over a hostile work environment and had documentation going back four months. The interviewer was thorough but fair. Once EDD issued the decision the payments for all the pending weeks hit within a few days. It's a slow process but it does move.

Taxes on benefits catch people off guard every January. Unemployment benefits are federal taxable income - you can elect to have 10 percent withheld each time you certify, which a lot of people skip because they need every dollar now and then get a tax bill in spring. EDD mails a 1099G by the end of January each year and it's also in UI Online under Payments. California state tax doesn't apply to unemployment benefits though, only federal.

Following this thread closely - fired from a food service management job last week after seven years. Seven years and they walked me out in an hour. No write-up history, nothing. Filed the same day I found this thread, two days after getting fired. The UI Online confirmation came through and my claim starts from last Sunday. Now just waiting on the DE 429Z to understand what my weekly amount will be. The EDD Benefit Calculator on their site gave me a rough number but I'm nervous to count on it.

UPDATE: Filed this morning right after reading through all these comments. The online process took maybe 25 minutes. Had to do the ID.me verification separately which took another 15 or so. UI Online is showing my claim is active and starts from last Sunday. No DE 429Z yet obviously but the system accepted everything. Still nervous about the phone interview if EDD decides to schedule one, but I feel like I actually understand what's coming now. Thank you everyone - this thread answered questions I didn't even know I had.

Reiterating the appeal timeline because it's the most time-sensitive piece of everything being discussed here: 30 calendar days from the mailing date on the notice, not 30 days from when you received it or opened it. EDD goes by the date printed on the document. If you're close to that window, file the DE 1000M first and explain your reasoning later at the hearing. Getting the form in before the deadline is what matters most.

Putting together everything in this thread for anyone who lands here searching: non-fraud overpayment means no extra penalties, you can appeal within 30 days on DE 1000M, ask for the DE 1446UI waiver form if you can't pay, EDD will collect from future benefits and state refunds if you don't address it, keep certifying through any appeal, and report wages in the week they were earned not when you got paid.

For anyone still wrestling with the phone situation - my second summer dealing with a school-worker claim and a stalled pending status, I went through Claimyr again. This time the agent confirmed my CalJOBS registration had actually processed correctly and that the pending week was waiting on a wage verification from my school district, not anything I'd done wrong. Knowing that let me just wait instead of assuming I needed to do something.

Last thing worth mentioning for the original poster and anyone else reading: the DE 429Z mailed by EDD shows your weekly benefit amount and claim balance. It is not an approval of your eligibility - people mix these up and assume once that form arrives they're set. Eligibility for school workers going through the reasonable assurance question gets decided after the phone interview. The DE 429Z just tells you what the claim could pay if you're found eligible.