California Unemployment

Can't reach California Unemployment? Claimyr connects you to a live EDD agent in minutes.

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Using Claimyr will:

  • Connect you to a human agent at the EDD
  • Skip the long phone menu
  • Call the correct department
  • Redial until on hold
  • Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
  • Give you free callbacks if the EDD drops your call

If I could give 10 stars I would

If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!


Really made a difference

Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.


Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.

Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.


An incredibly helpful service

An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!


Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.

Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.


IT WORKS!! Not a scam!

I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!

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Ask the community...

  • DO post questions about your issues.
  • DO answer questions and support each other.
  • DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
  • DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)

To all those having trouble reaching a human at California Unemployment. I just ran across this video that gave me a shortcut to reach a human. Hope it helps! https://youtu.be/Ize0EkN4HDI

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From my experience calling EDD, their lunch break seems to vary by department and individual representatives. I've noticed the phones are harder to get through around 12-1pm, but I've also had success calling during that time when others were available. The automated system runs 24/7, but for live representatives, I'd suggest calling early morning (8-9am) or mid-afternoon (2-4pm) for better chances of reaching someone without hitting lunch breaks.

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Thanks for sharing your experience with calling EDD! That's really helpful timing advice. I've been struggling to get through for weeks now. Do you have any other tips for getting past the busy signals? I keep getting the "all circuits are busy" message even when I call right at 8am. Also wondering if certain days of the week are better than others for calling?

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I'm dealing with this exact same verification code issue and have been stuck for almost a week now! This thread has been such a lifesaver - reading through everyone's experiences and solutions has given me actual hope instead of just feeling helpless. @AstroAce and @Amelia Cartwright - huge thanks for sharing your detailed success stories with the 6:30 AM call strategy! I had no idea that calling right when tech support opens would make such a difference. I've been dreading the phone call because I thought it meant spending my entire day on hold, but hearing about your 15-20 minute wait times makes it feel actually manageable. I'm definitely going to try the early morning call tomorrow with the "multi-factor authentication failure" phrase and have all my verification info organized and ready. It's incredible that this community has essentially become EDD's unofficial tech support and created the step-by-step guide they should have provided from the start. @Mei Zhang - also planning to check my email provider settings tonight based on your IT expertise. The idea that my email might be blocking EDD messages hadn't even occurred to me. It's so frustrating that their "security upgrade" has locked so many of us out, but seeing how everyone here has shared real working solutions instead of just venting makes dealing with this bureaucratic nightmare feel less overwhelming. Will definitely report back with how my call goes!

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@Ravi Patel - I m'in the exact same boat as you! Been locked out for 6 days now and was starting to lose hope until I found this thread. The detailed success stories from @AstroAce and @Amelia Cartwright have been such a game-changer - I never would have thought to call at 6:30 AM or use that specific multi-factor authentication "failure phrase. I" m actually'planning to try calling tomorrow morning too, so hopefully we ll both'have success stories to add soon! I ve already'checked my email settings tonight based on @Mei Zhang s advice and'added edd.ca.gov to my safe senders list, but I think the phone call route is going to be the real solution here. It s honestly mind-blowing'that this community has had to figure out the actual working solutions while EDD just tells people to wait 24 hours "with no real" help. But I m so grateful'for everyone sharing their experiences - makes this whole nightmare feel way less isolating. Good luck with your call tomorrow! 🤞

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I've been following this thread closely as I'm dealing with the exact same verification code nightmare! Been locked out for 3 days now and was getting really stressed about filing my claim on time. @AstroAce and @Amelia Cartwright - thank you so much for sharing your detailed success stories! The 6:30 AM call strategy with the "multi-factor authentication failure" phrase seems to be the golden ticket based on all these consistent results. I had no idea that calling right when tech support opens would make such a huge difference with wait times. @Mei Zhang - really appreciate all your IT expertise throughout this thread. I'm going to check my email settings tonight and add edd.ca.gov to my safe senders list before trying the call tomorrow. It's honestly ridiculous that EDD's "upgrade" has caused all these problems and we've had to crowdsource the actual working solutions, but I'm so grateful for this community support. Having a concrete action plan instead of just repeatedly trying to log in and getting nowhere makes this whole situation feel way more manageable. I'm planning to try the early morning call tomorrow with all my verification info ready. Will definitely update everyone on how it goes - fingers crossed I can add another success story to this thread! 🤞

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Great news! Glad to hear you got it resolved before your certification was due. Always good to document those security answers somewhere secure.

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So glad you got back in! This is such a common problem - I work at a local workforce development center and we see people locked out of their EDD accounts almost weekly. Your experience is exactly why we always tell people to save their security question answers in a secure note or password manager when they first set up the account. The EDD system is super sensitive about capitalization, spaces, and punctuation in those answers too. Thanks for sharing the update - it'll help other people know there's hope even when it seems impossible!

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That's really helpful to know about the workforce development center perspective! I had no idea this was such a widespread issue. Do you have any tips for people who are setting up their EDD accounts for the first time? Like specific things to avoid when creating security questions that might cause problems later? I'm thinking about sharing this thread with some friends who might be filing for unemployment soon.

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Hey everyone! I'm so glad I found this thread because I'm literally going through the exact same thing right now. Applied for UI benefits about 10 days ago and got that email saying I have weeks to certify, but when I log into UI Online there's just... nothing. No certification tab, no pending weeks, nothing at all. I've been reading through all your responses and trying the different suggestions - cleared my cache, tried desktop instead of mobile, checked different browsers, even tried logging in at different times of day. Still nothing showing up! The thing that's really stressing me out is that I haven't gotten ANY mail from EDD yet either, and it's been over a week since I applied. Is this normal? I keep second-guessing whether I filled out my application correctly or if something got rejected. Also wanted to ask - for those of you who had to call EDD to get it fixed, roughly how long did you have to wait on hold? I tried calling yesterday around 10am and got the "high call volume" message and got disconnected. Thinking I might need to try that 8am strategy someone mentioned. Thanks for all the helpful info in this thread! It's such a relief to know I'm not the only one dealing with this frustrating system glitch.

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Hey Grant! You're definitely not alone - this seems to be a super common issue that drives everyone crazy! The fact that you haven't gotten mail yet is actually pretty normal from what I've seen others say here. EDD's mail system is notoriously slow and some people don't get their paperwork for weeks even after they're already certifying and getting paid. For the calling strategy, I haven't tried it myself yet but from what others have shared, calling right at 8am when they open seems to be the key. Set your alarm for 7:59am and start dialing at exactly 8:00. Some people said they had to redial multiple times but eventually got through. The hold times seem to vary a lot - I've seen people say anywhere from 20 minutes to 2+ hours depending on the day. I'm actually planning to try calling tomorrow morning myself if my certification options still don't show up. Maybe we can both report back on how it goes! This whole system is so unnecessarily stressful when you're already dealing with unemployment. Hang in there! 💪

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Just wanted to add my experience to this thread since I went through something very similar recently! Got the certification email but couldn't see anything in UI Online for almost 5 days. I was starting to panic thinking my claim got messed up somehow. What finally worked for me was a combination of things: - Used a completely different device (borrowed my roommate's laptop instead of my usual computer) - Logged in around 6pm instead of during the day - Made sure to click "Certify for Benefits" in the main navigation rather than looking for it on the homepage Turns out the certification weeks were there the whole time, but they were only showing up under that specific menu option and only on certain devices/browsers for some weird reason. The EDD website is honestly held together with digital duct tape at this point! The no interview thing is definitely normal - I never had one either and my benefits went through just fine. And don't stress about the mail delay, I didn't get my first physical documents until almost a month after I started certifying online. If none of the tech troubleshooting works, definitely call. It's a pain but sometimes there really are backend issues that only a rep can fix. Good luck everyone!

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This is such a helpful tip about trying a different device! I never would have thought that the certification options might only show up on certain browsers or computers. It's honestly ridiculous that in 2025 we're still dealing with such inconsistent website functionality, but I guess that's EDD for you! 😅 I'm going to try borrowing my friend's laptop tonight and see if that makes a difference. The evening login time is interesting too - maybe there's less traffic on their servers during off-peak hours? Either way, I really appreciate you sharing what specific steps worked for you. Sometimes it's these random combination of factors that finally crack the code with EDD's finicky system. It's also reassuring to hear that you didn't get physical mail for almost a month but everything still processed normally. I was worried that the lack of paperwork meant something was wrong with my application. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience - this community support makes dealing with EDD's chaos so much more manageable!

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As a newcomer to this community, I'm shocked by how common this type of employer interference seems to be! Reading through everyone's experiences has been both eye-opening and frustrating - it's clear that many California employers either don't understand paid sick leave laws or are deliberately trying to discourage employees from using their legally protected benefits. Your boss's Monday/Friday restriction policy is absolutely illegal under California Labor Code Section 246.5. The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act specifically prohibits employers from interfering with or restricting when employees can use accrued sick leave for legitimate medical purposes. Surgery recovery is exactly what paid sick leave is designed for! I'd strongly recommend following the advice others have given here: send a formal written request citing the specific Labor Code section, attach your doctor's note, and make it clear you know your rights. Something like: "I am requesting X days of accrued paid sick leave for medically necessary surgery recovery from [dates]. California Labor Code Section 246.5 prohibits employers from restricting when employees can use sick leave for legitimate medical purposes." Keep copies of everything and don't let them intimidate you. The Labor Commissioner's Office takes these violations very seriously - employers can face significant fines for this exact type of interference. Most back down immediately once they realize the legal liability. Focus on your health and recovery. You've earned this sick leave and have every right to use it when your body needs to heal, regardless of which day of the week that happens to fall on. Wishing you a smooth surgery and quick recovery!

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Welcome to the community! I'm also relatively new here but have been following this thread closely because I'm dealing with a similar situation with my employer. It's really disheartening to see how widespread these violations are, but at the same time it's reassuring to know we're not alone in facing this kind of pushback from employers. Your advice about the formal written request is spot on - I think that's the key strategy everyone here has emphasized. Having that paper trail and citing the specific Labor Code section seems to be what makes employers realize they're on shaky legal ground. It's frustrating that we have to become legal experts just to use our basic worker protections, but clearly it's necessary! I'm planning to adapt the email templates people have shared here for my own situation. Reading everyone's success stories has given me the confidence to stand up to my boss instead of just accepting their unreasonable restrictions. The fact that the Labor Commissioner's Office can impose significant fines really seems to get employers' attention. Thanks for adding your voice to this discussion - having more people share information about these laws helps protect all of us!

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As a newcomer to this community, I'm really grateful to have found this thread! I'm currently dealing with a very similar situation where my employer is trying to restrict when I can use my paid sick leave for a medical procedure. Reading through everyone's experiences has been both frustrating (seeing how common these violations are) and empowering (learning that we have strong legal protections). It's clear that many employers either don't understand California's paid sick leave laws or are deliberately trying to discourage employees from using their legally earned benefits. What really stands out to me from all the advice shared here is the importance of: 1. Making formal written requests (email is perfect for creating a paper trail) 2. Citing California Labor Code Section 246.5 specifically 3. Emphasizing the medical necessity rather than just wanting time off 4. Keeping copies of ALL communications 5. Not backing down when you know you're in the right The fact that the Labor Commissioner's Office can impose significant fines seems to be what gets employers to change their tune quickly. It's unfortunate that we have to become mini legal experts just to use our basic worker protections, but clearly it's necessary to protect ourselves. For anyone else dealing with similar employer interference - you're not alone, these violations are unfortunately common, but you have strong legal rights and most employers back down once they realize the potential consequences. Don't let them stress you out during an already difficult time dealing with health issues!

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