Thanks for sharing your experience with Claimyr! It's really encouraging to hear a success story. I've been struggling to get through to EDD for weeks now about my pending payments. Your detailed breakdown of the process is super helpful - especially knowing that even when the call dropped after 3.5 hours, the callback feature worked quickly. Did you have to pay anything for the service, or were you able to use just the free callback option? I'm in a similar situation with PEUC extension issues and this gives me hope that there's actually a way to get this resolved!

This is exactly what I needed to hear! I've been stuck with pending payments for months and was starting to lose hope. Your step-by-step experience really helps set expectations - knowing that even if the call drops after hours of waiting, the callback feature can get you connected again quickly is huge. I'm definitely going to try Claimyr this week. Did the Tier 2 rep mention anything about whether this physical transfer process is something they're doing for a lot of people with similar PEUC extension issues? Just wondering if this is a common problem they're seeing. Thanks for taking the time to share such detailed info - posts like this are what make this community so valuable!

Hey Wesley! I just went through this exact same situation about two months ago, and I totally understand your panic - especially with rent coming due. The good news is that "conditional payment" actually means you'll likely continue receiving payments while they do their review, rather than having them stopped completely. Here's what worked for me: I called EDD right at 8:00 AM sharp and explained my urgent financial situation (rent due, bills piling up). They were actually pretty understanding and moved my interview up by about 10 days. The key is being persistent but polite when explaining the hardship. Since you mentioned the restaurant closed suddenly and your employer is hard to reach, definitely check your UI Online account under "Claim History" to see how they reported your separation. If it shows anything other than "layoff" or "lack of work," that could be exactly why you're under review. I had a similar issue where my employer initially reported my separation incorrectly. For your interview prep, gather any evidence of the restaurant closure you can find - closure signs, local news articles, even social media posts from the business. Also, organize your job search records by date with specific company names and application methods. They asked me detailed questions about at least 6-7 of my applications. The waiting is absolutely the worst part, but try not to stress too much. My interview took about 20 minutes, and all my conditional payments were released within 48 hours afterward. You've got this!

I'm new to this community but wanted to share my experience since I literally just went through this exact situation last month! Got the same "Notice of Conditional Payment Pending Eligibility Review" after being laid off from my hotel management job when the property was sold. The panic you're feeling is totally normal - I was convinced they were going to deny my claim entirely. But here's what actually happened: I continued receiving conditional payments throughout the entire review process, and after my eligibility interview (which took about 2.5 weeks to get scheduled), all payments were immediately converted to regular status. A few things that really helped me: - I called EDD at exactly 8:02 AM and explained my rent deadline was approaching - they actually expedited my interview by about a week - I prepared a simple document with my job search activities organized by date, company, position, and application method - Since your restaurant closed suddenly, definitely have any closure documentation ready (I had photos of "permanently closed" signs which helped explain the situation) The interview itself was maybe 12 minutes and very straightforward - they just verified my layoff details and asked about 4-5 specific job applications. The interviewer was professional and seemed to understand that restaurant closures have been common. Most importantly: you WILL get through this! The conditional payment system is actually designed to help you while they verify everything. Keep certifying on schedule and try not to let the uncertainty overwhelm you. Wishing you the best!

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who's been through this recently! Your $447 WBA is definitely the gross amount before taxes. With the 10% federal withholding you selected, you'll actually receive about $402.30 per week ($447 - $44.70). I initially made the mistake of not withholding taxes thinking I'd get more money each week, but after calculating what I'd owe at tax time (around $1,800 for the full benefit year), I quickly switched to having it withheld. Much better to budget with the smaller weekly amount than get hit with a huge tax bill later! Also, make sure to verify all your wage information is correct in UI Online - I found they were missing wages from one of my previous employers and my WBA increased by $73/week after I submitted the missing W-2. The extra paperwork was worth an additional $1,900 over my full benefit period!

I just want to echo what everyone has said here - this thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm in a similar situation where I just received my award letter and was confused about the tax implications. After reading all these experiences, I'm definitely keeping my tax withholding election. The math is pretty clear: losing $45/week is way better than owing $1,500-$2,000 at tax time. I also had no idea about checking the wage calculations - I worked for three different companies last year (two part-time jobs plus one full-time), so I'm going to log into UI Online today to make sure they have all my W-2 information. It sounds like missing wage data is more common than I thought, and the potential for increasing your WBA is definitely worth the effort to verify. Thanks to everyone who shared their real experiences - it's so much more valuable than trying to figure this out from the official EDD website alone!

I'm dealing with a very similar situation right now - employer fired me citing "attendance issues" but then told EDD it was misconduct when I applied for unemployment. It's so frustrating how they can just change their story like that! From what I've learned researching my own case, the burden is really on the employer to PROVE misconduct happened. The fact that your sister's termination letter specifically says "performance issues" is huge because that's the employer's own written admission that this wasn't about misconduct. A few things that might help: - In California, employers are supposed to follow progressive discipline policies if they have them - if they skipped steps, that works against their misconduct claim - The timing of when they're producing these "6 warnings" is suspicious - if these were real, why weren't they mentioned in the original termination? - Document everything about the increased workload situation - being unable to handle an unrealistic workload is performance, not misconduct I know it's stressful but from everything I've read, these cases often come down to whether the employee was willfully disregarding their duties vs genuinely trying but falling short of expectations. Your sister's situation with the extra workload sounds like the latter. Stay strong and trust that the truth will come out!

I'm a newcomer here but wanted to share what happened with my uncle's EDD appeal last year since it sounds very similar to your situation. His employer also tried to fabricate additional disciplinary actions that never actually occurred. The key thing that won his case was requesting the complete personnel file in writing (certified mail) and then when the employer couldn't produce the alleged documentation at the hearing, the judge got visibly annoyed with them for wasting everyone's time with false claims. A few practical tips from watching his process: - Write down exactly what questions you expect them to ask your sister and practice her answers beforehand so she stays calm and factual - Bring multiple copies of everything - the termination letter, the 2 real warnings, timeline of events - If possible, get something in writing about the increased workload situation (maybe an email mentioning the unreplaced coworker or her taking on extra duties) The judge in his case kept emphasizing that poor performance due to circumstances beyond the employee's control is completely different from willful misconduct. Your sister trying her best with 1.5 people's workload after staff reduction sounds exactly like that kind of situation. Also definitely have her keep certifying! My uncle almost lost thousands in back pay because he stopped certifying during his appeal. The whole system seems designed to trip people up, but if you stay organized and stick to the facts, the truth really does come out at these hearings.

I'm dealing with this exact same nightmare! My old college email got deactivated after I graduated last year and I've been locked out of my EDD account for over 2 weeks now. This thread has been absolutely incredible - I had no idea about the Trusted Referee video call option or any of these technical workarounds! Based on everyone's advice, I'm planning to try the video call first thing tomorrow morning using incognito mode with all my documents ready (driver's license, Social Security card, utility bill). The tips about clearing browser cache, not navigating away during the wait, and starting early morning for shorter wait times are exactly what I needed to know - I definitely would have made those mistakes otherwise! If the Trusted Referee call doesn't work out, it's really reassuring to know that creating a new ID.me account and using Claimyr to reach EDD is a solid backup plan. The fact that multiple people have confirmed EDD agents are understanding about the dual account situation when you explain the email access issue gives me so much confidence. This whole system is ridiculously broken but I'm so grateful for everyone sharing their real experiences and specific technical solutions here. This thread should honestly be stickied as a resource! I'll definitely update with my results to help the next person stuck in ID.me purgatory. Fingers crossed the video call works - really need to get my benefits sorted before rent is due!

I'm going through this exact same situation right now! My old work email got deactivated about 3 weeks ago and I've been completely locked out of my EDD account since then. This thread has been an absolute lifesaver - I had no clue about the Trusted Referee video call option or any of these technical workarounds that actually work! Reading through everyone's experiences, I'm definitely going to try the video call approach first thing Monday morning. The technical tips about using incognito mode, clearing browser cache, having perfect lighting, and NOT navigating away during the wait are exactly what I needed to know - I would have made every single one of those mistakes otherwise. It's so encouraging to see JaylinCharles's recent success story going from locked out for a month to back in their EDD account within 2 hours once they got the process right. That gives me real hope this can actually work! If the Trusted Referee call doesn't pan out, knowing I can create a new ID.me account and use Claimyr to reach EDD as a backup plan makes me feel like there's actually a clear path forward instead of being stuck in bureaucratic purgatory forever. This whole system is unnecessarily complicated for something as basic as accessing unemployment benefits, but I'm so grateful for everyone sharing their real experiences and specific solutions here. This thread should honestly be pinned - it's better than any official help documentation! Will definitely update with my results to help the next person dealing with this ID.me nightmare.