Something that helped me feel less frozen at the start: EDD's site has an Unemployment Benefit Calculator that estimates your weekly amount before you even apply. You put in your wages by quarter and it gives you a ballpark. It's not official — the real number comes on the DE 429Z — but it helped me understand what I was looking at and made the whole thing feel less abstract.

Claimyr also saved me some time when my claim got stuck in what UI Online just called 'Pending' with no explanation — the agent told me my CalJOBS registration hadn't been confirmed on EDD's end even though I'd done it. That was the holdup. Got it cleared and payments processed the next business day.

Last thing worth knowing about the CalJOBS piece - when you register and post your resume there, you're not committing to jobs you physically can't do. Post a resume that honestly reflects the work you're currently cleared for given your desk-work restriction. The point of CalJOBS registration for EDD purposes is that you're in the system and demonstrably looking for work, not that you'll take any job regardless of your medical situation.

Worth mentioning for anyone reading this later - injured off the job is a very different situation from injured ON the job in terms of which programs apply and how. Off the job injury like the original poster's situation can lead to UI (with desk-work clearance) or DI (without any work clearance). On-the-job injury involves workers' comp. The original question about whether you can collect unemployment if you are injured off the job genuinely does have an answer: potentially yes, depending on what your doctor says you can do and whether you're honestly able to certify being available for work.

Quick thing nobody mentioned — my company kept calling the reduced schedule a 'temporary furlough' instead of a permanent hours cut. EDD didn't treat it any differently. I still qualified for partial UI benefits on the reduced weeks. The label your employer puts on it doesn't change whether you can file or how EDD handles the claim.

Last thing worth mentioning for people on partial claims — the benefit year for your claim runs 52 weeks from the date you file. If your hours go back to full time for a while and then get cut again, you can recertify on the same open claim rather than filing brand new. You'd reopen your existing claim through UI Online. The claim's total payout is still capped at 26 times your weekly benefit amount or half your base period wages, whichever is less, but you don't lose the whole thing just because you had some full weeks in the middle.

Claimyr (claimyr.com) is worth trying if you can't get through on EDD's phone line — after weeks of trying on my own disqualified claim I used it and ended up talking to an agent who confirmed exactly which of my wages were in the system and which weren't. That gave me something concrete to bring to the appeal instead of just arguing about the outcome in general.

Just to put a bow on the wage calculation question — the alternate base period uses your four most recently completed calendar quarters instead of the standard window. EDD applies it automatically only when the standard calculation doesn't produce a valid claim. It's not something you request; it just runs if needed. What you CAN do is make sure all your wages from all employers actually made it into whichever calculation they used.

EDD Tele-Cert is worth knowing about even if you mostly certify online - it's the phone certification option at 1-866-333-4606, option 2. Some people find it easier if UI Online is acting up. Payment information is also available at that number 24 hours a day, so if you want to check on a payment at 11pm you can call that line instead of waiting for UI Online to update.

Eight months after my own restructuring layoff, still on the same claim, nothing dramatic happened. Certify every two weeks, payment comes through, life goes on while I look for the next thing. The benefit year gives you 52 weeks and EDD can pay up to 26 weeks total, so for a job search there's real runway there if you need it. Didn't need an appeal, didn't have any drama - just the normal process. Used Claimyr about a month into my claim to ask about adding direct deposit after I'd already been getting paid to the card. The agent confirmed my account information had been updated and said changes usually take a couple of certification cycles to reflect. Simple question, simple answer.