California EDD unemployment claim issues since early 2021 - what changed?

That makes sense but how do I actually get someone on the phone? I've tried calling the main 1-800-300-5616 number like a dozen times and either get busy signals or get put on hold for an hour and then disconnected.

same situation here, trying to get anyone on the phone at EDD is basically a full time job lol

Good tip on the specific language to use. Did you have any luck actually getting through? That seems to be my biggest obstacle right now.

does this work even if it's been like 4 years since the original claim? seems like they'd just close out old stuff eventually

@9 unfortunately no, EDD doesn't automatically close out unresolved issues. If there was never a formal resolution or determination letter issued, it can stay flagged indefinitely. Annoying but true.

I've never heard of this - is it legit? I'm a little wary of third party services when it comes to anything EDD related.

Totally get the skepticism. It doesn't file anything on your behalf or access your account - it just handles the phone queue part. You still do all the actual talking with EDD yourself. I was skeptical too but it delivered for me.

I used it too, worked exactly as described. Got through to EDD same day which felt like a miracle after weeks of failed attempts

Honestly I'm not even sure. I received benefits for maybe 8-9 weeks back in 2021 and then I got a new job so I just stopped certifying. I never got a disqualification letter or anything like that but I also never got a formal 'your claim is now closed' letter either. It just... stopped.

Ah ok that's a really important detail. When you stop certifying without formally closing a claim, EDD can sometimes leave it in a quasi-suspended state. That's probably what's creating the flag now. When you talk to an agent, specifically ask them to check if there's an open unresolved issue from your 2021 benefit year that needs to be formally closed or resolved before your current claim can proceed.

this happened to my sister, she had to basically file an appeal on a 3 year old determination just to clear the flag. the EDD system is honestly a mess

That actually makes a lot of sense given what I know about how overwhelmed EDD was during that period. Does knowing this help me in terms of how I should approach the conversation with EDD?

Yes - if you approach it from the angle of 'I believe this is an administrative issue from a high-volume period rather than a fraud or eligibility issue,' it might help frame the conversation better. Agents have some discretion in how they categorize and prioritize cases.

This is all just speculation though right? EDD doesn't tell agents to handle things differently based on when the claim was filed. The process is the process.

@4 It's not speculation exactly - agents absolutely have some discretion in terms of how urgently they escalate issues and whether they treat something as a system administrative issue vs. a substantive eligibility question. That context matters.

Current adjudication times seem to be running 3-6 weeks for straightforward cases and can go much longer for anything complex or anything involving prior claim history. Unfortunately there's no way to speed it up without speaking to an agent directly.

3-6 weeks?? I'm already at week 4 with nothing. Do I need to do anything proactively or just keep certifying and waiting?

Keep certifying your weekly claims no matter what - this is critical. If your claim eventually gets approved those weeks will be paid retroactively but only if you certified for them. Don't stop certifying while in adjudication.

yes this!! keep certifying!! so many people stop certifying during adjudication and then lose those weeks forever

Oh wow I didn't know I could do that. How do I submit a public records request to EDD?

You can submit it through the California Public Records Act process - go to EDD's website and search for 'public records request.' You'll want to specifically request your complete claim history including any adjudication records, determinations, and internal notes associated with your Social Security number and claim IDs. Takes a few weeks but worth it.

did this once and honestly it was kind of overwhelming to get all those documents but it did help me understand exactly what EDD had wrong about my situation

Yeah they updated the phone system menus a few months ago. The general UI claims line is still 1-800-300-5616 but the prompts changed. For existing claim issues you generally want to get to the 'claim status' or 'existing claim' option rather than the new claims option.

thx, I kept getting routed wrong and having to start over

The base period calculation uses wages earned - it's based on your earnings in a specific window before you filed your new claim, not on prior claim history. Your 2021 claim history shouldn't affect what wages are used to calculate your current weekly benefit amount. The issue is more about adjudication holds rather than benefit amount calculation.

ok good that makes sense, I was confused about whether having an old claim messed with the base period math

I understand the skepticism but I've seen multiple posts on this forum over the years from people who experienced exactly this pattern. EDD systems are notoriously not well-maintained and automated cleanup processes don't always catch everything. It's not a certainty but it's definitely a known possibility.

For what it's worth, when I called and navigated through the automated system, it actually did mention 'a review of prior claim information' in the status description, which to me at least suggests there is some link to prior history.

Ok if the automated system is specifically mentioning prior claim review then yeah that changes things. That's actually pretty specific and does suggest what everyone is describing. Apologies for the skepticism.

Multiple people have mentioned this service now - think I'm going to try it. At this point I've wasted probably 15+ hours trying to get through to EDD on my own.

Honestly at 15 hours of wasted time it's a no brainer. Good luck - once you actually get to talk to someone most of these things are a lot more fixable than they seem from the outside looking at a 'pending' status screen.

same experience here. got connected to a real person in under an hour which felt impossible after weeks of busy signals and disconnections

I actually do have some of the old paperwork because I'm a bit of a document hoarder. My 2021 layoff notice is somewhere, I'd have to dig for it. Good call to have it ready.

Yeah even just having your old employer name, dates of employment, and the approximate date you stopped certifying can help the agent pull up the right records quickly. The more specifics you can give them the faster they can usually work through it.

also screenshot everything from your myEDD portal right now before anything changes. I've had status messages disappear and wished I had documented them

Honestly I don't remember the specifics from 2021. I believe job search requirements had been relaxed at that point but I'm not 100% sure when they changed. Is this something that could actually still be affecting things 4 years later?

It can if it was never formally resolved. If EDD flagged a period of your claim for a job search compliance review and never issued a formal determination, that unresolved flag can persist. It's actually a somewhat common issue from that era because the rules changed so many times it created a lot of edge cases.

This is accurate and worth asking about specifically when you reach an agent. Ask them to check if there are any open compliance reviews associated with your prior claim and what the specific dates and nature of the review are.

This is really encouraging to hear actually. So they can sometimes just close these things out on the spot?

In my case yes - the agent had the authority to close out the old interview flag once they confirmed there were no actual eligibility issues tied to it. It was basically just an administrative loose end that never got cleaned up. Not every situation will be that clean but mine was.

That's really useful to know. The specific scenario of a scheduled interview that was never completed and left open on the account is a common source of exactly this kind of persistent flag. Good to hear it resolved quickly for you.

ugh this is making me wonder if I have any old interview flags on my account just sitting there that I don't know about

I've looked but I'll go back through more carefully. My inbox does have a lot of stuff in it from over the years, entirely possible something got buried.

also check the 'notices' section not just the messages section, they're separate and a lot of people don't realize that

If your claim is processing normally and you're receiving payments without issues, you don't need to worry. The situation being described here is specific to when there's a visible adjudication hold on a new claim. If you're getting paid, your claim is fine.

ok that's reassuring, I am getting paid so I guess I'm good. sorry for the mini panic

That's actually a really interesting angle I hadn't considered. My 2021 separation was a layoff but my employer at the time was a bit of a difficult company to work for and I could see them having contested it just out of principle.

It's more common than people think, especially with larger employers who have HR departments that automatically contest any unemployment claim as a policy matter. The actual resolution rate on those contests is high in the claimant's favor but if the system never formally recorded the resolution, the flag can persist.

This is a really good point and one I should have thought to mention. Employer contests that were never fully adjudicated are a significant source of these kinds of lingering flags.

Ok this is exactly the kind of resolution I'm hoping for. Thank you for sharing this. I'm definitely going to try to get through to someone this week.

Good luck! The main advice I'd give is be organized when you call - have your claim ID, your employer info from 2021, and the approximate dates of your prior claim ready. The more organized you are the faster the agent can work. And honestly most of the agents I've dealt with have been pretty helpful once you actually get through to one.

good luck OP, come back and let us know what happens