Can I collect social security and unemployment at the same time with California EDD?

That is such a relief to hear. My neighbor was so confident I'd have to pick one that I almost called EDD to cancel the whole claim. Glad I asked here first.

Pensions are the ones that can reduce it, right? My dad gets a small pension and was worried about the same thing.

Exactly, pensions based on past work can reduce the weekly benefit amount and EDD decides by how much. Social Security is specifically carved out and doesn't affect it at all.

My claim shows Pending too right now. So that might just be the ID.me verification still going through? Good to know there's a way to actually reach someone if it stays that way.

DE 429Z is what shows the weekly amount, not an approval letter, right? Saw someone in another thread calling it their approval and got confused.

Correct — the DE 429Z shows what your claim is set up to pay, not that EDD has decided you're eligible week to week. Eligibility gets decided as you certify.

How long did it take for your first payment to come through after applying?

About three weeks total from the application date to the first payment landing on the Money Network card. The first certification covered the waiting week plus one paid week, so it felt slow at first but it's standard.

Three weeks feels like forever when you need the money. At least it's predictable I guess.

File right now — seriously. Social Security benefits are not deducted from California unemployment and you do not report them when you certify. Your former coworker was giving you bad information. The claim will start from the Sunday of the week you apply, so every week you wait is a week you can't get back.

Filing tonight. I cannot believe I lost six weeks over bad information from someone who was just guessing. Thank you.

EDD's phones are rough, but their UI Online interface at least makes applying straightforward. Good luck with yours.

Does the type of Social Security matter? Like retirement versus disability versus survivor benefits?

For unemployment purposes you need to be able to work, available to work, and looking for work every week you certify. If you're on Social Security Disability and unable to work, that's a conflict with unemployment's requirements regardless of the Social Security type. Regular retirement Social Security has no bearing on the benefit amount itself.

That makes sense. I'm on regular retirement and definitely able to work, so it sounds like I'm fine on all fronts.

The amount of people who don't file because of bad secondhand information is probably staggering. I almost made that same mistake.

yeah she missed like four months of payments she couldve gotten. really frustrating

I did the calculator already and estimated around $280 a week. Not a lot but it'll help cover the gap while I look for another part-time role.

$280 is right in the realistic range for part-time work. And since you're looking for part-time, any weeks you work part-time while on the claim, you can earn up to 25 percent of your weekly benefit or $25, whichever is more, before EDD starts reducing your payment. So partial weeks of work don't necessarily wipe out your benefit.

Wait so you CAN work part-time and still collect? I thought any work meant you couldn't get benefits that week.

Only full-time work ends eligibility for a given week. Part-time earnings get the first 25 percent or $25 — whichever is bigger — excluded, then the rest gets subtracted from your weekly amount. So on a $280 weekly benefit, you'd keep $70 of earnings free before any reduction kicks in.

I did not know about CalJOBS at all. I haven't received any DE 8405 yet — do I just wait for it in the mail or should I register proactively?

Wait for the DE 8405 because EDD will tell you if you need to register. Some claimants are exempt. If the notice comes, you'll have the deadline date on it, so don't let it sit unopened.

Good catch — a lot of people overlook this and then wonder why their payments stopped. The DE 8405 is easy to miss if you're not watching for it.

Mine shows as Pending but I was laid off straightforwardly — they eliminated the position, full stop. Is a phone interview typical even for clear layoffs?

For a standard layoff with no complications, usually no interview. Pending can just mean EDD is processing. But if Pending stays for more than two or three weeks with no explanation, that's when it's worth reaching out to EDD.

The UI Online homepage really does show the interview time if one is scheduled. I didn't realize that until someone told me and I had been checking my email obsessively for a notice that wasn't coming.

They gave me two weeks of severance pay. So I just report that honestly when I certify and EDD sorts it out?

Exactly. The Report Wages option in UI Online lets you log what you received for the right week. Report it and let EDD do the math — that's what the system is designed for.

I always thought severance meant you had to wait to file until it ran out. Glad to know that's not the case.

Oh that is a good thing to think about. I've been having 10 percent federal withheld from Social Security already. Should I also elect withholding on the unemployment side?

You can elect 10 percent federal withholding on unemployment too — EDD gives you that option each time you certify. Whether you need it depends on your total income picture, but electing it avoids a bill in April.

EDD also mails Form 1099G each January showing what you received in benefits for the year, and it shows up in UI Online under Payments then Form 1099G. Keep it for your taxes.

Unemployment requires that you're able to work, available for work, and actively looking every week you certify. If a disability prevents you from working, you can't meet that requirement, so unemployment wouldn't be the right program. Disability Insurance through EDD's SDI program, or Paid Family Leave for certain situations, are different tracks. The two programs serve different circumstances.

okay that actually makes a lot of sense when you explain it that way. thanks

The programs are genuinely designed for different situations. Someone on regular Social Security retirement who is still able and wanting to work is in a totally different position than someone whose disability prevents them from working.

I'm glad you said this because I definitely would have panicked thinking something was wrong with my claim.

I called EDD in a full panic about my first payment being half of what I expected. The agent explained exactly this. Would have saved myself a lot of stress knowing it upfront.

That's honestly reassuring to hear framed that way. I felt almost embarrassed filing at 64 like I was taking something meant for younger workers.

You paid wages into an employer-funded system your entire working life. That's exactly what this is there for.

wait employers pay for unemployment not workers? i always thought they took it out of our paychecks

Employers fund California unemployment insurance through a UI tax — nothing gets taken from your paycheck for it. The CASDI deduction you might see on a paystub covers State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave, which is a separate program. Unemployment is entirely employer-funded.

Good to know. Mine has only been pending about a week so I'll give it a little more time before escalating. The ID.me verification comment earlier made me feel like it might just be that.

ID.me delays are super common on new claims. As long as you verified fully through ID.me and allowed it to share with EDD, it usually clears on its own within a couple weeks.

I would absolutely make that mistake. What does the phone interview mean for a simple layoff situation though?

For a clear no-fault layoff it usually means EDD had a question about the separation — maybe the employer responded with something that triggered a review. The interview is EDD getting both sides of the story. Show up for it at the time on the DE 4800, keep your phone nearby at that exact time since the interviewer phones at that scheduled time.

I had the interview and it took maybe 20 minutes. Mostly they asked about my last day, the reason given for the layoff, and whether there was any other work offered. Very straightforward for a standard elimination of position.

Going to check that right now actually. I did create the ID.me account and uploaded photos but I'm not 100 percent sure I confirmed the EDD share step.

The share permission step is easy to miss — it comes at the very end of the ID.me flow and some people close the browser right before completing it.

Exactly, and if that share step didn't complete, EDD has no way to know the verification happened even though ID.me processed it on their end. Worth logging back in to double-check.

Good to know reopening is an option if I land a part-time gig and then it ends before my benefit year is up. That would have been a confusing situation to navigate alone.

The benefit year lasts 52 weeks from when you first filed. As long as there's remaining balance and you're still inside that window, you reopen instead of starting over.

Makes sense. I've already been applying on a few accounting job boards so I have emails to show for it. Any specific number of contacts per week I need to hit?

EDD's pages don't state a fixed number of contacts you need to make each week. The requirement is that you're genuinely looking. Keep a record of your applications as a habit — dates, company names, how you applied — so you have it available if EDD ever asks.

For part-time work at the bookkeeping level, casting a wide net across a few job boards plus any direct applications to local firms is a solid approach. Document everything regardless.

1-866-333-4606 for payment status at any hour — writing this down. Thank you.

Payment info, certifying if you prefer phone over online, all through that same number. Option 2 gets you to Tele-Cert for certifying with your PIN. The main EDD line at 1-800-300-5616 is for reaching agents but that one has the busy-signal issue. The 1-866 number is much more accessible.

My wages were pretty consistent across all four quarters so I don't think this applies to me, but good to know the system isn't just stuck on one calculation.

For consistent earners it usually doesn't come up. It's mainly there for people with gaps, medical leaves, or seasonal work patterns that left the standard quarters thin.

I never knew there were two different base periods. The whole EDD system is more complicated than I assumed.

Thirty days from the mailing date, not the date you get it. That's an important distinction and I had no idea.

It matters most for people who travel or have unreliable mail delivery. If you're worried about delays, checking UI Online regularly for notices is the best safety net.

And even during an appeal you keep certifying — EDD can only pay back weeks that were certified, so stopping certifications while waiting on an appeal is a mistake people make.

That framing actually makes it click for me. The pension logic makes sense now that you put it that way — Social Security is just structurally different in how EDD categorizes it.

Exactly, and EDD's treatment of Social Security is consistent regardless of whether you're getting retirement, survivor, or other Social Security types — none of them factor into the UI benefit amount.

Worth adding that if someone is on Social Security Disability specifically, the ability-to-work requirement for unemployment becomes the sticking point, not the Social Security income itself reducing benefits. Two different issues.

Ended up talking to an EDD agent about my own partial-week earnings question — the agent confirmed the formula applies each week independently, so a low-earning week and a higher-earning week don't average out against each other. Each week stands on its own.