Can anyone apply for unemployment? Breaking down California EDD eligibility

The two-employer situation is exactly what I was worried about for my part-time friend. She had a main job and some shifts at a coffee shop. Good to know both would count.

Split employers is actually really common and EDD handles it fine as long as the wages were reported properly by both employers.

Interesting, I had no idea it was that straightforward to verify what wages EDD already has on file.

So for my part-time friend it really just comes down to whether she earned enough in those quarters? She probably did, she worked pretty consistently.

my sister worked like 20 hours a week for two years and got benefits no problem, it really is just about the wages not the hours

Worth adding that there's also an alternate base period using the most recent four quarters, but EDD only uses it automatically if the standard base period doesn't give you a valid claim. It doesn't bump up your weekly amount if you already qualify on the standard one.

Okay that's helpful context. My friend who was contracting was doing delivery work so I wonder if that falls into the misclassification territory.

delivery work in California has had a lot of legal back and forth on exactly this. Honestly the safest move is just apply and let EDD sort it out rather than self-selecting out

filing even when you're unsure is the right call. worst case they deny it and you can appeal if you think the denial was wrong

I had no idea there was a calculator on EDD's site. I'll send my cousin that link so she can check her own wages before she decides not to file.

the $450 cap surprises people who had high salaries. they expect a bigger benefit and when it's capped they feel like it's not worth it but $450 a week is still $450 a week

I looked at that calculator when I first applied and the estimate was pretty close to what ended up on my DE 429Z. Not exact but close enough to plan around.

wait so fired people can get benefits too?? I thought getting fired meant automatic denial I've been wrong about this for years

Misconduct is what matters for a firing, not the fact of being fired itself. If you were laid off for performance reasons or the company downsized your role, that's very different from actual misconduct. EDD looks at the specifics.

the phone interview is how EDD gets both sides of the story. If someone was fired they should be ready to explain their version of what happened. The interview notice, the DE 4800, tells you the date and time and what topics are likely to come up.

i had a friend who got fired and assumed he couldnt file so he waited two months before someone told him he could. he ended up applying late and lost those weeks entirely. apply right away and let EDD decide

This is what I keep telling people. Apply immediately. Even if you end up not qualifying you haven't lost anything by trying.

lost a week myself by waiting because i thought id find another job fast. never again, file day one now

The Sunday-of-the-week-you-apply rule catches so many people off guard. It is in the instructions when you file but people skim past it.

okay I definitely thought the phone interview was something scary like an interrogation. good to know it's just them asking about the job separation

it can feel stressful but just be honest and straightforward. they're collecting information, not trying to trip you up

missing the interview is a real problem though. if you miss it EDD decides from whatever information they already have which may not be in your favor. if you do miss it phone EDD that same day

EDD does factor in certain pension payments but Social Security is not one of them, Social Security doesn't get deducted and you don't even have to report it. For other pensions EDD decides how much it affects the payment.

yeah mine was a county pension so EDD accounted for it. the agent I eventually reached explained which weeks it applied to but didn't give me a formula, just said EDD decides the amount

wait social security doesn't count against unemployment benefits?? I've been telling my mom not to apply because she gets SS but I might have been wrong

Severance is on EDD's list of income to report when you certify but it doesn't disqualify you from filing. EDD's own guidance says severance paid under a company plan or policy isn't counted as wages for UI purposes, so someone with severance can file right away. But you still report it when the certification asks because EDD decides how to treat it in your specific case.

vacation pay, holiday pay, and in-lieu-of-notice pay are also on the list to report. EDD makes the call on how each type of pay affects a given week. The rule isn't something you can calculate yourself, just report it accurately and EDD handles it.

okay that makes more sense. so the answer is report everything and let EDD sort out what actually reduces your payment. I'll pass that along to my mom too

I nearly missed this myself because nobody told me about it at the beginning. found out from someone in a different forum after my first certification

adding this to the list of things I'll tell my friends when they file. apply right away, don't miss the phone interview, do the CalJOBS registration within the 21 days.

EDD's confirmation of whether you need to register is on that DE 8405. Some people apparently get an exemption but EDD tells you if you do, so if you got the notice just go register to be safe

wait there's a waiting week where you don't get paid?? that's the first I'm hearing of this

every California unemployment claim has a one-week unpaid waiting period at the start. it doesn't come off your total benefit amount, it just means the first week you certify doesn't get paid. the total amount you can receive stays the same, it just starts one week later

I wish someone had told me this upfront. I kept checking my payment for that first week and kept coming up empty until I finally asked someone what was going on.

my old nonprofit job is what I was filing on and I had the exact same worry. filed anyway and got approved without any special issues related to the employer type

right, the question for the claimant is always their own wage history and the reason they stopped working. what kind of entity the employer is doesn't change the claimant's eligibility process

30 days goes fast so checking that form the day it arrives is a good habit. once it's past 30 days disputing the amount gets a lot harder

the appeal process for the DE 429Z goes through the same mailing address on the notice. there's also an Appeal Form, the DE 1000M, though a letter works too as long as it's in writing within that window

I always assumed the DE 429Z was like a final approval letter. it's not though right, it just shows what the claim COULD pay, not that EDD has fully decided you're eligible

exactly right, it shows the potential weekly amount and total, not a decision on eligibility. the actual eligibility decision for things like whether you quit with good reason or were fired for misconduct comes later, usually after the phone interview

moved to Nevada after my layoff and was completely confused about whether I should file here or there. worked only in California so it was EDD all the way, just filed online same as anyone

my cousin moved to Oregon but all her work was in California. sending her this thread because she was about to try to file somewhere else

Pending weeks usually mean EDD still has an eligibility question open or hasn't finished verifying identity. The only way to know which one is to actually reach an agent. Claimyr got me through to EDD when the phones were impossible for my own claim issue, ended up talking to an agent in one morning instead of spending days redialing.

that's honestly what I need at this point, an actual human to tell me what's missing. I'll look into it

also check that your identity verification through ID.me is fully complete. sometimes people think it's done but there's a pending step in the ID.me side that holds everything up. if you applied by phone EDD may have mailed a DE 1326C asking for identity documents and the clock is ticking on that

the standard base period goes back to the first four of the last five completed quarters, so your most recent partial quarter is excluded by design. if your wages from that period are what made the difference between qualifying and not, EDD automatically checks the alternate base period which uses the most recent four complete quarters instead

that's what ended up happening in my case. the alternate base period got me over the threshold I was missing. EDD applied it without me having to ask

important to know the alternate base period doesn't increase your weekly amount if you already qualify on the standard one. it only comes into play when the standard doesn't get you to a valid claim

made the same mistake. the card eventually arrived but the wait after already waiting weeks for the first payment to clear was rough

you can still switch to direct deposit after the fact but any payment that already processed to the card stays on the card. the change only applies going forward

genuinely happy to read this, my grandma is in a similar situation and I've been afraid to tell her to file. now I might actually push her to do it

always better to apply and find out than to assume you don't qualify and miss out entirely. the worst EDD can say is no, and even then you can appeal if you think they got it wrong

wait you have to keep certifying even when you're in an appeal? I had no idea, I thought you stopped once denied

if you stop certifying during an appeal and win, those uncertified weeks are gone. certify every two weeks no matter what

this is maybe the most important thing in this thread. so many people stop certifying after a denial and then win on appeal and find out they can't recover those weeks. it has to be done in real time

knowing the specific finding before writing an appeal is a huge advantage. a lot of people write appeals that are too general because they don't understand what EDD actually ruled on

the agent walked me through what was on record from the interview and what the determination said, without telling me whether I'd win. that was enough to frame the appeal around the actual issue

the reporting part is where people get nervous. you report wages in the week they were EARNED not the week the paycheck arrives. so if you worked monday through friday of a given week you report those wages for that week even if payday isn't until the following friday

yes this tripped me up early on. I reported the week I got paid and ended up with a mix-up I had to contact EDD to fix. Use Report Wages in UI Online if you need to sort out a week before you certify, and if you already certified wrong the only fix is contacting EDD directly

reporting wages by when they were earned vs when you got paid is not obvious at all. this is exactly the kind of thing that creates overpayments that people don't even realize they're causing

genuinely relieved to read this, still in the pending situation myself but at least there's an end to it somewhere

keep certifying every two weeks no matter what. any week you don't certify is a week you can't get back even once the adjudication resolves

adjudication just means EDD hasn't finished deciding a question about eligibility yet. once they decide one way or the other, the determination comes in writing and if you disagree you have 30 days to appeal. the pending status in Claim History is the visible sign of that open question