Can you get unemployment while on social security? California EDD rules explained

Wait so I literally don't report Social Security income anywhere on the certification? That's the part I was most confused about - I figured I'd have to list it somewhere and then EDD would do some math against it.

Correct, Social Security retirement is not on EDD's list of income you report when certifying. The things you do report are wages from actual work, severance, pension payments, workers comp - stuff like that. SS retirement isn't in that bucket.

Glad someone cleared this up. I'd heard conflicting stuff too and was going to avoid filing because of it.

I actually used that calculator and it estimated around $310 a week based on what I earned. That's going to help a lot. My SS is only about $880 a month so together it would actually be manageable.

$310 is a solid estimate. Keep in mind the first week of your claim is an unpaid waiting week - you don't get paid for it, but you still have to certify it. First payment usually covers week two.

Good point above - that waiting week catches a lot of people off guard. The Notice of Unemployment Insurance Award, which is the DE 429Z, will come in the mail and show your actual official weekly benefit amount once EDD processes everything.

This is really helpful - I don't have a pension so at least that's one less thing. Good to know someone actually got an EDD agent to confirm the SS question directly.

I have a small pension on top of SS and was wondering about that too. So pensions might actually reduce the benefit amount?

EDD does say a pension based on your prior work may reduce your benefits, but how much depends on your specific situation. EDD makes that call - no one here can say what it'll be for your claim. Worth asking EDD directly.

I'm on retirement specifically so this confirms what I needed to know. Did your claim process pretty quickly or did you have any delays?

Mine took about three weeks total from application to first payment, which I think is pretty standard. No adjudication issues since it was a straightforward layoff.

Three weeks lines up with what EDD says on their site - roughly three weeks to process a new application and get the first payment out.

Okay this is exactly the kind of practical thing I needed to hear. I would have probably done the same thing and second-guessed myself into entering it.

Same worry here honestly. The certification language isn't always super clear about what counts.

The certification asks about wages earned from work during the week, vacation pay, holiday pay, severance, pensions, workers comp - SS retirement genuinely isn't in the list. You're not hiding anything by not entering it, it's just not what that question is asking.

I hadn't even thought about CalJOBS. Do I register at caljobs.ca.gov? And do I need to post a full resume or is a basic one okay?

Yes, caljobs.ca.gov is where you go. A basic resume is fine - just needs to be posted and visible. The main thing is doing it within the 21-day window on the notice.

CalJOBS also has job postings and workshops which is actually useful if you're actively looking. But yeah the registration is the critical part for keeping your EDD payments flowing.

The parallel thing is what I couldn't wrap my head around. I kept thinking there had to be some offset somewhere because getting both felt like too much.

Completely understand that feeling. The only gotcha I ran into was just making sure I reported my actual wages correctly during the weeks I did any small side work. SS and EDD are separate but you still follow the normal earnings rules when certifying for EDD.

Good point about reporting wages properly. Part-time earnings while claiming EDD do get factored in - there's a formula where the first $25 or 25 percent of what you earn in a week (whichever is bigger) doesn't count against you, then the rest gets subtracted from your weekly amount.

Self-employment while claiming is something I might need eventually too - good to know you have to report those earnings. Does it reduce your benefit dollar for dollar?

Not dollar for dollar - there's that formula where the first $25 or 25 percent of earnings, whichever is larger, is excluded. So if I earn $100 in a week and my weekly benefit is $310, they'd exclude $25 and subtract $75, leaving me with $235 from EDD. Full-time work in a week means no EDD payment for that week though.

That part trip up a lot of people - full time work in any given week means zero EDD for that week regardless of the amount. The partial earnings formula only applies to actual part time work.

I did not know that distinction. So the DE 429Z isn't confirmation I'm good to go, just that the claim has a certain value?

Exactly - the DE 429Z shows your weekly benefit amount and maximum amount the claim can pay. Actual eligibility gets decided separately. If nothing's wrong with your claim (clean layoff, identity verified, CalJOBS done) payments just start processing and you see it in UI Online under Payments.

The UI Online Claim History showing 'Pending' on weeks is what trips everyone up. It just means EDD is still processing. It doesn't mean denied.

I wasn't aware of that but honestly a layoff is a layoff - my whole department was cut, they can't claim misconduct on that.

Right, misconduct is only relevant to a firing situation anyway. With a layoff you're in the clearest possible position. EDD just has to verify the separation type.

And even if an employer did respond or try to dispute something, EDD still makes the final call. The employer can't directly deny a claim - only EDD decides eligibility.

Thanks for that - I was starting to think my pension would knock me out of running entirely. So I should still file and just let EDD figure out what it does to my amount?

Exactly. File, certify, and if the pension affects things it'll show in what they pay you. The Notice of Award will show your weekly benefit amount and that's the number to watch.

On my own call with an EDD agent through Claimyr, the agent pulled up the pension factor on my claim and explained exactly how it was being applied to my specific weekly amount. That's the kind of thing worth calling about if you want to understand your numbers before the first payment hits.

I've been applying at a few places already so that's not a concern. Though I've heard mixed things about whether older workers need to look only in their field or can expand to other types of work.

EDD's pages don't specify a number of contacts or limit what kind of work you have to search for. The basic requirement is that you're genuinely able and available. What industries you apply to is your call.

The CalJOBS registration also helps show you're engaged in the job search process, which is part of why EDD takes it seriously.

Good heads up on the 10 percent withholding option. I'll probably elect that since between SS and EDD I'd rather not owe a lump sum at tax time.

Smart move. You can choose it right in the certification flow. The 1099G they send covers what EDD paid you that year, not the SS piece - that comes separately from Social Security.

California not taxing UI is one of the few pleasant surprises in this whole process honestly.

I did the ID.me step during my application - took photos with my phone and it went through. Hoping that clears the identity piece right away.

ID.me going through cleanly is a good sign. If weeks still show Pending after a couple of certification cycles it's worth contacting EDD to find out what's holding it up.

EDD's live chat through the Help button in UI Online is actually pretty useful for quick status questions - it's available Monday to Friday 9 to 2. Beats waiting on hold for something simple.

That's genuinely reassuring - I was expecting some special SS-related section to pop up and complicate things.

Nope. File online, do your ID.me verification, wait for the DE 429Z, register on CalJOBS, and certify every two weeks. The SS runs completely separately in the background.

EDD's rules say Social Security benefits are not deducted and are not reported when certifying - that applies to SS benefits generally. But the bigger question for someone on disability is whether they can honestly certify that they're able to work and available for work every week they claim UI, because that's required for unemployment. Those two things can conflict depending on the person's situation.

Ah that makes sense - the able and available requirement would be the actual issue, not the SS type itself.

Exactly the right frame. Someone on SSDI would need to be able to certify they can work, which their own disability situation would determine. EDD doesn't deny you because of SS income, but the ability-to-work requirement is real.

I did get a small payout for unused PTO when they let us go. So I need to report that when I certify for the week it was paid out?

The rule is you report it for the week it was earned, not when you received the check. EDD has Report Wages in UI Online which can help you work out a week's earnings before submitting your certification, though it doesn't fix past weeks if you already certified them wrong - for that you'd contact EDD.

Vacation pay and holiday pay are specifically on EDD's list of things to report. How they affect that week's payment EDD calculates - the person above is right not to assume it cancels the whole week.

26 weeks is actually enough runway for me honestly - at 64 I'm not planning to be out of work that long, I'd take almost anything reasonable in distribution or receiving.

That's a solid mindset. And if you do find part-time work while still within your benefit year, you can keep certifying and report those earnings - partial benefits for weeks where you work part time are better than nothing.

Also if for any reason a job ends while your benefit year is still open, you reopen the existing claim rather than filing a brand new one. UI Online is the fastest way to do that.

That's exactly what I'd be worried about - weeks stuck pending with no explanation. Good that calling in actually got it resolved.

The agent was pretty clear about which week had the hold and what triggered it. Worth having actual numbers ready when you call - the specific weeks showing pending and your claim number.

Pending weeks with no detail in Claim History are almost always either an identity step EDD still needs or an eligibility question on a specific week. Both are fixable but you do need to know which one it is.

Bookmarking the number and hours. My situation seems pretty clean so hopefully I won't need it but good to have.

Clean layoff, identity verified, CalJOBS done within 21 days - honestly you're set up well. The SS piece is genuinely a non-issue for California EDD.

One more thing for the original poster - the America's Job Centers of California (AJCCs) around the state offer free resume help and job search workshops if the job hunt gets longer than expected. They don't process EDD claims but they're a legit resource for the actual job search side of things.