EDD award letter shows $0 wages - identity verification issue or no benefits?

This is actually pretty common - don't panic yet! When your wages show as $0, it usually means one of three things: 1. Identity verification is still pending (which sounds like your case) 2. Your employer reported your wages under a different SSN by mistake 3. You worked as an independent contractor and those wages aren't in the regular W2 system Since you mentioned you already did the ID.me verification, give it about 10 business days before they update your claim. Once your identity is verified, they'll update your wage information and recalculate your benefit amount. You should get a new award letter with the corrected amounts.

same thing happened to me in January!!! my award letter said $0 but after they verified my identity they fixed it. took about 2 weeks tho

You need to call EDD immediately!! I had this exact problem and it turned out my employer had reported my wages under a slightly different name (they had my maiden name). I spent WEEKS waiting for it to resolve itself before I finally called and got it fixed in one day. Don't just sit around waiting because the system rarely fixes itself. You need to reach a tier 2 specialist who can actually access your wage information. The problem is getting through to anyone at EDD is nearly impossible these days. I called 47 times in one day before getting through!

I had this exact issue in March. After trying for days to get through to EDD with no luck, I used a service called Claimyr that got me connected to an EDD agent within 30 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km that shows how it works. When I finally got through, the agent told me that even though my ID.me was complete, there was another step in their internal verification process that was holding up my claim. They fixed it on the call and my updated award letter with correct wages came about a week later. Definitely worth talking to someone directly rather than waiting and hoping it gets fixed automatically. Just make sure when you do get through that you speak with a tier 2 specialist who can access your wage information.

THIS IS WHY THE EDD SYSTEM IS COMPLETELY BROKEN!!! Why should people have to call 50+ times just to get their rightful benefits?? My neighbor went through this same thing and ended up having to contact his STATE ASSEMBLY MEMBER to get it resolved after waiting 2 MONTHS with $0 benefits. The whole system is designed to make people give up. Don't let them win!!

One important thing - make sure you continue certifying for weeks even while your claim shows $0! If they do fix your wage issue (which they probably will), they'll only pay you for weeks you've properly certified for. I made the mistake of not certifying because I thought it was pointless with a $0 award, and lost out on 3 weeks of backpay when my issue was finally resolved.

btw when u call them use the trick where u press 1 then wait then 2 then wait and so on...it works better then just calling the main number

Just to clarify some information here: 1. Yes, definitely keep certifying while this gets sorted out 2. When they fix your wage history, they'll issue retroactive payments for any weeks you certified correctly 3. The $0 award letter is actually called a "Notice of Wages: $0" and is different from the final Award Letter 4. The most common cause is identity verification, but employer misreporting is also possible One thing to check: log into your UI Online account and look for any messages or tasks in your inbox. Sometimes there's additional information or verification requests there that weren't in the mailed letter.

my cousin had this happen 2 him too. his work had his SSN wrong so edd couldnt find his records. took FOREVER 2 fix but he got all the money eventually

UPDATE: I finally got through to EDD this morning! Turns out my former employer reported my wages under a slightly wrong SSN (last digit was off). The rep fixed it right on the call and said I should get an updated award letter in 5-7 days. She also said my weekly benefit amount will be around $425 based on my corrected wages. For anyone who's curious, I used the Claimyr service that someone mentioned here and got connected to an agent in about 20 minutes. Totally worth it considering I'd already wasted hours trying to call directly. Thanks everyone for the help and advice! Will update again when I get my corrected award letter.