EDD certification confusion - reporting first week unemployed + second week started new job

Congrats on the new job! This is actually simple to handle when certifying. You certify for each week separately, so treat them as two different situations. For Week 1: answer YES to looking for work and NO to earning money (assuming you didn't earn anything). For Week 2: you can still answer YES to looking for work (since you were working, which counts as 'work search' activity) and YES to earning any money, then report your earnings for that week. Make sure to report the exact days you worked and what you earned BEFORE taxes in Week 2. The system will automatically calculate partial benefits for Week 2 if you earned less than your weekly benefit amount, or zero benefits if you earned more. You don't need to specifically tell them you're ending your claim - they'll figure it out based on your reported earnings.

you can just report what u earned each week, thats it. for the looking for work question i always answer yes no matter what. dont overthink it! they pay u for week 1 and either partial or nothing for week 2 depending on how much u made

Here's exactly what you need to do (I went through this last year): 1) You certify for each week individually, so Week 1 is separate from Week 2 on the certification form. 2) For Week 1: Answer YES to looking for work, and NO to earning money. 3) For Week 2: Answer YES to looking for work (because working satisfies the work search requirement), YES to earning money, then enter the amount you earned BEFORE taxes even if you haven't been paid yet. 4) For the question "Are you still unemployed?" on the Week 2 certification, you can answer NO if you consider this job permanent. 5) EDD's system will pay you full benefits for Week 1, and either reduced or no benefits for Week 2 depending on how much you earned. If you keep reporting earnings that exceed your weekly benefit amount, EDD will eventually stop sending you certification notices. You don't need to formally close your claim.

I was in a simular situation in february & I told EDD I got a job and they STILL kept sending me certification notices for like 2 months after!!!! So frustrating!!! I just stopped filling them out becase I didnt want to get accused of fraud but then I got worried maybe I should have formally cancelled something?? The notices eventually stopped but it was weird. The whole system is a mess!!

My brother-in-law just went thru this. Report week 1 as unemployed. Report week 2 with your job income. Pretty simple. They'll figure it out and pay you for week 1 only if your week 2 income is more than your benefit amount.

Have you tried calling EDD directly to ask? I spent DAYS trying to get through to an agent about a similar issue last month and it was impossible. Constant busy signals or getting disconnected after waiting on hold for hours. I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an EDD agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km. The agent was able to walk me through exactly how to handle my certification with a mid-period job start. Definitely worth it versus stressing about potentially answering something incorrectly.

congrats on the new job!! honestly the edd system is designed to handle exactly this situation. just be honest about which week you worked and which you didnt. they calculate each week separately anyway.

I don't understand why everyone is saying to answer YES to looking for work for Week 2. The question literally asks if you LOOKED for work, not if you WORKED. If you were actually working and not looking anymore, technically the answer should be NO for Week 2. But the system doesn't properly account for someone who found a job mid-certification period. That's why so many people get confused by this.

Thank you everyone for the super helpful advice! I'm going to certify today with YES for work search on both weeks, NO to earnings for week 1, and YES with reported earnings for week 2. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly!