EDD certification during vacation - will my claim stay active?

This is actually a common question! When you're on vacation or temporarily unavailable to work, you should still complete your certification truthfully. On question #2 that asks if you were able and available for work, you should answer "No" for the specific week you're traveling. You'll then need to provide a reason - select "Other" and briefly explain you were out of town. This will NOT end your entire claim - you just won't receive benefits for that specific week. Your claim remains open, and you can continue certifying as normal when you return. Just make sure you're available for work immediately upon your return.

BE CAREFUL!!! I did this last year and checked NO for available to work when I went to my cousin's wedding. EDD sent me a FORM to fill out asking WHY I wasn't available for work!!! Had to explain myself and wait WEEKS for them to process it. The system is RIGGED to find any excuse to deny benefits!!!

What the previous poster experienced is actually normal procedure. When you mark "No" for availability, EDD will often send you a DE 4365 form to explain why you weren't available. This is standard - just fill it out honestly explaining you were temporarily out of town for personal reasons. As long as you're available for work before and after your trip, and you're actively looking for work during the weeks you are available, your claim will remain active. You simply won't be paid for the week you're unavailable. Remember to resume your work search activities as soon as you return. The EDD just wants to verify you're not claiming benefits while permanently unavailable for work.

lol i didnt know about this when i went to vegas last summer for 5 days. i just said i was looking for work that week anyway 😬 probably not the right thing to do but nothing happened

If you're having trouble getting clear information about this situation, you might want to try calling EDD directly. I had the same question last year and needed to speak with a representative for clarification. I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an EDD agent quickly when the phone lines were jammed. They have a video demo here: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km that shows how it works. The agent explained exactly how to handle vacation time on my certification, and it saved me a lot of worry about potentially messing up my claim.

i got a question tho, what if its just a weekend trip? like if im gone sat-sun but those arnt normal work days for most jobs, do i still have to report that? or is it only if the trip covers weekdays?

This happens to me every year when I visit my mom for Christmas. I just mark "no" for the week I'm gone and don't get paid for that week. Then when I'm back home I mark "yes" again and payments continue normal. Been doing this for years with no problems at all!

Just wondering - if you're going on vacation, how are you really looking for work? Honest question. Don't they want you to be applying to jobs while collecting? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm still new to unemployment.

Update: I just completed my certification and marked "No" for the week I was on vacation. As expected, I didn't get paid for that week, but my claim is still active and I got paid for the other week in the certification period where I was available. Thanks everyone for the advice! The DE 4365 form did come, I filled it out honestly explaining I was at a family wedding, and everything processed normally after that.

Thanks for the update! This is really helpful for others who might be in the same situation. It's great that you followed the honest approach and everything worked out smoothly. The fact that you got the DE 4365 form and it processed normally just confirms what others mentioned - it's standard procedure, not something to worry about. Hope you enjoyed the wedding!

This is exactly the kind of real-world experience that helps so much! I'm dealing with a similar situation - have a destination wedding to attend in July and was really worried about how to handle the certification. Your update showing that being honest worked out perfectly and the DE 4365 form was just routine paperwork is so reassuring. It's refreshing to see someone actually follow up with how things turned out instead of just asking the question and disappearing. Definitely going to bookmark this thread for reference when my trip comes up!

As someone who just went through my first UI claim process, this thread has been incredibly educational! I had no idea about the DE 4365 form or how temporary unavailability was handled. It's so helpful to see the complete cycle from the initial question to the actual resolution. Diego's follow-up really demonstrates that the EDD system, while sometimes confusing, does work correctly when you're honest about your situation. I'm saving this thread for future reference - you never know when life events might come up that require temporary travel. Thanks to everyone who contributed their experiences and knowledge here!

This entire thread has been such a goldmine of practical information! I'm actually in a very similar boat - got laid off from my retail job last month and have my sister's wedding in Vegas coming up in June. I was absolutely terrified about how to handle the certification because I kept reading horror stories online about people losing their entire claims over minor mistakes. What really impressed me about Diego's approach is how he prioritized honesty even when it meant losing a week of benefits. That takes courage when you're already dealing with the stress of unemployment. And seeing his follow-up showing that everything worked out exactly as the knowledgeable folks here predicted gives me so much confidence in this community's advice. I think what makes this thread so valuable is that it covers the complete journey - from the initial confusion, through getting different perspectives (including the cautionary tale about getting the DE 4365 form), to the final successful resolution. It's like having a roadmap for anyone facing the same situation. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, especially those who emphasized the importance of honesty. Sometimes doing the right thing feels scary in the moment, but this thread proves it's always worth it in the long run!

This thread is absolutely fantastic - thank you all for such comprehensive and honest guidance! I'm currently on my first UI claim after being laid off from my hospitality job, and I have a family reunion in another state coming up next month. Reading through everyone's experiences, especially Diego's complete journey from question to resolution, has been incredibly reassuring. What really stands out to me is how the community emphasized honesty throughout, even when it means temporarily losing benefits. As someone who's never navigated the UI system before, it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the rules and worry about making a costly mistake. But seeing how Diego's transparent approach with marking "No" for availability actually protected his claim long-term makes perfect sense. The detail about the DE 4365 form being standard procedure rather than a red flag is particularly valuable - I probably would have panicked if I received that without this context! It's amazing how much clearer everything becomes when you have real experiences to learn from rather than trying to interpret government websites alone. Thanks to everyone who contributed their knowledge here. This thread should honestly be pinned as a reference for anyone dealing with temporary travel during their UI claim!

This thread has been such an incredible resource! I'm dealing with a very similar situation - just filed my first UI claim after getting laid off from my teaching position, and I have a family vacation planned for this summer that I booked months before losing my job. I was honestly losing sleep over how to handle the certification without messing up my claim. Diego's experience from start to finish has been so educational - it really shows how being upfront and honest, even when it costs you a week of benefits, is the smart long-term approach. I was particularly nervous about potentially getting that DE 4365 form, but seeing that it's just standard procedure and not a penalty makes me feel so much better about the whole process. What I love about this community is how everyone emphasized doing things the right way rather than trying to game the system. When you're already stressed about finances, it's tempting to look for shortcuts, but this thread clearly demonstrates why transparency protects you in the long run. I'm definitely going to follow the same approach - mark "No" for availability during my trip and just accept missing that week's benefits to keep my claim in good standing. Thank you to everyone who shared their real experiences here. This is exactly the kind of practical guidance that makes navigating the UI system so much less intimidating!

This thread has been absolutely invaluable! I'm in my third week of my first UI claim after being laid off from my healthcare job, and I have a long-planned family trip to Hawaii coming up in August. I've been anxiously researching this exact scenario for weeks, and finding Diego's complete experience - from initial question to successful resolution - has been like finding gold. What really struck me is how the community consistently emphasized honesty over trying to game the system, even when it means losing a week of benefits. The clarity around the DE 4365 form being routine rather than punitive completely changed my perspective. I was dreading potentially receiving it, but now I understand it's just part of EDD's normal verification process. The real-world examples here have given me so much more confidence than trying to decipher the official EDD website alone. Seeing multiple people share their experiences with temporary travel, and how being transparent actually protects your claim long-term, has completely shifted my approach. I'm no longer worried about "breaking" my claim over a legitimate family obligation. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their knowledge and experiences. This thread should honestly be required reading for anyone starting a UI claim - it covers so many practical scenarios that the official guidance doesn't address clearly. You've all made navigating this system feel much less overwhelming!

Just wanted to add my experience to this amazing thread! I'm currently on my second UI claim (unfortunately got laid off again after being rehired last year) and had to deal with this exact situation during my first claim. I had a pre-planned trip to visit my elderly grandmother across the country and was terrified about how to handle it properly. Like Diego, I chose to be completely honest - marked "No" for availability during my travel week, got the DE 4365 form as expected, filled it out truthfully explaining it was a family visit, and everything processed smoothly. What I learned is that EDD actually appreciates the honesty because it shows you understand the requirements and aren't trying to cheat the system. One additional tip I'd add: make sure you're actively job searching right up until your departure and resume immediately when you return. I documented my job search activities for the weeks before and after my trip, which I think helped demonstrate that the unavailability was truly temporary and not a sign I wasn't serious about finding work. This thread perfectly captures why being upfront is always the best policy, even when it costs you short-term benefits. The peace of mind knowing your claim is secure is worth way more than one week's payment!

What an incredibly thorough and helpful thread this has become! As someone who just started their UI claim last week after being laid off from my marketing job, I was completely overwhelmed by all the certification requirements and terrified of making a mistake that could jeopardize my benefits. Diego's complete journey from initial confusion to successful resolution has been like having a step-by-step tutorial for this exact situation. I have a destination wedding in Mexico planned for this fall (booked long before I lost my job) and was honestly considering canceling because I was so worried about how it would affect my claim. What really stands out to me is how consistently everyone emphasized honesty as the best policy, even when it means losing a week of benefits. Pedro's additional tip about documenting job search activities before and after travel is brilliant - it shows a clear pattern of genuine job-seeking behavior with just a temporary interruption for legitimate personal reasons. The clarification that the DE 4365 form is routine paperwork rather than a red flag has completely changed my perspective. I was dreading the possibility of receiving it, but now I understand it's just EDD's way of verifying that temporary unavailability isn't a sign of permanent withdrawal from the job market. This thread has honestly been more helpful than hours of trying to navigate the EDD website. Thank you to everyone who shared their real experiences - you've made what seemed like an impossible situation feel completely manageable!

This thread has become such an incredible resource for anyone dealing with travel during their UI claim! As someone who's been collecting benefits for about 6 months now (got laid off from my accounting firm last year), I can add that this honest approach has worked perfectly for me multiple times. I've had to mark "No" for availability three different times - once for a pre-planned family reunion, once when I had to travel for a funeral, and once for my own wedding that was scheduled before my layoff. Each time I got the DE 4365 form, filled it out honestly explaining the situation, and never had any issues. My claim stayed active throughout, and payments resumed normally when I returned. One thing I'd add to Pedro's excellent advice about documenting job search activities: I also made sure to apply to several jobs right before leaving and immediately upon returning, which I noted in my work search log. This helped show EDD that my job search efforts were consistent except for the specific days I was unavailable. The key insight from all these experiences is that EDD's system is actually designed to accommodate temporary life events - they just want to make sure you're not permanently withdrawing from the job market. Being honest protects you from fraud allegations while keeping your claim active for when you return. Thanks Diego for sharing your complete experience and everyone else for adding their perspectives. This thread proves that doing the right thing, even when it costs you short-term benefits, always pays off in the long run!

This entire thread has been absolutely phenomenal - thank you all for creating such a comprehensive guide to handling vacation/travel during UI claims! As someone who just filed their first claim after being laid off from my restaurant job, I was completely lost about how to navigate situations like this properly. What makes this thread so valuable is seeing the complete cycle from Diego's initial question all the way through his successful resolution, plus hearing from people like Luca who've handled this situation multiple times. The consistent message about prioritizing honesty over short-term financial gain really resonates - it shows this community truly cares about helping people do things the right way. The practical tips shared here are gold: Pedro's advice about documenting job search before and after travel, Luca's strategy of applying to jobs right before departure and upon return, and everyone's reassurance that the DE 4365 form is just routine paperwork rather than a penalty. These are the kinds of real-world insights you can't get from official websites. I have a family trip planned for later this summer and was honestly considering canceling it because I was so worried about jeopardizing my claim. But after reading through everyone's experiences, I feel completely confident about handling it properly - mark "No" for availability during travel, accept missing that week's payment, fill out any forms honestly, and maintain strong job search documentation before and after. This thread should honestly be pinned as the definitive guide for this situation. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and knowledge!