EDD claim restart after seasonal work - can my boyfriend reopen his old claim?

I was in the same boat last year! If it's been less than a year since he first filed his claim, he can just REOPEN his existing claim - he doesn't need to file a brand new one. He'll need to go to UI Online, click on 'Reopen Your Claim' and answer the questions. Make sure he waits until AFTER his last day of work to do this, or EDD might think he's still employed. The process is pretty easy actually, just takes about 20 minutes to complete.

The previous answer is mostly correct, but I want to clarify a few important details about reopening claims. When your boyfriend initially filed his claim, EDD established a 12-month benefit year. If he's within that benefit year, he can reopen the existing claim rather than filing a new one. However, there are a few important things to consider: 1. If he's earned significant wages during his seasonal work, EDD will recalculate his weekly benefit amount which could be different from before. 2. He needs to report all employment since he last certified, including the reason for separation from the seasonal job. 3. He must wait until after his last day of work to reopen the claim. 4. He should be prepared for a potential eligibility interview, especially if the job was seasonal, to verify he's not at fault for the separation. The process is straightforward through UI Online under "Reopen Your Claim," but expect a week or two delay as they process the reopening.

my husband does seasonal fishing work and reopens his claim every year. just tell ur bf to make sure his employer reports the correct last day of work or EDD will flag it as conflicting info. happened to us twice and was a HUGE headache!!

One thing nobody's mentioned yet is that if it's been MORE than 12 months since he originally filed, he'll have to submit a completely new claim instead of reopening. The benefit year is exactly 12 months, not a day more. Also, he needs to have earned enough wages during his seasonal job to qualify for a new claim if his benefit year has ended.

If your boyfriend is having trouble getting through to EDD to ask questions about reopening his claim (which is very common), I highly recommend trying Claimyr. I was trying to reopen my claim for weeks and couldn't get through the phone system. Claimyr connected me with an EDD agent in about 20 minutes. Definitely worth it for the peace of mind! There's a demo video on their site that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km and you can find them at claimyr.com

i think evry1 is making this more complicated than it needs 2 be. just tell him 2 login to ui online and there is literally a button that says "reopen claim" right on the homepage when u login. edd system will tell him if he needs 2 file new or can reopen. took me like 5 mins when i did it

There's one CRITICAL thing nobody has mentioned yet - when reopening a claim after working, he MUST report ALL earnings during the weeks since he last certified. The system will ask for this information during the reopening process. When I reopened my claim after a 3-month job, I had to go back and list every week I worked and what I earned. If you skip this or get it wrong, it can trigger an overpayment notice later. I recommend he gather all his pay stubs before starting the reopening process. Also, the system might put his first payment on pending status while they verify his employment details. This is normal but can take 1-3 weeks to clear, so he should be prepared financially for that gap.

one more thing!! tell him to start reopening the claim THE SAME WEEK his job ends. if he waits till the next week he'll miss out on a week of benefits. i learned this the hard way lol

Just to follow up on my earlier comment - to check when his benefit year ends, your boyfriend should log into UI Online and look at his claim summary. It will show his "Benefit Year" with the start and end dates. This is important because if he's close to the end of his benefit year, the strategy might be different. If he's getting close to the benefit year ending (within 1-2 weeks), he might actually want to wait and file a completely new claim rather than reopening the old one, especially if he's earned good wages during his seasonal work which could potentially increase his weekly benefit amount on a new claim. But if he's still several weeks or months away from his benefit year ending, reopening is definitely the way to go.

Yes, in that specific situation - with his benefit year ending only 3 weeks after his job ends - it might be more advantageous to wait and file a new claim instead of reopening the old one. Here's why: 1. With only 3 weeks left on his old claim, he'd have to file a new claim very soon anyway 2. If his earnings were higher during this construction job, a new claim would likely give him a higher weekly benefit amount 3. Filing a new claim would give him a fresh 12-month benefit year However, there is a trade-off: waiting those extra 3 weeks means no benefits during that period. He needs to decide if potentially getting a higher weekly benefit amount for a full year is worth missing 3 weeks of payments now. One strategy could be to reopen his current claim for those 3 weeks, then immediately file a new claim when the benefit year ends. This way he doesn't miss any payments, though it does mean dealing with EDD twice in a short period.