EDD penalty weeks vs. overpayment - how do they affect my claim balance?

Penalty weeks and overpayments are completely different things! The penalty weeks are basically weeks you qualify for benefits but don't get paid as a punishment. The overpayment is money you have to pay back separately. So your 6 week penalty doesn't reduce what you owe for the overpayment at all. It's basically a double whammy - you have to serve the penalty AND pay back the money. EDD is brutal.

The previous commenter is correct. Penalty weeks and overpayment repayments are two separate things. Penalty weeks: These are weeks where you qualify for benefits but don't receive payment. Think of them as "serving time" for the reporting mistake. These weeks do come from your claim balance - they're using up your eligible weeks without paying you. Overpayment: This is the actual money EDD says you received incorrectly that needs to be repaid. You can either pay this back directly or have it deducted from future benefits after your penalty weeks are served. For budgeting purposes, you should expect: 1. No payment during your remaining 3 penalty weeks 2. After penalty weeks are completed, you'll start receiving benefits again BUT with a portion withheld for overpayment recovery (usually 25-50% of your weekly benefit amount) You should have received a Notice of Overpayment with the exact amount. If you didn't, call EDD and request a copy.

yea i had 4 penalty weeks last year cuz i reported wrong income too. they dont count toward ur overpayment AT ALL. its just free money for edd basically. then after the penalty weeks they took like 40% of my weekly payment til the overpayment was gone. took like 2 months to pay it all back.

not worth it for me. i heard they usually dont change penalty weeks unless u can prove u didnt actually make a mistake. if u admit u made a mistake they just keep the penalties.

I'm going through exact same thing!!!! Got 8 penalty weeks for "misreporting" but it was literally a TYPO on my certification. Mine says false statement penalty too. Just finishing week 5 of penalties. So tired of this system treating us like criminals for honest mistakes 😡

I can definitely share some insights on penalty weeks from my experience handling these situations. Here's what you need to know: 1. Penalty weeks and overpayments are completely separate consequences 2. Penalty weeks consume your eligible claim weeks without paying you 3. After serving penalty weeks, you'll begin receiving benefits again 4. At that point, EDD typically recoups overpayments by withholding a percentage of your weekly benefits (25-50%) If you haven't received formal documentation about your overpayment, this is concerning. You should have received a Notice of Overpayment detailing the amount, reason, and your appeal rights. I'd recommend using Claimyr to get through to an EDD representative quickly. I was in a similar situation and spent days trying to reach someone. With Claimyr (claimyr.com), I got through in about 20 minutes. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km You need to specifically request your Notice of Overpayment and ask for a breakdown of the alleged false statement. This will help you determine if you want to appeal the decision.

Call and speak to a tier 2 specialist about setting up a payment plan! Sometimes they let you pay as little as $10 a month on overpayments. WAY better than them taking half your benefits. But YOU MUST CALL and set it up before they start automatically taking it from your future payments. They don't tell you this option exists unless you ask!!!

Did anybody notice OP said they "never got anything in the mail"?? That's another problem right there. EDD is REQUIRED to send you written notice about penalties and overpayments. You should have received something called a "Notice of Determination" explaining the false statement AND a separate "Notice of Overpayment." The fact you didn't get either means something is wrong with your contact info or EDD messed up. You might have grounds to appeal based on that alone!

Regarding appeals and not receiving notices - if you can prove you didn't receive proper notification, you may have grounds for what's called "good cause" for a late appeal. Normally you have 30 days to appeal a determination, but if you can show you never received the determination notice, EDD may allow you to file a late appeal. When you call EDD, ask specifically: 1. When was the Notice of Determination issued? 2. When was the Notice of Overpayment issued? 3. Request copies of both documents be sent to you 4. Ask about the process for filing a "good cause" late appeal based on non-receipt of notices Document everything - the date/time of your call, who you spoke with, and what they told you. This documentation will be helpful if you decide to appeal.