Hours cut at work - can I collect California EDD unemployment?

Yes, you absolutely can file for partial unemployment through California EDD when your hours have been reduced involuntarily. This is actually one of the most common reasons people file. What you're describing falls under what EDD calls a 'partial claim' - you're still employed but your wages dropped significantly. Here's how it basically works: EDD calculates your weekly benefit amount (WBA) based on your highest earning quarter from the past 18 months. Then when you certify each week, you report whatever you actually earned that week. EDD uses a formula where they disregard the first 25% of your WBA, and then reduce your benefits dollar for dollar on earnings above that threshold. So for example if your WBA comes out to $400, they disregard the first $100. If you earned $300 from your reduced hours that week, the remaining $200 above that threshold gets subtracted from your $400 benefit, meaning you'd get $200 in UI benefits that week on top of your $300 in wages. You need to have your hours reduced through no fault of your own (which yours clearly were) and you need to be earning less than your WBA to receive any benefit. File the claim at UI Online as soon as possible because your claim effective date is the Sunday of the week you file.

The partial claim process definitely works but I want to add something important - you need to make sure your EMPLOYER filed what's called a Notice of Reduced Earnings (DE 2063) for you, OR you can file your own claim online. A lot of employers in retail don't bother with the DE 2063 form so most people just go straight to UI Online and file themselves. When you file, the fact that you're still employed will come up and EDD may contact your employer to verify the hours reduction. Don't stress about this - it's totally standard and since your employer cut YOUR hours (you didn't reduce them yourself or refuse additional hours), you should be fine on the eligibility front. One thing to know: you still have job search requirements even on a partial claim UNLESS your employer files for standby status for you. If they use that DE 2063 and request standby, you might be exempt from the weekly job search activities. Without that, you're expected to be actively looking for other work while collecting.

I went through almost this exact situation last year - dropped from full time to about 22 hours at my warehouse job. Took me forever to actually get someone from EDD on the phone to ask questions before I filed because I was nervous about doing something wrong. What finally worked for me was using Claimyr (claimyr.com). It basically gets you connected to an actual EDD agent without sitting on hold for hours. There's a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 - I was skeptical but I got through to someone who walked me through the partial claim process step by step before I filed. Way better than guessing and potentially messing up your claim.

ok wait I'm confused about something. If you're still working at the same job aren't you like... not unemployed? I thought EDD was only for people who lost their jobs completely. My cousin told me you have to be fully unemployed to get benefits. Not trying to be discouraging just want to make sure you have accurate info before you file something that could get denied or cause problems later

FILE ASAP. Like do not wait even one more day. Your claim effective date goes back only to the Sunday of the week you file, not to when your hours actually got cut. Every week you delay is potentially money you can't recover. I learned this the hard way and basically lost two weeks of benefits just because I kept putting off the filing thinking I needed to research more first. The UI Online system will walk you through everything, it's not as complicated as it seems. Just have your employment info, social security number, and your last employer's info handy.

One thing nobody mentioned yet - when you do your weekly certifications, be really careful about how you report your earnings. You report GROSS earnings (before taxes) for the week you WORKED them, not the week you get paid. This trips people up constantly. So if your pay period is Sunday-Saturday and you worked Monday through Friday of that week, you report those gross wages on your weekly certification for that week even if the actual paycheck doesn't hit your account until the following Friday. EDD goes by when the work was performed, not when the money arrives in your account.

I've been on partial unemployment twice in the past few years (retail sector is brutal) and honestly the system works pretty okay for this exact situation. A few things I wish someone had told me: 1. Your weekly benefit amount gets set when you file and doesn't change even if your hours fluctuate week to week 2. Some weeks you might earn enough from work that you get zero in UI benefits - that's okay, just certify anyway so EDD knows you're still eligible 3. Keep looking for full time work because EDD will ask you to document at least three job search contacts per week (unless you have standby status) 4. If your employer eventually cuts you fully or brings your hours back up to full time, just report it honestly on your certification

Does the partial claim affect your employer at all? Like will they get in trouble or pay more taxes or something? Asking because I'm in a similar situation and nervous my boss will retaliate if I file

Quick question for the experts in this thread - if someone is on a partial claim and then their hours get cut even more, like from 20 hrs to 10 hrs, do they have to refile or does the original claim just adjust automatically?

went thru this whole process 8 months ago when my retail gig cut everyone to part time. honestly filing was way easier than i expected. UI Online is not the most intuitive website but its manageable. the part that stressed me out was waiting for EDD to verify everything and not knowing if i was actually approved took about 3 weeks before i saw my first payment hit the debit card

I'm going to push back slightly on something here because I've seen people get surprised by this. Even though partial claims are legit and you can file, there IS a waiting period (one week) where you won't receive benefits. California eliminated the waiting period for a while but it came back. So your first week of eligible unemployment you get nothing - week two is when benefits can start. Plan accordingly budget-wise. This is not a reason not to file, just something to be aware of.

Also worth knowing - your partial claim has a maximum benefit amount for the entire benefit year, not unlimited payments. California calculates your maximum claim as either 26 times your WBA or the total of your base period wages whichever is lower. So if you're on partial UI for a long time the total does have a ceiling. For most people in a temporary hours reduction this isn't a concern because you'll either get your hours restored or find a full time job before hitting the max. But if you're planning for longer term it's good to understand.

ok reading this whole thread because im in literally the same boat - hours went from 38/week to like 16 at my grocery store job. been scared to file because I thought it would show up on background checks or affect me getting hired somewhere else is that true?? does collecting UI show up on background checks

Something I want to add since I work adjacent to HR - when you file a partial claim, California EDD will mail a Notice of Unemployment Insurance Claim Filed to your employer. Your employer then has the opportunity to respond and either confirm or dispute the information you provided. In a clear-cut hours reduction case like OP describes, there's really nothing to dispute. But if for some reason your employer submits inaccurate information, your claim could go into adjudication while EDD investigates. This is rare for straightforward partial claims but it does happen. Just be aware that if you see 'pending investigation' or 'adjudication' on your claim status, it doesn't necessarily mean YOU did anything wrong.

For anyone in this thread who needs to reach an EDD agent - whether for a partial claim question, to check status, or because your claim went into adjudication - I really can't recommend Claimyr enough (claimyr.com). There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 that shows exactly how it works. Getting through to an actual human at EDD used to take me literal hours of redialing, this solved that completely.

Has anyone had their partial claim denied? I'm a little worried because my employer kind of implied when they cut my hours that it was 'temporary' and 'might' go back to full time. Does EDD consider that when deciding eligibility?

Just want to pop in as someone who successfully navigated this - it took me about 5 weeks from filing to first payment on my partial claim, but once it kicked in the process became really routine. File your certifications every two weeks on schedule, report honestly, keep your job search log if required, and the money comes in pretty reliably. The hardest part honestly was the initial setup and waiting period. After that it becomes kind of second nature. Good luck OP, you're doing the right thing by looking into this instead of just absorbing the pay cut.

this thread should be pinned somewhere lol. every week i see someone ask 'can i still file if my hours got cut' and the answer is always yes but people don't know where to find good info

Late addition but for the job search documentation piece - California EDD requires you to record at least three employer contacts per week (during weeks you claim benefits and don't have standby status). You log these in your UI Online account. They need to include the employer name, contact method, date, and position applied for. The good news is applying on job sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, etc. counts as a valid contact. You don't have to cold call companies or anything formal like that. Just keep a running log as you go rather than trying to reconstruct it later.

OP I just want to reassure you one more time because I remember how stressed I was in exactly your situation - the partial unemployment system in California genuinely exists for people like you and it works. You paid into UI through your paycheck taxes this whole time you've been employed. This is quite literally what those deductions were for. There is nothing sketchy or questionable about using a benefit you've been paying into for four years. File the claim, certify every week, report honestly, and let the system do what it's designed to do.