How does California EDD determine your unemployment pay amount?

okay this actually makes way more sense thank you. So EDD is only looking at that one specific time window and not my whole work history? That explains why my amount seems off - I think most of my overtime happened recently which might not be in that base period window

the base period thing tripped me up too when i first filed. I had switched jobs 3 months before filing and my new job paid way more but none of those earnings counted in my base period. super frustrating

Worth noting - you should double check your wage information on UI Online to make sure EDD has the correct earnings on file. Sometimes employer-reported wages have errors and that directly affects your WBA calculation. If something looks wrong you can provide documentation to get it corrected.

wait there's an actual calculator?? Where do I find that on the EDD site

Yeah if you go to edd.ca.gov and search 'UI benefit calculator' it should come up. You'll need your W2 or pay stubs to get the quarterly earnings numbers to enter

the calculator gave me a pretty accurate estimate when I used it. was only off by like $12 from my actual WBA

I didn't know about the gross wages thing - that's helpful. No tips at my job but good to know

does overtime count as gross wages too? my OT was huge some quarters

Yes absolutely, overtime pay counts as gross wages and gets included in your quarterly earnings. If you had a quarter with heavy OT that could significantly boost which quarter becomes your 'highest quarter' for the WBA calculation

Oh interesting - so you can actually call EDD and have them explain the calculation to you? I assumed they'd just point me back to the website

Yeah they can pull up your specific claim and tell you exactly which quarters were used and what the wage amounts are. That's when I found out about the reporting error. An EDD agent can also tell you whether requesting the alternate base period would help your situation

claimyr worked for me too when i needed to talk to EDD about my payment schedule. getting through on your own is basically impossible these days

This is really helpful - my hours and pay rate actually did go up in the last 6 months so the alternate base period might work better for me. How do I request that?

You can request it through UI Online by sending a message in the Contact EDD section, or by calling EDD directly. Make sure to have your pay stubs from the relevant quarters ready as documentation. They may need proof of your actual earnings during the alternate base period

I requested the alternate base period and it raised my WBA by like $60 a week. Definitely worth checking

Yes! California EDD adds up all wages reported from all employers during your base period when calculating your WBA. All of your W-2 income from every employer gets factored in. The key is that all those employers need to have properly reported your wages to California's Employment Development Department. If you had any employer who paid you under the table that obviously wouldn't be in the system

oh ok good - my part time place was totally legit so i should be fine. thanks

The calculation is based only on your HIGHEST quarter though, not an average of all quarters. So your big season quarter should have been used as the basis. Did you verify which quarter EDD actually used for your calculation? Sometimes it's worth double checking

hm wait really? I thought they averaged all four quarters. maybe i misunderstood. how do i check which quarter they used

You can call EDD and ask them to walk through your claim calculation, or check if your award letter specifies it. The award letter you received when approved should show your base period wages by quarter. Look for the quarter with the highest amount - that's what your WBA is based on (divided by 13, then the percentage applied

Right?! Restaurant and retail workers dealing with fluctuating hours makes this so much more complicated. Good luck with your claim

Restaurant workers sometimes have issues with tips being properly reported - make sure your employer reported all your tipped wages. If they underreported, your WBA could be lower than it should be and you'd have grounds to dispute it

I definitely cleared that - I was making about $19/hour and working 35-40 hours a week most of the time. But good to know that threshold exists for people with less work history

Yeah sounds like you're well over the minimum. The minimum thresholds tend to be issues for people who only worked a few months or had very part-time hours

No - previous unemployment benefits are NOT counted as wages for base period purposes. Only actual earned wages from employment count. So your previous UI payments don't factor into your new WBA calculation at all. Only the wages you earned when you went back to work would count

phew ok good that's what i was hoping. thanks

At $900/week that's roughly $11,700 for a quarter if you worked all 13 weeks. 60-70% of $900/week divided by 13 and recalculated comes to... honestly the EDD formula is a bit more complex than just 60-70% of weekly wages. The percentage applies to your highest QUARTER earnings divided by 13, and there are brackets. At the $900/week range the max cap of $450 shouldn't be hitting you. Might be worth calling EDD to verify they have your wages correct

This is exactly why I ended up calling EDD about my calculation. Claimyr made it actually possible to get through - claimyr.com is the service I used. The EDD rep confirmed there was a wage reporting discrepancy on my account. Definitely worth verifying your actual wages on file are accurate

maybe my employer didn't report all my hours correctly. my boss was kind of sketchy with payroll stuff. ugh

I'm going to do exactly this tonight. I still have all my pay stubs thankfully

Good - keep ALL your pay stubs. If there's a discrepancy you'll need them as evidence. EDD will ask you to submit proof of wages before correcting anything on their end

what if you don't have pay stubs?? i never saved mine and now i'm kicking myself

Once your WBA is established at the start of your claim it's generally fixed for that benefit year. The only way it would change is if there's a successful wage correction/dispute that adjusts your base period earnings. When you open a new claim the following benefit year, it would be recalculated using the new applicable base period

ok makes sense. so if i find out my employer underreported my wages i could potentially get my WBA adjusted?

Yes, if you can document that your actual wages were higher than what EDD has on file, they can correct the base period wages and recalculate your WBA. This can also result in back payment of the difference for weeks you've already claimed. Worth pursuing if you have evidence of an error

Standard UI through California EDD is for employees whose employers paid into the state unemployment insurance fund on their behalf - W-2 employees basically. Traditional self-employed people and independent contractors don't pay into UI and generally aren't eligible for regular California EDD unemployment benefits. There are some very specific exceptions but the standard WBA calculation doesn't apply to self-employment income

oh ok so my freelance income wouldn't count even if i paid taxes on it?

For regular California EDD UI, correct - freelance/1099 income typically doesn't factor in. The system is built around employer-paid UI taxes which independent contractors don't have paid on their behalf

Same, this is literally the most helpful breakdown I've found anywhere. Better than anything on the actual EDD website lol

For real. Government websites always explain things in the most confusing way possible

Yes there is typically a one-week unpaid waiting period (also called a waiting week) at the start of a California EDD claim. You still need to certify for that week, you just don't get paid for it. It doesn't change your WBA - your weekly amount stays the same, you just receive one less payment over your benefit year. California reinstated this waiting week requirement after temporarily waiving it

ugh okay that's annoying. so week 1 you certify but get nothing then week 2 payments start?

Correct. And make sure you still certify for that waiting week even though you won't receive payment - failing to certify for it could cause issues with your claim later

100% made up - California EDD does not factor in education level when calculating your WBA. The calculation is purely based on your earned wages during the base period. Your education, job title, industry, and years of experience are irrelevant to the benefit amount. Just wages.

yeah thought that sounded wrong lol. my coworker has some interesting theories about how EDD works

People have SO many misconceptions about how EDD calculates benefits. Heard everything from 'they look at your credit score' to 'longer employment always means higher benefits.' It's just the wages in the base period, nothing else

Thank you for the update! This gives me hope - going to check my pay stubs against my award letter tonight

This is exactly what happened with me too - wage reporting errors are more common than people think and they directly tank your WBA. Good for you for following up

how long does the wage audit process take? I think I might have the same issue with my highest quarter

The EDD agent said it can take a few weeks to process but if the adjustment is approved you'd get back pay for the difference on all your previous certifications. Worth the wait

Calendar quarters - January through March is Q1, April through June is Q2, July through September is Q3, October through December is Q4. Has nothing to do with your hire date or employment anniversary. It's always those fixed calendar periods. So your base period will always align to those calendar quarter boundaries

Oh good - calendar quarters are way easier to track than employment-based quarters. Makes it easier to pull my quarterly earnings from pay stubs

Yes and your W2 from your employer will show total annual wages but if you need quarterly breakdown you'll want to look at your pay stubs by quarter or your paystub portal if your employer has one