How long do you have to have a job to get unemployment in California EDD?

Wait so my pay stubs matter more than how long I was there? That actually makes me feel better because I was doing overtime a lot and my quarterly earnings were pretty solid.

yeah same thing happened to my buddy, worked like 8 months at a restaurant and still got approved, its totally about the money not the months

The $1,300 figure is the floor though. There's a secondary way in too if your highest quarter was at least $900 and your total base period earnings were 1.25 times that quarter. So two paths to a valid claim, not just one.

Did you have to do anything special once you were on with the agent, or did they just pull up your file automatically?

EDD's phone line is basically impossible to get through on a normal day, so knowing there's another way to actually land a live person is good to have in my back pocket for when my own claim gets complicated.

My first week trying to reach EDD I got disconnected four times. Would've killed to have something that handled the hold time for me back then.

So EDD could use a different time window for me without me even knowing? How would I find out which one they used?

The Notice of Unemployment Insurance Award they mail you, the DE 429Z, lays out your weekly benefit amount and the wages they used. If the numbers on it look off you have 30 days from the mailing date to appeal in writing.

i didnt even know there was an alternate base period thing. found this out the hard way when my first claim got rejected and then i called and they recalculated it

I actually had a few weekends doing gig delivery work during the first few months. Should I have listed that too even though it was irregular?

Any wages you earned count toward the base period total, even irregular stuff. The question for gig work is how it was classified — if you were an independent contractor and no one reported those wages to EDD, they might not show up in EDD's records automatically. Worth flagging when you talk to EDD.

gig stuff is so complicated with EDD, i went through a whole thing with that last year

Mine should be arriving soon then. Is the amount on that letter the final number or can it still change?

That amount is EDD's calculation based on your wages, but if anything on the letter looks wrong — like a quarter is missing wages or the number seems too low — you can appeal within 30 days of the mailing date. Beyond that, the weekly amount stays fixed for the life of your claim.

I've seen people miss that appeal window and then get stuck with a lower amount than they deserved because they didn't notice the error in time. Check everything on that DE 429Z when it comes.

The months confusion is everywhere. Even some HR people I've talked to get it wrong. The actual threshold is about earnings in the base period quarters, not a calendar count of employment duration.

Yeah that's basically what my coworker told me too, the year minimum thing. Glad multiple people here are confirming it's not real.

I did do the ID.me step when I applied online through myEDD, it made me upload a photo and everything. So hopefully that's checked off already.

Good, that's usually the step people skip or don't realize they have to do. If it's done you're ahead of a lot of people who end up waiting weeks before figuring out their identity wasn't verified.

the id.me thing got me too, i thought applying online meant everything was submitted but the identity piece was separate

I've only worked in California so I don't think that applies to me, but good to know for others reading this.

Yeah the multi-state situation is its own whole thing. I know someone who didn't realize they needed to file differently and it delayed everything by weeks.

So I'll certify for the first time and one of those weeks just won't have any money? Or does it come later?

Exactly right — the first time you certify usually covers the waiting week plus one paid week. So you'll see one week paid and one week showing as the waiting week. After that every two weeks you certify it's normally two paid weeks.

A lot of people think something went wrong when they see that first week come up with zero payment. It's normal, not an error.

Wait there's a CalJOBS requirement too? Nobody mentioned that when I applied.

EDD sends out a notice — the DE 8405 — that tells you to register on CalJOBS and post a resume within 21 days. If you don't do it, payments can stop. It's called the Notice of Requirement to Register for Work. Check your mail carefully the first few weeks after you apply.

I almost missed that notice because it came bundled with other EDD mail and I didn't open everything right away. Definitely open every piece of mail from EDD as soon as it arrives.

I plugged my numbers into that calculator, it said around $380 a week for me. That would be a huge help while I look for another position.

$380 is pretty solid, I got $310 and that covered most of my bills. not glamorous but it kept things together

What counts as a work search activity? Do I need to track a certain number of applications per week?

EDD doesn't publish a specific number you have to hit per week from what I've seen. Just genuinely be looking and keep your own notes on where you applied and when. Some people keep a simple spreadsheet.

Keeping your own log is a smart habit regardless. If EDD ever asks about your work search history you'll have something concrete to point to.

So if I pick up a couple of shifts while job searching I don't automatically lose everything for that week?

right, part time earnings just reduce your weekly amount, they don't wipe it out completely unless you're working full time. full time work does end eligibility for that whole week though.

The formula works out to your benefit minus whatever your earnings exceeded the $25 or 25% threshold. So say your weekly benefit is $380 and you earned $200 — you'd keep $25 of that or 25% which is $50, so the first $50 is ignored and $150 gets subtracted from $380. That week you'd get $230.

Good to know, I hadn't even noticed there was a live chat option in UI Online. I'll try that if I have more questions after my DE 429Z shows up.

Yeah it's easy to miss. Click Help inside UI Online when you're logged in and it should offer it during those hours. Outside that window you're looking at phone or leaving a message.

I got a small severance too, same situation. So I should still file and just report it when asked?

That's what I did and my benefits came through. File right away and report the severance on the certification when it asks. Don't hold off filing because of it.

Filing as soon as you're out of work is important because your claim starts on the Sunday of the week you apply. Waiting costs you weeks you can't get back.

The early morning strategy works sometimes but honestly it still depends on the day. High-volume periods like right after a big round of layoffs hit a local industry can make even 8am brutal.

True. Mid-week mornings are usually better than Monday mornings in my experience.

Mine was definitely a straight layoff, the whole department got cut. Does EDD still do a phone interview for layoffs?

Usually not for a standard layoff where you were let go through no fault of your own. Interviews typically come up when you quit or were fired, or if there's some other eligibility question EDD needs to sort out. A clean layoff usually goes through without one.

Though EDD can still schedule an interview if they have any questions about the reason for separation, so keep an eye on your UI Online homepage and the mail either way.

So if I find a job in a month or two and then it doesn't work out, I could reopen this claim instead of starting over?

Exactly, as long as you're still within the 52-week benefit year. UI Online is the fastest way to reopen it. You'd just need to meet the ongoing eligibility requirements like being able and available for work.

i didn't know this and filed a whole new claim when i got laid off from my second job, took way longer to process than it needed to

I had no idea I'd owe federal taxes on this. Should I set that withholding up now or wait until I get my award letter?

You can elect it right on the certification screen when you first certify. Better to do it early so you're not hit with a surprise bill at tax time.

Got a 1099G in January after my first claim and had no idea what it was for. Set up withholding from day one now.

That's exactly the kind of situation I'd be terrified of. Good to know there are ways to actually get a person to look at your specific account.

Pending weeks with no explanation are the worst because UI Online doesn't tell you what's actually holding things up. Having the ability to get someone who can actually open your file makes a real difference.

Always good to know you can get a human to actually look at your account rather than just refreshing UI Online and hoping something changes.

I hadn't thought about that at all. The first few weeks before payments kick in are going to be tight so I'll look into it.

The processing for CalFresh is usually faster than EDD in my experience. Worth doing both at the same time rather than waiting to see how the unemployment works out first.

Covered California is also worth checking for health insurance if you lost coverage when you got laid off. EDD's own resource list points people there along with COBRA as options.