How long does it take to hear back from California EDD unemployment after filing?

Wait I didn't know I was supposed to be filing weekly certifications already?? I thought you wait until you're approved and then start? I might have already missed a week oh no

Yes file them NOW. Go into UI Online and certify for any weeks that are available. You can usually certify for up to 4 back weeks I think but don't wait any longer. Call EDD if you're unsure but definitely don't skip certifications thinking you wait for approval first - that's a really common mistake

This is accurate. The weekly certifications are separate from the approval process. Your claim approval and your weekly certifications run parallel. Missing certification weeks means missing payment for those weeks, period. File immediately.

My layoff was totally clean, they gave me a formal notice and everything, so hopefully that means no dispute? My employer definitely knew I was filing

That's a good sign. If you have documentation of the formal layoff notice keep it handy just in case, but a clean documented layoff usually processes without adjudication. You should hear something within another week or so based on what you're describing

yeah my boss tried to call it a 'resignation' when it was clearly a layoff and THAT sent me into adjudication for 6 weeks. nightmare. document everything people

I'll check out that video, the phone situation has been genuinely awful. Did they actually tell you useful information when you got through to someone?

Yes - the agent I spoke with could see exactly where my claim was in processing and whether there were any flags on it. In my case there was a minor issue with my base period wages that I never would have known about otherwise. Got it fixed over the phone and was approved within days

gonna look into this claimyr thing too, ive called edd like 20 times in the past 2 weeks and given up every single time

Does it actually work or is it one of those things that sounds good and doesn't deliver? Genuinely asking because I need to talk to someone at EDD badly

Oh interesting I didn't know adjudication looked different in the portal. Mine literally just says pending with no other details

Right, if it went into formal adjudication you'd usually see something about an issue being reviewed or a questionnaire to complete. Plain pending usually means it's just in the standard processing queue. Still annoying but less alarming

this breakdown is super helpful wish i had seen something like this when i first filed lol

Wait the job search requirement starts immediately even before I'm approved?? I've been doing some searching anyway but I should have been logging it formally? This is a lot of stuff nobody tells you

Yes, it's active from your claim effective date. You need 3 employer contacts per week minimum. You can log them in UI Online under the job search record section. You don't submit them weekly but you need to have them recorded and available if EDD ever asks to review them

CalJOBS registration is also technically required - if you haven't done that yet do it now. It's at caljobs.ca.gov and you register as a job seeker. EDD may ask you to verify you did this

Adding CalJOBS to my list of things to do today, thank you

Have you tried Claimyr? I mentioned it above - claimyr.com - it gets you through to an actual live EDD agent which is nearly impossible to do on your own right now. It's how I finally found out what was happening with mine. After 3 weeks you deserve an actual answer

I'll try anything at this point honestly. The Ask EDD messages are useless, calling is useless. Going to check out that claimyr link

For what it's worth the 3 week mark is around when EDD typically sends determination letters even for claims they're still processing - sometimes the letter and first payment arrive nearly simultaneously. Doesn't make the wait any less awful though

That's actually really reassuring to hear that the back pay covers the waiting period weeks, I was wondering if you lose those weeks forever

nope as long as you certified every week you get paid for them once approved. that's why certifying even while pending is so important

this is the most important thing in this whole thread honestly. certify every single week no matter what. even if it feels pointless

Self-employment and freelance income won't count toward your base period wage credits since those aren't reported as UI-covered wages. Only W-2 wages reported to EDD count. If your self-employment period was significant it could affect your weekly benefit amount calculation but wouldn't necessarily trigger adjudication on its own

Ok that makes sense, so my benefit amount might be lower because of the freelance months but the actual approval process shouldn't be affected? That's helpful to know

Correct - they only look at UI-covered wages for the base period, so the freelance stuff kind of just... disappears from the calculation. Your WBA will be based on whatever your highest quarter of W-2 wages was

Good! Don't forget to also register on CalJOBS if you haven't and start logging your job search contacts. Better to have that all set up from the beginning than to scramble later

doing CalJOBS registration right now, didn't even know that was a thing

Oh that's a scary scenario, I'm going to double check my address in UI Online right now

Do it. Also make sure your email address is correct in your profile and that edd.ca.gov isn't blocked by your spam filter. I had two important emails go to spam

This is excellent advice. EDD still uses physical mail for many official notices including overpayment notices, appeals deadlines, and some determination letters. Address accuracy in UI Online is genuinely critical

This is unfortunately accurate. The unpredictability is one of the most stressful aspects. The official guidance says 3 weeks but reality varies enormously based on claim complexity, employer cooperation, time of year, and honestly just processing backlogs

exactly. and calling to check doesn't help because you can never get through anyway

That's why services like Claimyr (claimyr.com) exist honestly - fills the gap between 'you should call EDD' and 'you literally cannot get through to EDD.' It's not perfect but it's way better than spending 3 hours hitting redial

This is the outcome I'm hoping for. My situation sounds similar to yours so maybe I'm worrying too much

Honestly probably yes. The waiting is the hardest part but the portal updating to 'pending payment' and then seeing that EDD deposit is a genuinely great feeling after all the stress

I just went and checked and there's nothing showing in my inbox or action items section. So at least that's not the holdup

Good. That's one less thing to worry about. Some people go weeks not realizing there was a questionnaire sitting there. If you do see anything appear in there respond to it immediately - those usually have deadlines

This is a really good point. The UI Online notifications for required questionnaires can be pretty subtle. Worth checking every couple days not just for status updates but for any required actions

Not a dumb question at all. Your certification week runs Sunday to Saturday. You can certify starting on Sunday of the week after the week you're certifying for. So if you're certifying for the week of Sunday May 4 through Saturday May 10, you can start certifying on Sunday May 11. You have until the Saturday of the following week to certify before that week is considered late

oh ok so theres actually a window not just one exact day. that's less stressful than i thought

Yes there's a window but definitely don't wait until the last possible day because UI Online has occasional outages and you don't want to be locked out on deadline day

Wait you can still go in person? I thought they basically ended walk-in appointments

It's appointment-preferred but if you show up and explain your situation sometimes they work with you, especially if your claim is significantly delayed. Results may vary by location though

In-person visits can be very effective for certain issues especially if there's something on your account that's not visible to you in UI Online. It's worth knowing as an option after you've exhausted the phone and online approaches

This gives me hope!! Congrats on finally getting through that

It really does just kind of happen all at once. The pending status was there forever and then suddenly everything updated at the same time. The waiting is genuinely the worst part

this is so good to hear. gives the rest of us something to look forward to

Did the agent you spoke with actually have authority to do anything or just explain what was happening?

Both actually - they explained the situation and also noted in my file that the employer inquiry deadline had passed which triggered the next step in the process. So it wasn't just informational, talking to an agent actually moved things forward

I ended up trying Claimyr after someone above mentioned it - got through to EDD yesterday. Turns out I had a form error from when I first filed that was silently holding everything up. Would have never known without actually talking to someone

That's really useful context, thank you. So even if my former employer doesn't play nice, EDD should still process my claim after a certain point?

Correct. Non-response from an employer after the deadline isn't a valid reason to hold a claim indefinitely. EDD proceeds based on your account of the separation. The employer can still dispute later but they lose certain rights by not responding in the initial window

This is accurate. Employer non-response is actually more common than people think and it does not doom a claim. EDD has a process for this and claimants generally prevail when the employer fails to respond in time

So glad to hear this!! Congratulations. That first EDD deposit notification is such a relief

Great news! For what it's worth keep all your documentation, keep logging your job searches, and stay on top of those weekly certifications. The hard part is over but staying compliant keeps everything smooth going forward

Love to see this resolution. The '3 week pending' experience is almost a rite of passage at this point lol

this thread delivered. so happy for you op and now i know what to expect with my own claim