How much of unemployment do you get with California EDD?

Wait so they only look at ONE quarter? Not an average across all of them? That changes things because I had one quarter last year that was way better than the others.

Exactly one quarter, specifically your highest earning one from the base period. So that strong quarter works in your favor here.

The DE 429Z is the letter that tells you the weekly amount before they've decided if you actually qualify, right? Just want to make sure I'm reading that correctly.

The DE 429Z shows what your claim could pay out if approved, yes. It's not a final approval letter, more like a projection of your weekly amount and total possible benefit.

Two days of busy signals sounds like a nightmare. Did the agent say anything about what happens when your best quarter isn't in the standard window?

She said there's an alternate base period option, but EDD only uses it automatically if the standard base period doesn't give you enough wages for a valid claim in the first place. If your claim is already valid under the standard calculation, the alternate doesn't come into play to boost the amount.

Good to know that alternate base period thing, I always thought you could request it whenever to get a higher weekly amount. Sounds like that's not how it works.

Yeah that's a common mix-up. The alternate calculation isn't a way to raise your weekly amount if the standard base period already makes you eligible. EDD runs it automatically in the background when needed.

$450 a week max sounds brutal if you had a good salary. How long does the state actually pay that out?

Up to 26 weeks on a standard claim, though the actual total depends on your base period wages too. The max you can collect is either 26 times your weekly amount or half of everything you earned during the base period, whichever number is smaller.

So for someone like me where some quarters were really inconsistent, the total might be less than 26 weeks worth even if my weekly amount is decent?

Potentially yes. If your total base period wages weren't that high even though one quarter was strong, the half-of-base-period-wages cap might kick in before you hit 26 weeks. The DE 429Z shows both numbers so you can see which limit applies to your specific claim.

That's a really common belief but EDD doesn't use a straight percentage of your earnings. The weekly amount comes from a formula tied to your highest quarter wages, not a flat percentage of your last paycheck or salary.

ok well she got a pretty decent amount so maybe it worked out anyway but good to know for the future

I've been afraid to even look at the calculator because I don't want to get my hopes up. But I guess knowing is better than guessing at this point.

Run the numbers, seriously. You might be surprised. The quarter system actually rewards anyone with one really solid stretch of work, which restaurant managers often have from busy seasons.

Does the calculator on EDD's site account for tips? I reported my tips when I worked service jobs and I never knew if that changed the calculation.

Tips count as wages when they're reported to your employer, so they'd factor into your quarterly earnings for the base period calculation. The calculator uses your total gross wages by quarter, tips included if they were part of your reported pay.

Three weeks feels really long. Is that typical or was something delayed on your claim specifically?

I had to do a phone interview because of how I left my last job, so that added time before anything got resolved. If you got laid off clean with no dispute it might process faster.

Oh so the interview delays things even getting the DE 429Z mailed out? I thought the interview was just for the eligibility question not the amount.

No the DE 429Z timing and the phone interview are separate things. I think mine was just a slower processing week. The interview is about whether you qualify, not what your amount is.

I definitely cleared $1,300 in my best quarter even in slow months, so that part should be fine. The inconsistency was more about HOW much, not whether I earned anything.

Then you're in good shape on the validity side. The focus is really just on maximizing that highest quarter figure to get the best weekly amount within the $40 to $450 range.

That's mixing up two different things. The claim itself stays open for 52 weeks, meaning you have a year to use it. But the actual paid weeks top out at 26 weeks of benefits during that year, unless there's some special extended benefit program in place, which there isn't right now.

oh ok so the year is like the window you have to use it not how long you get paid. that makes more sense

Exactly. 52 weeks is the benefit year, 26 weeks is the maximum payment period for a standard claim. Totally different things and they do get confused a lot.

Wait really? So even if everything goes perfectly I lose one week's worth of money right at the start?

Yes, one week unpaid at the beginning is standard for every California UI claim. It doesn't come out of your 26 weeks, it's separate. Just plan for it so the first payment amount doesn't throw you off.

Does the waiting week get paid out at the end then or is it just gone?

It's just the unpaid waiting period, it doesn't get paid back at the end. The total weeks you can collect stays the same, you just don't get a check for that first eligible week.

The base period starting earlier than you'd expect is exactly the kind of thing I would have gotten wrong. So your most recent quarter of work might not even be in the calculation at all?

Right, the standard base period is roughly the 12 months that ended about three months before your claim starts. So if you filed in November, your most recent quarter of work might not be counted. That's why running the calculator first helps you see which four quarters they're actually using.

This is why the agent walkthrough is worth it if you have unusual income. Variable pay, bonuses, tips, it all adds up differently and the online calculator only works as well as the numbers you put in.

The formula only cares about your highest quarter, wherever it falls in the base period. So if your full time quarters were earlier in the base period window and your part time quarters were more recent, the full time quarter still counts as your highest and that's what determines your weekly amount.

Oh that's actually really reassuring. I was afraid the recent part time earnings would drag the number down.

Not how it works. It's strictly the best quarter, not an average, not the most recent. Your strongest quarter wins regardless of when it happened within the base period.

The gap between what you were earning and what EDD pays is a real shock. It's meant to be a bridge not a replacement, which I know doesn't help the bills.

yeah exactly. a bridge is a generous way to put it when rent here is what it is. but i get it, it's something

Severance doesn't affect your weekly benefit amount, which is calculated from your base period wages before any of this happened. As for whether it affects eligibility, EDD's guidance says severance paid under a company plan or policy isn't counted as wages for UI purposes, so taking a package generally doesn't hold up your claim. That said, it's still on the list of things to report when you certify, and EDD makes the final call on how it applies to your specific situation.

So I should still report it when I certify even if it probably won't affect my payment?

Yes, report it. EDD lists severance as something to disclose when certifying. You report it and EDD decides what it means for your payment that week. Better to disclose than to have a question come up later.

Makes sense. I'll take the package and report it like you said. Good to know it probably won't tank the weekly amount.

I hadn't heard about this at all. How do you know if you need to do it? Does EDD just tell you?

You get a notice after you apply, the DE 8405, that lays out whether you need to register and by when. If EDD says you don't need to, it'll say that too. Watch for it in your mail after the application goes through.

I skipped the CalJOBS part for like two weeks because I didn't think it was urgent. Payments slowed down before I figured out what was wrong. Don't skip it like I did.

This is the clearest summary I've seen in this whole thread. So the DE 429Z just confirms what the calculator already estimated?

Basically yes, assuming you put accurate quarterly wages into the calculator. The official number sometimes differs slightly from the estimate but it's usually close if your inputs were right.

The calculator estimate matched my actual DE 429Z exactly when I filed. Only differed by a few dollars and I think that was just rounding.

I did get some performance bonuses during a good stretch. They were on my W-2 so they should be in there. That might actually make my highest quarter better than I thought.

If it was on your W-2 and went through payroll, it counts. Pull your quarterly wage records before you use the calculator so you can plug in accurate totals.

How specific can they get on the phone? Like would they actually read out each quarter's earnings from their records?

The agent I spoke with read off the quarterly amounts from my claim record and explained how the highest one was used. It was more useful than staring at the DE 429Z trying to reverse-engineer the math.

$310 sounds reasonable for California. Did your first certification cover just the waiting week and one paid week like someone mentioned earlier?

Exactly, the first cert showed one week paid at $310 and the waiting week listed at zero. Bit jarring to see but once I knew to expect it, it made sense.

How long after you certified did the payment show up? I'm trying to plan around when to expect money.

Showed up on my Money Network card within about 24 hours of certifying online. The UI Online Payments screen updated the same day, then the card loaded the next morning.

Honestly that reframe helps. My best quarter was last holiday season so that should work in my favor.

Holiday season in restaurants is usually strong. Run that quarter through the calculator and I'd bet you land solidly above the midpoint of the range.

Holiday season in food and bev tends to be a legit high quarter for people in that industry. The formula isn't set up to hurt variable earners if they had one strong period.

So there's genuinely no way to get EDD to use the alternate if your claim is already valid under the standard? Even if the alternate would give a higher weekly amount?

Correct, no way to override it. The alternate is a fallback for people whose standard base period doesn't get them to a valid claim, full stop. If the standard gets you there, that's the calculation.

This needs to be said more because that misconception trips up a lot of people who filed after getting a raise in the most recent quarter.

Exactly the scenario where it matters. Someone gets a raise or takes on more hours recently, files a claim, and assumes EDD will grab those recent higher wages. But if the older wages already make the claim valid, the alternate doesn't get triggered.

I didn't know you could appeal the weekly amount if it seemed wrong. What would be a reason to appeal it?

If EDD used the wrong quarters for the base period, missed wages that should have been counted, or made a calculation error, those would be grounds to appeal. You'd want to have your own wage records ready to show what the correct numbers should have been.

The 30 day window is tight. Worth checking the math on your DE 429Z as soon as it arrives rather than waiting.