How to cancel unemployment claim with California EDD - what actually happens?

Ok that makes sense. I did report my wages on that last certification. So I literally just stop filing going forward and that's it?

Exactly. The claim stays open in the system but goes dormant. If for some reason your new job falls through within the benefit year, you can reopen it without starting over. But for your purposes right now, reporting your wages and stopping certifications is the correct process.

This is right. I went through this exact situation last year. Just make sure you reported ALL earnings including any signing bonus or first day pay, not just your hourly wages for the week.

Ugh the phone situation is the worst. I've been trying to reach someone too just to confirm everything is handled correctly.

Honestly the anxiety of not being able to confirm with a real person was the hardest part. I finally got through using Claimyr - it's a service at claimyr.com that helps you actually reach a California EDD agent. There's a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 - got me connected in about an hour instead of spending days redialing. Just wanted to confirm my return to work was properly recorded and it gave me real peace of mind.

wait is that legit? sounds sketchy to me

This is super clear thank you. What counts as 'full time' though? I'm starting at 32 hours a week which I know isn't traditional full time.

Good question. California EDD looks at your weekly earnings compared to your weekly benefit amount (WBA). If your weekly gross earnings exceed your WBA plus $25 (or 25% of your WBA, whichever is higher), you won't receive any benefits for that week. At 32 hours you're very likely earning over that threshold, but you should still certify for any week where your earnings might fall below it - like if you only worked part of a week. When in doubt, certify and report honestly rather than just stopping.

yeah the 25% rule is important, I almost missed out on a partial payment during my first week back because I thought I had to just quit filing entirely the second I started working

Your cousin might be thinking of something else, or maybe had a different type of claim situation. For standard UI in California, there is no formal cancellation call required. You report your wages, stop certifying, done. Fraud would be if you continued to certify and claim benefits WITHOUT reporting that you returned to work - that's the thing to avoid.

ohhhh ok that makes way more sense. so the fraud thing is about NOT reporting, not about failing to call and cancel. got it

Yeah this was my exact fear too - that not calling would somehow look like fraud. Good to know it's the reporting that matters.

Yikes that sounds awful. Did you have to pay it all back?

yeah I did unfortunately. they set up a payment plan at least but it was a whole mess. moral of the story: report every single dollar you earn in the week you earn it

This is why accuracy on the weekly certifications is so important. California EDD does reconcile employer-reported wages against what claimants reported, sometimes months later. The overpayment notices that result from those audits can be a real shock.

Keep filing weekly certifications until your actual first day of work. Accepting an offer doesn't count as being employed for California EDD purposes. You remain eligible for benefits up until the week you actually begin working and earning wages. Just make sure to accurately report the wages for your first week of work when you certify for that week.

ok phew. I wasn't sure if accepting meant I was supposed to stop. good to know I can keep filing until I actually start

Also just be aware - on your weekly certs during this period, when it asks if you refused any work or quit any job, you answer no, you haven't refused or quit anything. Accepting a future start date is perfectly fine and normal.

I keep seeing this Claimyr thing mentioned. Does it actually work or is it just another scam?

100% legit. I was skeptical too but I needed to talk to a real person and had been trying for days with zero luck. Got connected to an actual California EDD agent who confirmed my return-to-work was recorded correctly. No more anxiety about overpayment notices.

Second this, used it for the same reason. The EDD phone system is just genuinely broken and this was the only thing that worked for me to get a real human.

Good to know. I might use this just to get final confirmation that my situation is all squared away.

Oh this is a great point I hadn't thought about. I have some of it but not all. I'll go back into UI Online and screenshot what I can.

UI Online does keep a history of your certifications in the claim summary section. You can usually pull up prior weeks. Worth saving those now while you still have easy access.

yes do this!! I didn't and then later when EDD had a question about one of my weeks I had to piece everything together from memory and it was stressful

Not at all. Your claim stays active in the system for your benefit year (12 months from when you originally filed). If you lose your new job within that benefit year and still have remaining benefits, you can reopen your existing claim rather than filing a brand new one. After the benefit year ends, you'd file a new claim, but you'd need to meet the base period wage requirements again.

ok this is super reassuring actually. so I can go back to work without burning my safety net if things go sideways

Exactly right. Returning to work is always the goal, and California EDD's system is set up to support that. The claim doesn't disappear, it just becomes inactive until/unless you need it again within the benefit year.

I was lowkey worried about this! Thanks for the perspective from the HR side.

wait employers find out?? I had no idea that happened

They get a notice related to the unemployment insurance tax system, not a detailed report. It's an administrative thing, not a 'your employee was on unemployment' announcement. Very routine in HR departments.

Right?? I also expected it to be way more complicated. The EDD makes everything seem harder than it is.

Seriously. The overpayment fear is real though. Good reminder to document everything.

Oh this is actually really good to know. Probationary periods are so stressful.

Yep. And in that scenario you'd also want to file a new claim anyway to potentially establish new wages in your base period, depending on how long you worked at the new place. But that's a more complicated analysis.

does edd give you any problems about reopening a claim? like do they assume you did something wrong if you keep going in and out of employment

Not really, no. Episodic employment is common in many industries. California EDD's system is designed for this reality. You'll answer questions about why you're no longer working at the new job (laid off, quit, etc.) and it processes normally from there.

This is the third time someone has warned about this in this thread and I'm taking the hint lol. Every dollar, every week.

Seriously, I learned the hard way. Not saying you'll definitely get flagged but the risk is not worth it. EDD has access to your W-2 data eventually.

For part-time work, you should continue filing weekly certifications as long as your gross weekly earnings are below your weekly benefit amount (WBA) plus the earnings disregard. California EDD will pay you a reduced benefit for weeks where you earn below that threshold. Only stop certifying when your weekly earnings consistently exceed that amount. When in doubt, certify and report your actual earnings - the system will calculate whether you get anything.

Ok so I should keep certifying and just be honest about my earnings each week and let EDD decide? That actually makes it simpler than I was making it.

Exactly. The worst thing you can do is guess and stop certifying when you might still be eligible for partial benefits. Just certify honestly every week and let the formula work.

thank you this is genuinely helpful. I've been overthinking this for weeks

No offense taken lol, I appreciate the suggestion. I think I'm going to use this just to get official confirmation since my situation is slightly complicated with the part-time hours question.

Smart. For something with financial consequences it's always better to get official confirmation when you can.

No penalty at all. You're only entitled to claim what you're eligible for during weeks you're actually unemployed or partially employed. Returning to work before your benefit year ends is the whole point of the system - it's a success story, not something that triggers repayment of legitimately received benefits.

ok great that was my one remaining concern. Thanks!

To be clear - benefits you received while legitimately unemployed and reporting accurately are yours to keep. The only repayment scenario is if you received benefits you weren't entitled to (like if you were working and didn't report it). Normal benefits for normal unemployment are not repaid just because you found a job.

That's literally it. I had the same panic and this thread helped me a lot too. Congrats on the offer!!

That's the summary yes. And save your certification records. Good luck with the new role!

Thank you everyone. And congrats to OP on the new job too - this community is so helpful