If I get fired from a job can I collect unemployment in California EDD?

Attendance stuff is exactly the kind of thing EDD has to decide after hearing both sides. The way it basically works is your former employer has to show you did something intentionally wrong or reckless - just missing shifts because your schedule was changing on you is a very different situation than, say, just not showing up because you felt like it. File your claim. EDD will schedule a phone interview and ask you and your employer what happened. You explain the schedule changes and the childcare situation. EDD makes the call after that. Apply through myEDD at https://myedd.edd.ca.gov/ as soon as you can because your claim starts from the Sunday of the week you apply, so every day you wait is potentially a week you lose.

My layoff last year was completely different from yours but the application process is the same either way. Have your Social Security number handy, your driver's license or state ID number, the full address of that warehouse employer, the exact dates you worked there, and roughly what you earned each quarter. Also have ready the last day you worked and the reason - you'll put termination/fired. EDD will notify your old employer and that's when the interview process kicks in.

Termination paperwork from my last job said 'performance issues' and I had no idea if that meant I was disqualified. The DE 429Z notice came in the mail showing my weekly benefit amount, which told me EDD was processing it, but I still had no idea where things stood on the actual eligibility decision. Claimyr (claimyr.com) got me to a live EDD agent on the phone - the way it handles the hold time meant I actually ended up talking to someone instead of getting cut off. The video about reaching a live person at EDD is at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 if you want to see what that looks like. I asked the agent specifically whether the 'performance issues' language on my termination paperwork would affect the interview outcome and she said EDD looks at what actually happened, not just what the employer writes on the form, and that the phone interview is where I'd explain my side. She also confirmed my interview date matched what was on the DE 4800 notice.

ATTENDANCE IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY MISCONDUCT. I cannot stress this enough. I see people in these threads all the time just not filing because they got fired for attendance and they think it's pointless. EDD has to look at WHY you missed shifts. Were you told in advance what the schedule would be? Did your employer change it on you? Did you call out or just not show? All of that matters. File. The worst they can do is say no and then you appeal.

Something I wish someone had told me when I got fired from my retail job two years ago: EDD does NOT just take your employer's word for it. Your former employer gets notified and has 10 days from EDD's notice to respond with their side. Then EDD schedules the phone interview to hear you out too. The interview notice, the DE 4800, will come in the mail and also show up on your UI Online homepage so you don't miss the date and time. Being at that phone ready when the interviewer calls at the scheduled time is really important - if you miss it, phone EDD that same day.

Quick thing about the base period math since nobody's mentioned it - your weekly benefit amount is calculated from what you earned in what EDD calls the base period, which is basically the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. So if wages were higher in a more recent quarter that might not be in the standard base period. EDD runs an alternate calculation automatically if the standard one doesn't give you enough wages to qualify, so don't panic if you haven't been at this job super long.

I went through a firing situation last spring - 'insubordination' was what my employer called it. Filed anyway. The phone interview was about 20 minutes and the interviewer asked me specific questions about what happened, what my supervisor said, whether I had warnings. EDD mailed me the decision about two weeks after. It went in my favor. The point is you genuinely don't know until you go through the process, and the process exists for exactly this kind of situation where there's a dispute about what happened.

Also make sure you register in CalJOBS (caljobs.ca.gov) and get your resume posted within 21 days of the date on the notice EDD sends you about it. That's the DE 8405 notice. Missing that step can pause your payments even if your eligibility question gets resolved. First time I filed I didn't know CalJOBS was separate from EDD and almost missed the deadline.

The certification piece is what trips people up after they get through the application stage. Every two weeks you log into UI Online and certify - answer questions about whether you worked, whether you were able and available to work, whether you looked for work. EDD doesn't publish a specific number of jobs you need to apply to but you should be actively job searching each week you certify and keep notes on where you applied just as a habit. If your claim gets approved and you're not certifying you don't get paid, so set a calendar reminder for that every two weeks.

Nobody warned me about the waiting week when I filed my first claim. The very first week is an unpaid waiting period - that's just how California unemployment works. So your first certification usually covers the waiting week plus one paid week. It doesn't eat into your total benefits though, the 26 weeks you can collect isn't reduced by it. Just want you to have realistic expectations on when that first payment actually comes in.

The employment paperwork saying 'attendance related termination' - that phrase itself doesn't decide anything at EDD. What EDD actually looks at is whether what you did was something that showed you just didn't care about keeping the job or was intentionally harmful to your employer. Missing shifts because the schedule kept changing last minute with kids to coordinate around is a genuinely different situation than just refusing to show up. Your job in the interview is to explain that reality clearly and calmly. Write down a rough timeline of when the schedule changes happened before the interview so your answers are specific.

fired for attendance here too last year from a call center job. i just wanna say the phone interview was not as scary as i thought it would be. the lady was polite and just asked me questions about my attendance, what was going on, did my manager know about my situation. i explained and she said edd would send a decision by mail. got approved. so just apply and do the interview and see what happens

EDD pays between $40 and $450 a week depending on your base period wages. There's a calculator on edd.ca.gov that estimates your weekly amount before you even apply - worth checking so you have a ballpark for budgeting while you wait for the actual DE 429Z to come in the mail showing your real number.

Something that tripped me up when I got fired from my restaurant job: I kept waiting for some kind of approval letter saying I was definitely approved. That letter doesn't actually come. If EDD decides you qualify they just process your certified weeks and the money shows up. You only get a Notice of Determination mailed to you if they're denying you or finding some issue. So don't panic if you don't get official confirmation mail - no news can actually be good news.

Still in the middle of my own fired-for-attendance situation but after I talked to the EDD agent through Claimyr I found out my CalJOBS registration had actually processed fine - that was what I called to check because my UI Online was showing pending for longer than I expected. The agent said to keep certifying and the pending status would resolve once the interview decision posted.

i think if u got fired ur just out of luck tbh, edd doesnt pay if ur fired right? my cousin said u have to quit to get unemployment

Benefits are taxable income at the federal level, just so you're aware going in. California doesn't tax them but the IRS does. When you certify you can choose to have 10 percent withheld for federal taxes so you don't get a surprise bill. EDD mails a 1099G every January and you can also find it in UI Online under Payments. Just something to factor into your budgeting.

For anyone reading this later who's also been fired and is wondering about the appeal process if EDD says no - the Appeal Form DE 1000M comes with the denial notice. You mail it back within 30 calendar days of the mailing date on that notice, not the date you received it. A late appeal needs you to explain why you missed the deadline. After that it goes to an administrative law judge hearing at the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. You can represent yourself, bring a union rep, or have an attorney. Keep certifying through the whole process.

My firing from a logistics company two months ago was listed as 'repeated policy violations' on the termination form. EDD still sent me the DE 4800 scheduling an interview, so the process was the same regardless of what the form said. Used Claimyr to get through to EDD when I had questions about what documents I'd need to reference during the interview - the agent told me the interview is verbal and I didn't need to send anything in advance, just be ready to describe what happened clearly.

If you're going to call EDD directly the number is 1-800-300-5616, Monday through Friday 8 to 5 Pacific. Live chat is also available through the Help button in UI Online on weekdays 9 to 2. Those are honestly your best options for getting a human if you have questions that UI Online can't answer. If you send a message through your UI Online account that works too but can take longer to get a response.

Went through the fired situation last year from a retail management job. What helped me most was writing out exactly what I wanted to say in the phone interview before it happened. Like literally scripted my answer to 'why were you let go' so I didn't freeze up and ramble. EDD's interview is pretty structured - they go through specific questions - but having your thoughts organized beforehand makes a real difference in staying calm and clear.

One more thing on the fired question from the top - EDD has a whole process and they genuinely do hear both sides. After my termination from a food distribution company for what my employer called 'repeated tardiness,' I had no idea what to expect. The agent at EDD during the interview asked me specifically whether I had notified my employer about the reasons I was late, whether the employer had given warnings, and whether anything outside my control caused the tardiness. So be ready for detailed questions like that. It's not just 'were you fired, yes or no.