If you are fired for performance can you collect unemployment in California EDD?

That's genuinely the first reassuring thing I've heard since Friday. So the burden is on my old employer to prove something intentional? Not just that I underperformed?

EDD's own language on this is that the employer has to prove misconduct happened - and courts have consistently read that word to mean willful, deliberate wrongdoing, not just falling short of expectations. Struggling with quotas isn't the same category as, say, repeatedly ignoring a direct order after being warned. EDD will interview both sides and decide from what each of you tells them.

Had almost the exact same thing happen at a fulfillment center two years back. No write-ups, no documented warnings, they just said I was consistently below their rate. Got approved after the phone interview. Keep all your records from your time there.

I haven't gotten any DE 4800 yet - does that mean EDD hasn't flagged my claim for an interview yet, or is it just slow to arrive in the mail?

Mine took about a week after I filed to show up. Keep checking UI Online too because the interview time posts there. If the notice hasn't come after two weeks I'd contact EDD directly.

Quota issues at my job too when I got let go. The interview notice came through mail around day eight after I filed, so give it a little time before worrying.

wait so the phone interview isn't part of an appeal? I thought they were the same step, like EDD calls you to decide whether to approve or deny

Completely separate things. The interview is before any decision is made - EDD just wants to hear from both you and your employer about what happened. If they then decide you don't qualify, that's when you'd get the Notice of Determination with an appeal form attached. The appeal goes to a different level entirely, in front of an administrative law judge.

Okay this clears up a lot. I was reading about appeals and thought that was what the interview was going to be. Good to know the interview is just them gathering information.

I do have some emails where my manager acknowledged I was going through a rough patch after a team restructure changed how the numbers were calculated. Would that be useful?

Absolutely hold onto those. The restructure changing how performance was calculated is exactly the kind of context that shows this wasn't willful on your part - that's the word EDD cares about. You're not being accused of fraud or deliberately tanking your output.

documentation saved my claim too. I had nothing signed and no PIP and EDD still found in my favor because the employer couldn't show I'd been given clear written expectations and refused to meet them anyway

this is so true. my termination letter said misconduct and i still got approved. edd read it completely differently than my old company did

Exactly - what an employer calls misconduct and what EDD classifies as misconduct are often two completely different things. Companies throw that word around but EDD has a specific definition they use to evaluate the claim.

This is really helpful to hear from someone who has been through it. I was so fixated on that word on my paperwork but it sounds like EDD makes their own call.

I haven't certified yet - I filed last Friday, is it too early? UI Online just shows my weeks as Pending right now.

Pending at this stage is completely normal. EDD usually sends out the first certification period about two weeks after they process your application. You'll get a notice when it's time, or you can check UI Online. The first one typically covers the waiting week plus one paid week.

keep certifying was the best advice anyone gave me too. had a long adjudication and when it finally resolved i got paid for every week i'd certified. if i had stopped certifying during the wait i would've lost all of those weeks

wait they can pause your payments just because of caljobs? i never did that when i was on ui a few years ago

EDD decides whether you're required to register - the notice will tell you if you need to and when. Not everyone gets the same requirement but if you get that DE 8405, definitely don't ignore it.

I haven't gotten anything about CalJOBS yet but I'll watch for that notice. I didn't know that was even a thing.

How did they handle the fact that your employer had presumably told EDD their version of things before the interview?

The interviewer had already talked to my old company when she called me - she mentioned there was an open issue on the claim from their response. She still asked me everything from scratch. Having specific details about what happened rather than vague answers seemed to help.

same experience here, the interviewer wasn't hostile at all. they're just trying to build a complete picture of what happened before making a decision

Fair point, I may have oversimplified it. The key thing is that you as the claimant aren't responsible for proving you didn't commit misconduct - EDD investigates and decides based on what both sides tell them.

Right. And the claimant's job in that interview isn't to win an argument, it's just to explain what actually happened from their perspective. EDD handles the determination from there.

That angle hadn't occurred to me but it makes a lot of sense. I keep thinking about what I might have done differently with the quotas but you're right that four clean years should count for something in the narrative.

go into that interview ready to describe the quota change and the restructure specifically - dates, what changed, who told you. concrete details beat vague explanations every time

the paper trail point is spot on. my employer tried to paint me as consistently problematic but couldn't produce a single write-up and EDD seemed to notice that pretty quickly

Bring up everything that's relevant to why you think the termination happened. EDD is trying to understand the full picture of what occurred. If you believe the FMLA request was part of the reason, say so and explain the timeline - when you requested it, what their response was, when they let you go.

the interview is exactly the right place for that context. the interviewer will ask questions and follow up - you're not doing yourself any favors by leaving out details you think might be relevant to why you lost the job

I did get something in the mail yesterday actually - is the DE 429Z the one that shows the dollar amount? Mine showed $387 a week.

That's the one. The $387 is just what your claim is set up to pay if EDD decides you're eligible. The eligibility question is what the interview is about.

a lot of people think that document means they're approved and then get confused when their weeks are still pending. good to know what it actually means before you stress about it

Tardiness on its own, especially a few instances, is very unlikely to change how EDD sees a performance-based firing. They're looking at the overall pattern and whether your employer can demonstrate real misconduct - not just imperfection. Unless you were warned repeatedly in writing about tardiness and kept doing it anyway, it's probably not going to be the deciding factor.

okay that helps. i had maybe four or five late days over six months, nothing ever written up about it. i was just nervous because they mentioned it once verbally

verbal mentions that were never followed up with documentation are hard for an employer to use as evidence of misconduct. if they bring it up in their response to EDD, you can address it in the interview with that context

I'm actively looking so that shouldn't be an issue. Though I do have a week coming up where I'll be helping my parents move - does that count as unavailable?

EDD asks on the certification whether you were able and available every day of the week. If you were still able to accept work offers that week despite helping your parents, most people would answer yes - but that's your call to make honestly based on your actual situation.

EDD's requirement is that you're able and looking every week you certify - there's no specific number of contacts they require you to report but keeping a record of where you applied is a smart habit regardless

Mine just says 'failure to meet performance expectations' with nothing else. No incident dates, no specific metrics cited. Hopefully that vagueness works similarly.

that exact phrasing is very generic and hard for an employer to build a misconduct argument around. go into the interview ready to describe what the expectations were and what was actually happening during those months

I hadn't thought about the chat option. Is it easy to find once you're logged in?

Look for the Help button when you're in UI Online. You have to be logged into your account for it to work - it's not on the public EDD site. And the window is 9 to 2 on weekdays so you have to catch it in that window.

i've used the chat a couple times and it's hit or miss with how much the agent can actually do for you, but for basic status questions it beats waiting on the phone for an hour

I've been there four years and my pay went up gradually so the most recent quarters should be close to my highest. But good to know how EDD actually calculates it rather than assuming.

the standard window is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. so your very most recent pay period might actually fall outside that window, which catches some people off guard

that's why the number on the DE 429Z sometimes surprises people - the calculation isn't just based on your last paycheck

Mine has shown Pending since the day I filed so it's good to know that's expected. I keep refreshing UI Online hoping something will change.

the status does update when something moves, so checking is fine - just don't read Pending as a bad sign at this stage. the decision period after the interview tends to feel long too but that's normal

PENDING FOR WEEKS is so stressful I know. mine sat that way for almost three weeks after the interview before anything changed. hang in there

Writing out a timeline is a really practical idea. I keep going over it in my head but having it on paper would probably help me stay organized if I get nervous on the call.

dates matter more than you'd think in that call. if you can say 'the quota methodology changed in early September and my manager first mentioned the numbers in late October,' that's a lot more credible than 'sometime in the fall things changed

same approach here. the interviewer will sometimes push back on vague answers to test whether you're being consistent, so having the actual sequence of events clear in your head going in makes a real difference

the interview date shows on the UI Online homepage? i didn't know that, i thought you only found out from the paper notice in the mail

both places - the notice mailed to you and the UI Online homepage once it's scheduled. if your mail is unreliable or slow, checking UI Online directly is a good backup so you don't miss the time

I'll start checking my UI Online homepage more carefully. I've been focused on the Claim History section but sounds like important info shows up on the homepage too.

I hadn't thought about CalFresh honestly. With rent coming up and not knowing when EDD will start paying I should probably look into it this week.

BenefitsCal is where you apply, and you can also call 1-877-847-3663 or go to your county office. The application asks about income, household size and expenses - having your last pay stubs handy makes it faster to fill out.

Reading this thread has honestly made me feel so much better about where things stand. The uncertainty has been eating at me all weekend but it sounds like my situation isn't as hopeless as I thought.

document everything, be honest in the interview, keep certifying - that's really the whole thing. the system is frustrating but for a performance firing with no documented misconduct your odds are genuinely okay

and if something does go sideways with the decision, remember you have 30 days from the mailing date on the Notice of Determination to appeal. the process doesn't end if EDD gets it wrong the first time