Which do I pay unemployment taxes to in California EDD?

Wait so I've literally been thinking this whole time that I was building up some kind of personal fund? That's embarrassing. So my employer has just been paying into it on my behalf this whole time without anything showing on my check?

Exactly. Nothing shows on your check for unemployment because nothing comes out of your check for it. The CASDI deduction is the only worker-side payroll deduction related to these programs, and that one goes to DI and PFL, not unemployment.

Honestly so many people don't know this. It doesn't show on your paystub so how would you? The confusion makes total sense.

That's actually useful context. I'm about to file and I'm already nervous about things getting stuck. Good to know that's an option if something goes sideways.

DE 4800 is the phone interview notice right? I got one of those and completely panicked not knowing what it was.

Yeah that's the one. The date and time of the interview is printed right on it, and it also shows up on your UI Online homepage. The agent I spoke with was clear that the interview happens at that scheduled time, so you just keep your phone nearby.

Every cent of CASDI goes to those two programs, yes. Zero of it touches unemployment. Unemployment is a totally separate tax that only your employer pays.

Genuinely had no idea. I've been employed for eleven years and never knew that. No wonder it doesn't show on the stub.

My last job was at a small nonprofit and I actually wondered whether I could even file. Good to know it doesn't matter from the claimant side.

File away. Nonprofit employment is covered. The employer's payment method is their administrative problem, not a reason a worker can't collect.

This is reassuring actually. My current employer is a pretty small company and I had a vague worry that maybe small employers were different somehow.

Federal employment is handled a bit differently when you file. You'd want to have your Standard Form 8 handy when you apply, and EDD works out the wage credit side of it. The funding mechanics on the employer side are different for federal jobs but as the claimant you just provide the information and EDD sorts it.

Okay that makes sense. I didn't know about the Standard Form 8, I'll dig that up before I file.

Good luck with the federal portion. That stuff can get a little complicated in the processing but having the right documents ready helps a lot.

How long did it take you to get through to someone? That's what I'm most anxious about.

Took a while that time, I called at like 10am and was on hold for over an hour. Early morning or right at 8am tends to be better from what I've heard since.

8am sharp is the move. The line opens at 8 and the hold times are way shorter then compared to mid-morning.

That's exactly the answer, yes. As an employee in California you don't pay unemployment taxes to anyone. Your employer pays into the fund. So the question resolves as: not you.

Okay that's what I thought but the way it was asked made me second-guess myself lol.

Ha yeah the way I worded it probably added confusion. I think I was half-expecting the answer to be 'you pay it to EDD directly' or something. The real answer is cleaner than I thought.

So the base period is calculated from my earnings, not from how long I was employed? So someone who worked for a year at a decent wage could have a solid claim?

Right, it's your wages in that base period that determine your weekly benefit amount, not a headcount of months on the job. The highest-paid quarter of your base period drives the number, with a minimum of $1,300 in one quarter to even have a valid claim.

This was the thing that confused me most when I first filed. I thought it was based on how long I'd worked there, not what I earned.

Not a dumb question at all. Your employer can respond to EDD when a claim is filed, and EDD mails them a notice, but they can't deny your claim. Only EDD decides whether you're eligible. An employer who doesn't respond to EDD's notice within about 10 days loses their chance to appeal EDD's decision.

Oh interesting. So them paying the tax doesn't give them veto power. That's actually a relief.

Exactly right. The employer's role is to respond with their account of why you stopped working, not to approve or deny anything. EDD makes the call.

Employers can respond and even appeal a decision if EDD rules in your favor, but they can't unilaterally shut a claim down. EDD hears both sides and decides. If your employer responds saying it was misconduct, EDD has to find that true based on the evidence, not just take the employer's word.

Mine went through fine in the end. I was so stressed for nothing. The interview happened, I explained my side, and benefits started coming through. The manager's threat was basically empty.

This happens so often. Employers say 'I'll contest it' and workers assume they have no chance. EDD runs its own process regardless.

Unemployment tax is never supposed to come out of worker paychecks in California, so if you genuinely saw a withholding labeled as unemployment tax, that would be a payroll error worth bringing to HR or your payroll department. CASDI is the only worker-side deduction in this category, and that one's correct.

I went back and looked and I think what I was seeing was just labeled confusingly on our old pay stubs. It was CASDI, not unemployment. No mystery deduction after all.

How do I know what my highest earning quarter even is before I get that notice? I've had a couple of jobs in the last year and a half.

EDD's site has an Unemployment Benefit Calculator that lets you punch in your quarterly wages and get an estimate. It won't be exact but it's a good ballpark before the official notice arrives.

The calculator is surprisingly accurate in most cases. Worth running your numbers through it before you file so the DE 429Z doesn't surprise you.

If you go back to the same employer, you'd stop certifying for the weeks you're working, obviously. But the underlying tax mechanics don't really change anything from your side. It's EDD that tracks wages, not some individual account that belongs to you and that employer specifically.

That makes sense. I was picturing it like a personal savings account which is clearly the wrong mental model.

Lots of people picture it that way. It's more like a collective fund that everyone eligible can draw from, not a per-person pot tied to one employer.

There's a window. When EDD sends the Notice of Requirement to Register for Work, the DE 8405, you have 21 days from the date on that notice to register in CalJOBS and post a resume. Missing it can stop your payments, so worth doing as soon as the notice arrives rather than waiting.

Okay good to know. I haven't gotten that notice yet but I'll watch for it. I've heard CalJOBS is kind of clunky to navigate.

It's not the slickest site but posting the resume isn't complicated once you're in. Just make sure the profile is marked as active and visible.

Availability questions trip so many people up. For every week you certify you have to genuinely be able and available to work, so a trip can complicate things depending on how you answer.

Exactly what the agent told me. Each week I certify has to reflect whether I was actually able and available that week. The trip week I had to answer honestly about.

Good to know availability is week by week. I was vaguely assuming once you're approved you're just approved for the whole duration.

Two months of benefits lost because of that. EDD can only pay back to certified weeks, right? Not weeks before you filed?

Right, the claim starts on the Sunday of the week you file, not before. So those two months before filing unfortunately aren't recoverable. That's why the standard advice is to apply as soon as you're out of work or your hours are cut.

Yeah I found that out the hard way. File immediately regardless of what an employer says. EDD makes the call, not them.

Not necessarily. The standard base period looks at the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your claim starts, so a raise in your most recent quarter might not fall inside it at all. The alternate base period uses the last four completed quarters, but EDD only uses that one when your wages in the standard period aren't enough to build a valid claim. It doesn't get used to bump up a weekly amount that's already valid.

Ugh that's frustrating. My biggest pay bump happened in the last few months and it sounds like it might not even count.

That's a really common disappointment. The base period math catches people off guard all the time, especially when recent earnings were higher.

Federal yes, California no. Unemployment benefits count as federal taxable income but California doesn't tax them. You can opt into 10 percent federal withholding each time you certify, which a lot of people do so they're not scrambling at tax time. EDD mails a Form 1099G in January showing what you received.

Okay the 10 percent withholding option sounds smart. I'll set that up when I start certifying.

EDD's certifications offer the withholding choice right in the process, so it's easy to set. Way less painful than owing a lump sum in April.

That's the cleanest summary of it. It's not a refund of your own contributions because you never made any. It's a benefit the system provides because your employer paid in on your behalf, by law.

This whole thread has honestly been more clarifying than anything I read on official sites. Filing next week feeling a lot less confused about where the money actually comes from.

Good luck with the filing. The claim year starts on the Sunday of the week you apply so don't put it off past when you actually need it.

Every California unemployment claim has one unpaid waiting week at the start. It doesn't come off the total your claim can pay, it just means the first week certified isn't a paid one. After that the certification rhythm is every two weeks and payments start coming.

I wish someone had told me that before I certified the first time. I was on the phone with EDD for forty minutes before someone explained it.

It should honestly be explained more clearly in the initial documentation but it's buried. So many people post about this exact confusion.

So the direction of the tax relationship flips once you're collecting. You didn't pay in, but you do have to pay federal income tax on what you receive. Got it.

Exactly. What goes in is the employer's tax. What comes out is your income for federal purposes. Two different things.

The withholding option at certification really does solve this cleanly. Highly recommend not skipping it.

Extended Benefits are a real program but they only kick in when unemployment is high enough under specific state and federal formulas. They're not paying out in California currently. The standard claim is 26 weeks and that's what's available right now. There's also California Training Benefits if you get into EDD-approved school or training, which can add weeks and lets you stop looking for other work while you train.

Okay so I shouldn't count on anything beyond 26 weeks for regular planning purposes. That's the realistic ceiling.

Plan for 26 and treat anything beyond that as uncertain. And yes, once a claim's benefit year ends you can't file a new California claim until it's over, so stretching those 26 weeks matters.

If you worked in California and another state in the last 18 months you'd file what's called a combined wage claim, which combines those wages into a single California claim. That one has to be filed by phone, fax or mail, not online. If all your work was in California you file a regular California claim even if you now live somewhere else.

The phone-only part for combined wage claims is annoying but good to know going in rather than getting halfway through an online application and hitting a wall.

California-only wages, file online and it's the fastest route. Mixed wages, go to the phone. That's the short version.

That's the one. The Unemployment Insurance Application, DE 1101I, can be filed by mail or fax. Phone is also an option at 1-800-300-5616, weekdays 8 to 5. Online through myEDD at https://myedd.edd.ca.gov/ is fastest but all four methods are legitimate.

Phone option is probably easiest for them honestly. I'll pass that number along. 1-800-300-5616 is the main EDD line right?

That's the right number. Weekdays 8am to 5pm Pacific except state holidays. If your friend needs an interpreter for a language other than English or Spanish there's no charge for that either.

DE 1446UI is the overpayment waiver application. I've seen people not know that form exists and just assume they have to pay the whole thing back with no recourse.

The agent was very clear that the waiver is only an option when the overpayment wasn't your fault and wasn't fraud. It's not guaranteed but it's worth asking about if you're in that situation.

Good to know that form exists. I'll try to certify super carefully to avoid this but it's reassuring that there's a process if something goes wrong.

30 calendar days from the mailing date printed on the notice. You send in the Appeal Form, DE 1000M, or a written letter to the address on the notice. After that it goes to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and an administrative law judge holds a hearing. You'll get a Notice of Hearing in the mail at least 10 days before it happens.

Is it worth appealing if you don't have a lawyer? The administrative law judge part sounds intimidating.

You can represent yourself at the hearing, or bring a union rep or an attorney. The main thing is getting your documentation in order and showing up ready to explain your side under oath. Plenty of people go through it without legal help.

Unemployment benefits count as income when you apply for CalFresh, California's food assistance program. You can still qualify as long as your household income falls within their limits. Apply through BenefitsCal or by calling 1-877-847-3663 to find out what you're eligible for. The county determines the amount based on your specific situation.

Good to know collecting unemployment doesn't automatically disqualify someone. I'll look into BenefitsCal.

Calling 2-1-1 is also really useful for finding other local resources if someone is trying to cover all the bases while unemployed.

You can file right away, you don't have to wait for severance to run out. EDD's rules treat severance paid under a company plan or policy differently from wages, and benefits aren't denied because of it. You still report it when certifying because it's on EDD's list of income to report, and EDD works out how it affects any given week if at all.

That's a relief. I was under the impression I had to exhaust the severance first before I was even eligible to file. Applying right away makes way more sense.

The sooner you file the sooner your benefit year starts and the sooner you're in the system. Even if the first few weeks are affected by other income, being filed means you're already in the queue.