Who pays unemployment claims in California EDD - where does the money actually come from?

Wait so my employer pays for my unemployment benefits? That's wild, I had no idea. Does that mean my company could try to block my claim since it costs them money?

EDD decides eligibility, not your employer. They do get notified and can respond with their side of the story - especially relevant if there's any question about why you left - but they can't just deny your claim outright. For a straightforward layoff like yours EDD typically just processes it.

the CASDI thing threw me off too when i first got laid off, thought i hadnt paid into anything lol

Okay that makes me feel way better. So my claim should be valid as long as I earned enough wages at my warehouse job?

Exactly - EDD looks at your wages from roughly the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. If you earned at least $1,300 in your strongest quarter, you should have a valid claim. The Notice of Unemployment Insurance Award they mail you will show your actual weekly benefit amount.

wish someone had explained this to me before i panicked and called my old HR department asking if they were blocking me lmao

omg i used to work for a 501c3 and when i got laid off i genuinely thought i couldnt file. filed anyway after my friend said to and got approved, never knew the details of why it worked

Glad it worked out. The reimbursable method some nonprofits use is an administrative difference on their end - it doesn't change anything for the person filing the claim.

This is actually really useful info, didn't know nonprofits could operate differently with EDD on the backend.

Mine was a regular for-profit warehouse so I think I'm good on this front, but good to know for the future.

How long did it take you to actually start seeing payments after you filed?

About three weeks from when I applied to when I got my first payment. There's a one-week waiting period that everyone serves unpaid, then the first payment usually covers that waiting week plus the next one. So two weeks of payments at once felt like a lot but it's just how the timing works out.

three weeks sounds about right for me too, first time around i thought something was wrong but that's just the processing time

I was making decent money so hopefully I'll land closer to that $450 end. Is that really the max though?

$450 is the weekly cap in California, yeah. What you actually get is based on your highest quarter divided by a formula EDD uses. The award notice will spell it out exactly.

I thought the max was higher than that? Feels low for California cost of living but okay

$450 is correct for the weekly benefit amount. It hasn't kept pace with Bay Area rents, that's for sure, but that's the current cap.

Should I be worried about anything in particular for a standard layoff? My company did a big round of cuts, I definitely wasn't fired for cause.

For a mass layoff situation you're in pretty solid territory. Just make sure your former employer confirms it was a layoff when EDD contacts them - which they almost certainly will since it's a documented reduction in force.

my layoff two years ago went smooth, they never even called me for an interview bc it was clearly a business decision on the company's side

I haven't gotten anything about certifying yet, is that normal? I filed about two weeks ago.

Pretty normal - EDD usually takes about three weeks to fully process a new application. Once they do, you'll certify for the first time and it covers the waiting week plus whatever paid week is eligible. Keep checking UI Online.

yes keep checking UI Online, i missed my first certification window somehow and had to call EDD to sort it out

people really just assume it works like social security where both sides contribute lol

Exactly the same assumption. Social Security is different - unemployment is entirely employer-funded.

My coworker is the one who told me I should have been contributing, so this misconception is definitely everywhere.

I haven't gotten that notice yet but I'll watch for it. Is CalJOBS just a job board or is there other stuff on there?

It's California's job search platform - you can find job listings, there are resume tools, and in-person job centers use it too. For EDD purposes the main thing is just getting registered and your resume up within that window.

i didn't get a notice and just assumed i didn't have to do it, then my payments stopped. had to call EDD to figure out what happened

EDD will tell you whether you need to register or not - most people do, but some are exempt. That notice is your signal.

They gave me two weeks of severance pay. So I need to report that when I certify?

Yes, report it. Severance shows up on the certification questions and EDD handles the calculation from there. It's one of those things you just report and let EDD sort out rather than trying to guess the math yourself.

I had severance when I was laid off too and just reported it as the certification asked. Nothing blew up, it got sorted. Just be accurate and you're fine.

Ugh, I didn't even think about taxes. Should I do the withholding?

Totally up to you - some people prefer the full amount now and deal with taxes later, others do the 10 percent withholding to avoid a surprise. If you have other income or expect to owe, withholding makes sense.

I skipped withholding my first time on unemployment and owed way more than expected that spring, do the withholding if you can

How serious is EDD about the work search stuff? Like do they actually verify it?

EDD can ask for documentation if there's a question about your eligibility for a particular week. Keeping track of your applications is just good practice - nothing extreme, just noting where you applied and when.

I keep a simple spreadsheet, nothing fancy, just date and company name. Never been asked to prove it but feels better to have it

I really hope I don't need that but good to know. What happens at an appeal hearing?

An administrative law judge hears both sides - testimony is under oath. You can represent yourself, have a union rep, or bring an attorney. The notice of when your hearing is comes in the mail at least 10 days before.

went through an appeal two years ago, the ALJ was pretty thorough. it's formal but not terrifying if you have your documentation together

How does an overpayment even happen if EDD approved the payments in the first place?

EDD can review claims after paying them and find that something changed their eligibility decision - an employer's response came in late, wages were miscalculated, something like that. It's not fun but it happens.

Had a small overpayment on my claim last year. The situation on UI Online showed pending weeks suddenly, then an overpayment notice came. I used Claimyr to reach an EDD agent who walked me through exactly which weeks were affected and what the amount was based on. Filed the waiver request and it was reviewed pretty quickly after that.

I did the ID.me verification when I applied online, it seemed to go through. How do I know if EDD actually got it?

Pending weeks in Claim History is usually the sign something's not fully processed. If your identity is the issue EDD typically sends the DE 1326C telling you what's needed. If it's been a couple weeks and your weeks still show pending with no explanation, that's worth following up on.

ID.me issues were brutal for a lot of people when the system was newer. It's smoother now but following up proactively if weeks stay pending is always the right move.

I haven't set up direct deposit yet, is there a deadline to do it before my first payment?

No hard deadline - you can switch between the card and direct deposit anytime in myEDD. If your first payment hits the card and you later switch to direct deposit, future payments go to your bank. The card isn't bad, just an extra step if you want bank access directly.

I went with the Money Network card for the first month then switched to direct deposit, was pretty painless to change

How long does a wage verification hold usually last?

The agent told me mine was just processing and to give it another week - and it did resolve. EDD cross-checks wages employers reported, so if there's any discrepancy it pauses that week until they sort it out.

claimyr.com is good to have on hand - I used it when I had an adjudication question on my claim, ended up talking to someone at EDD within the same morning I tried

Oh I definitely would have mixed those two up. So if my claim goes to adjudication it doesn't mean I've been denied yet?

Exactly right - adjudication is EDD asking the question, not answering it yet. For a layoff you probably won't even hit adjudication since there's no eligibility dispute. It usually comes up when someone quit or was fired.

I confused adjudication and appeal for the longest time, thought getting scheduled for a phone interview meant I was already being denied. It doesn't - it's just part of the review.

The phone interview is just EDD's way of hearing your side before they decide anything. Very different from a formal appeal hearing in front of a judge.