Why does my EDD claim first week say 'waiting period served' but no payment?

This is completely normal and how the system is designed to work. The first week of every new UI claim serves as an unpaid "waiting period" week. You won't get paid for that first week, but it needs to be certified for and approved before you can start receiving payments for subsequent weeks. Think of it as a deductible on your unemployment insurance. The waiting period helps reduce costs in the EDD system, and you'll still get your full benefit amount for all your other eligible weeks. No need to call about this - it's standard procedure.

YEP its BS but thats how they do it. EVERY claim has a waiting week that u dont get paid for. its like they STEAL a week from us when were already broke and desperate SMH. and btw its not a "new" thing, its been this way for YEARS! the only time they waived it was during covid but thats over now so back to screwing us over as usual!!

Just adding some clarity to what others have mentioned: The waiting period is established by California unemployment insurance law. It's not unique to California - most states have a similar waiting week policy. The waiting period applies to your benefit year, so if you need to reopen your claim within the same benefit year, you wouldn't serve another waiting period. Also important to note that while you don't receive payment for that week, it still counts toward your total claim duration, and you must certify for it just like any other week. If you don't certify for the waiting period week, it can delay your subsequent payments.

To answer your question @profile8 - Yes, State Disability Insurance (SDI) also has a waiting period, but it works slightly differently. For SDI, there's a 7-day waiting period before benefits begin. However, unlike unemployment, this waiting period doesn't have to be certified for specifically. Your first payment will simply be delayed by one week from your disability start date.

I had the same exact issue when I filed my claim in January! I spent HOURS trying to get through to EDD on the phone to ask about it. Kept getting the "we're experiencing high call volume" message and getting disconnected. Super frustrating! I finally found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an EDD rep in about 20 minutes. They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km. The rep confirmed what others here are saying - it's just a standard waiting period week that everyone has to serve. Wish they made that clearer on the website!

i think its kinda messed up they dont explain this better when ur filing. like they should have a big notice saying YOU WONT GET PAID FOR THE FIRST WEEK so people dont freak out. when i saw that on my claim i was so confused.

My husband got laid off in february and had the same thing on his claim. waiting period served. no payment for that week. the rest of the weeks were fine tho. i guess thats just how they do it

Thank you everyone for all the helpful responses! I feel much better knowing this is normal and not something wrong with my claim. It would definitely be nice if EDD made this clearer during the application process, but I'm grateful I didn't waste time calling them about something that's just standard procedure. Onto week 4 of certifications now!