Will I get paid for my waiting week on California EDD unemployment?

Oh thank goodness, that's such a relief to hear. So it should just show up on its own eventually? I don't need to do anything special to trigger it?

Correct, you don't need to certify for it separately or submit anything extra. It gets processed automatically once your initial claim is approved. Just keep an eye on your UI Online account and it should appear as a separate payment line.

this is right, mine showed up like 10 days after my first regular payment came through

So it'll be the full WBA amount? I was worried it might be prorated or something.

Yes, full weekly benefit amount. No reduction. It's treated exactly like a regular certified week once they process it.

Didn't know CA got rid of the waiting week payment thing, I went through this two years ago and definitely had to wait for mine but it did come eventually

I've been trying to get through to EDD for two weeks now and keep hitting dead ends, I'll check that out thanks

claimyr worked for me too when I had a payment question, got through in like 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own

is that legit? seems kinda sketchy to pay someone to call for you lol

It's legitimate, it's not someone calling FOR you, it's a service that helps you get placed in the callback queue more effectively. I was skeptical too but it worked.

The waiting week was eliminated in California and that elimination has remained in effect. Your friend may have had a situation where the waiting week appeared delayed or there was another issue with her claim - sometimes weeks get flagged for adjudication which can cause payment holds that look like an unpaid waiting week but are actually a different problem.

ohhhh ok that makes sense actually she did have some adjudication thing going on at the same time so maybe that was the issue

Yeah this is a really common confusion - an adjudication hold on a specific week looks identical to an unpaid waiting period in UI Online but they're completely different situations with different solutions.

Did you have to do anything to speed up the bank verification or did it just sort itself out?

It just sorted itself out but I did call to check on it. The rep confirmed my payment method was verified and said to expect it within 5 business days. Showed up in 3 days after that call.

same experience here, bank verification delay is SO common and nobody warns you about it during the initial filing process

Oh interesting, I hadn't thought about checking the card directly. Will do that today.

Yeah the UI Online portal has some known display issues where payment amounts don't always update in real time. The actual disbursement system usually runs ahead of what the portal shows.

this happened to me!! freaked out seeing $0 and then checked my card and the money was already there. the portal is so buggy sometimes

That's encouraging that they could fix it on the spot during the call. What exactly was the issue if you don't mind me asking?

Honestly the rep didn't go into much detail, said something about an employer verification flag that happens automatically on some claims. Nothing I did wrong, just something on the backend that needed manual clearing.

employer verification flags are really common and most people never even know they happened because they clear automatically. only becomes a visible problem if it stalls a specific week's payment

It counts as a regular paid week since California eliminated the unpaid waiting period. So your total weeks of benefits aren't reduced - you get paid for it just like every other week you certify for. No weeks are lost from your benefit year.

Oh ok good because I was worried my total benefit amount would be reduced by one week. That's a relief.

Right - your benefit year is 52 weeks and the waiting week is fully paid within that period. Your maximum benefit amount isn't affected.

Oh good point, I've been keeping up with my job search log in CalJOBS but I appreciate the reminder. Three activities per week is the current requirement right?

Yes 3 per week, and make sure they're logged in your job search record. EDD can audit your job search activities and you want everything documented.

also make sure the activities you're logging actually count - there was some confusion in my office about what qualifies. Submitting a resume to a job board counts, informational interviews count, workshops count. Just browsing jobs does NOT count.

Adjudication can potentially hold all pending payments including the waiting week depending on what triggered the adjudication. If your entire claim is under adjudication review, nothing typically pays out until the issue is resolved. If it's a specific week under adjudication, usually only that week is held.

Mine says adjudication in progress on my account but it doesn't specify which week. How do I find out if it's the whole claim or just specific weeks?

You'd need to either check the adjudication notice letter they mailed you (it should specify what's being reviewed) or call California EDD directly to ask. The UI Online portal unfortunately doesn't break down adjudication details very clearly.

If you need to call EDD to ask about your adjudication, Claimyr at claimyr.com really helped me get through when I had an adjudication question - check out the demo at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10, took me way less time to get a live agent than trying the regular phone line

Yes unfortunately if EDD determines you were not eligible for the waiting week and you've already been paid, it would constitute an overpayment. They would issue an overpayment notice and you'd be required to pay it back or appeal the disqualification. This is why it's important to make sure you were legitimately eligible when you filed.

yikes ok. my friend had a weird situation where they were maybe still technically employed part time when they filed. that sounds like it could get complicated

Part-time employment while collecting UI is actually allowable in California up to a point - you report your earnings on your weekly certification and they reduce your benefit accordingly. It's not automatic disqualification. Your friend should make sure they've been accurately reporting any part-time earnings on each certification.

Yes you can certify for past weeks in UI Online - there's a 'certify for past weeks' option if you missed a certification. However there are time limits on how far back you can go, I believe it's around 2 weeks before you need to call EDD directly to do a backdated certification. If it's been more than that, you'd need to call and explain the situation.

Oh I didn't realize you could do backdated certifications over the phone. I thought once you missed a week it was just gone.

Backdated certifications are possible but EDD does ask why you missed the week, so be prepared to explain. Common acceptable reasons include illness, family emergency, not knowing you needed to certify, etc. They're generally reasonable about it especially for a first missed week.

Honestly I can't tell the difference, both of my payments (debit card and later when I switched to direct deposit) seemed to take about the same amount of time. Maybe it varies by bank?

Could be, my bank has a shorter processing time for ACH transfers which might be why I noticed a difference. Or it was just coincidence.

I set up direct deposit when I filed, hope that doesn't slow things down too much. Either way sounds like I just need to wait a bit longer.

I did check the FAQ but it was kind of vague about the actual timeline. Didn't give a specific number of days, just said 'allow time for processing

Yeah their FAQ answers are pretty watered down unfortunately. The phone call really is the most direct way to get a specific answer about your specific claim.

the edd website is SO frustrating to navigate, nothing is ever where you expect it to be and the search function is terrible

6 weeks feels like a long time but honestly at this point knowing it WILL come is the most important thing. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I know it feels like forever when you're waiting on money, totally understand. But yes it does come through. Hang in there.

6 weeks does seem longer than average from what I've seen, most people get it within 3-4 weeks. But individual claim processing times vary so much it's hard to say what's 'normal

Unemployment benefits including the waiting week payment are counted as income for SNAP purposes, yes. But it's not 'extra' income in a way that would surprise your SNAP calculation - it's just counted as part of your total UI benefits for that month. You should be reporting your UI income to your county SNAP office anyway as a regular income source.

Ok gotcha, I've been reporting my UI but wasn't sure if the waiting week was somehow treated differently. Sounds like it's just treated the same as any other UI payment which makes sense.

There are no mandatory in-person reporting requirements for standard UI claimants in California currently. All certification happens through UI Online or by phone. You might be thinking of situations where someone is called in for a fact-finding interview related to adjudication, which can happen by phone or occasionally in person, but it's not a routine requirement for everyone.

OK that's what I thought, must have been bad info going around. Thanks for clarifying.

Yeah there was some misinformation circulating on social media about in-person requirements being brought back. It's not accurate for standard claims.

That's a good boundary to know. So basically wait up to 6-8 weeks but if it's still not there after that, make the call?

Exactly. And when you call, specifically mention that your waiting week payment is outstanding and give them the exact dates. The more specific you are the faster they can look it up in their system.

And if you're having trouble actually reaching a live rep at EDD to escalate, seriously consider Claimyr - claimyr.com helped me get through quickly when I had a stalled payment issue. Their video at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 shows how the whole process works. Totally worth it when you've been trying unsuccessfully to reach EDD for days.

Seconding this, when you need to get a real answer from a real person about a real payment issue, having a reliable way to get through to EDD without spending half your day on hold makes a huge difference

This is incredibly specific and helpful, thank you. I'll reference these three things specifically when I call. For what it's worth my identity was already verified through ID.me so hopefully it's not that.

The ID.me verification is for your account login but there's also a separate identity verification that happens on the claim itself. They're different systems so it's worth confirming both are cleared when you call.

This is a really useful breakdown. The employer protest angle is one a lot of people don't think about - former employers have a window to contest a claim after it's approved and that can sometimes trigger a hold on specific payments without triggering a full adjudication notice.

Wow ok there's a lot more going on behind the scenes than I realized. Thank you everyone in this thread, I feel way more informed and less panicked than when I posted this.