Will quitting a 4-hour part-time job disqualify my EDD claim after seasonal work ended?
Hi everyone, I'm in a bit of a panic about my friend's unemployment eligibility. She worked a seasonal full-time landscaping job for 9 months that ended in January (not her fault, just seasonal). After that ended, she picked up this tiny part-time job at a specialty bakery that was only 4 hours per week paying about $80. The bakery was a 45-minute drive each way, and with gas prices being what they are, she was basically breaking even or losing money. After 3 weeks, she quit because it just wasn't financially viable. Now she's filing for unemployment based on her previous seasonal job, but I'm worried EDD might disqualify her for voluntarily quitting the part-time bakery job. Does anyone know if quitting a super minimal part-time job (that came AFTER her main job ended) will mess up her entire claim? She really needs the unemployment benefits while she looks for something full-time again. Any advice appreciated!
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Mateo Perez
they probably will disqualify her. my cousin quit a weekend job and edd said no benefits because he 'voluntarily quit employment without good cause' even tho his main job laid him off. edd doesnt care about the reason u quit
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Nia Davis
•Oh no, that's exactly what I was afraid of! Did your cousin appeal or just accept the disqualification?
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Aisha Rahman
Your friend might actually be okay. EDD does consider "good cause" for voluntarily quitting, and financial non-viability can qualify. Since the part-time job was paying so little ($80/week) and the commute was costing a significant portion of that, she should explain this clearly in her application. When she certifies, she should indicate she quit but provide a detailed explanation about the cost of the commute versus the minimal hours/pay. The key is demonstrating that a reasonable person in the same situation would have quit too.
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Nia Davis
•That gives me some hope! I'll tell her to be super detailed about the math of gas costs vs. pay when she explains why she quit. Thanks so much.
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CosmicCrusader
When I applied for EDD last year, I had to list ALL my employment from the previous 18 months. They look at everything!! If she doesn't mention the part-time job at all, that could be considered fraud!! But if she lists it and explains why she quit, she might still get disqualified. EDD is so confusing!!! Does anyone know if there's a minimum hours threshold where they don't care about a job?????
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Ethan Brown
•There's no specific hour threshold for what counts as employment - even a 4-hour per week job counts. However, the key distinction here is that the primary job (the seasonal one) ended through no fault of your friend, and that job likely provided the vast majority of her base period earnings that her claim is based on. If the part-time job she quit represented only a small percentage of her total earnings, EDD may still approve her claim, especially with a valid reason for quitting. She should absolutely disclose the part-time job and explain the financial non-viability clearly.
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Yuki Yamamoto
I HATE how edd makes everything so complicated!!! i had a similar situation but my part time job was only 6 hours a week and i had to quit because my car broke down. they ended up giving me an eligibility interview and asking a bunch of questions about why i quit. it was super stressful but they approved me anyway because my main job had laid me off. good luck to ur friend!!
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Carmen Ortiz
This is actually a really common situation with seasonal workers. Your friend should 100% disclose the part-time job and the quit reason when filing. Here's what will happen: 1. EDD will likely schedule an eligibility interview to discuss the voluntary quit 2. During the interview, she needs to clearly explain that the transportation costs made the job financially unreasonable (good cause) 3. She should prepare specific numbers - miles driven, gas costs, vehicle maintenance, etc. to show it was actually COSTING her to work there This type of scenario often gets approved with proper documentation. Financial non-viability of employment is considered good cause for quitting if she can demonstrate it factually.
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Nia Davis
•Thank you for breaking it down like this! I'll help her gather all the gas receipts and calculate the actual costs so she's prepared for the interview. Do you know how long it typically takes for them to schedule these eligibility interviews?
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Carmen Ortiz
•Currently, eligibility interviews can take 3-6 weeks to get scheduled. The backlog is pretty significant. She should make sure to continue certifying for benefits every two weeks while waiting for the interview - just answer all questions truthfully. Once approved (if the interviewer accepts her good cause explanation), she'll receive all back payments for the weeks she certified.
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Andre Rousseau
I spent 4 days trying to get through to EDD about a similar situation (quit a small job after my main job laid me off). Kept getting the "we're experiencing high call volume" message and disconnects. Finally used Claimyr.com to connect with an EDD rep in about 20 minutes. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km The EDD rep confirmed that quitting a small job can still qualify for benefits if you had good cause. Financial hardship from the job costing more than it paid definitely counts as good cause. Just be ready to explain everything clearly in the eligibility interview.
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Nia Davis
•I've never heard of Claimyr before, but I might suggest it to my friend if she gets stuck trying to reach someone. Thanks for the info!
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Mateo Perez
•those services charge money tho and theres no guarantee the edd person will help. my brother used something like that and still got denied
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CosmicCrusader
Wait I'm confused about something...when you certify for benefits, doesn't it ask if you refused work? Is quitting the same as refusing work?? Or are those different questions?? I always get so nervous filling out the certification!!
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Ethan Brown
•Those are different questions. "Refusing work" refers to turning down a job offer while on unemployment. "Quitting" refers to leaving a job you were already working at. For the certification, she'll need to answer "yes" to the question about whether she quit any work, and then provide an explanation about why she quit (financial non-viability due to transportation costs exceeding earnings).
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Zoe Papadakis
my sister went thru exactly this!!! she had a main retail job that cut all her hours and then quit a 8hr/week second job because the schedule kept changing and she couldnt plan anything. she got approved because she had GOOD CAUSE for quitting. tell your friend to use those exact words - "good cause" - in her application and interview!!!! that's the magic phrase EDD looks for!!
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Carmen Ortiz
One more thing to note: the EDD will be most interested in the job that constitutes the majority of your friend's base period earnings (the seasonal job). If that job ended through no fault of her own (layoff, contract end, etc.), and the part-time job represented only a small fraction of her total earnings, the part-time job is less likely to affect her overall eligibility - especially with a solid good cause explanation for quitting. During the eligibility interview, she should emphasize that she's actively seeking suitable full-time work similar to her previous seasonal position, which demonstrates she's not trying to avoid working - she just couldn't continue with an arrangement that was costing her money.
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Nia Davis
•That makes perfect sense! Her seasonal landscaping job paid around $3,800/month, while the bakery was only $320/month at most. So the part-time job was really minimal compared to her main job earnings. I'll make sure she emphasizes that she's actively looking for full-time work similar to the landscaping position.
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