Yes, that's exactly right. Use what you have now until November 30th, then file a new claim. The 6 months of work will be part of your base year calculation for the new claim. Just make sure you keep track of your hours worked during that period - sometimes ESD misses some employers in their wage calculations.

My sister works at worksource and she says people get confused about this all the time. The benefit YEAR (12 month period) is different from your benefit AMOUNT (total $ you can receive). Restarting a claim in the same benefit year means you're just continuing where you left off with whatever benefits remained. Your monetary determination got updated because your weekly amount might change with new wages, but your benefit year dates stay the same.

the esd payment system is such a MESS. i got approved for benefits in march and had direct deposit set up right away but they STILL sent me paper checks for the first 3 weeks!!! when i called they said it was a "system glitch" but wouldn't fix it. eventually the direct deposit started working but i never got a clear explanation why. their whole system needs an overhaul.

Just to follow up on what others have mentioned - for PFML claims like yours, make sure you keep all documentation related to your payments. If you're receiving a substantial amount of backpay ($5,300), it's a good idea to create a spreadsheet tracking: 1. Each check/payment received 2. The date range each payment covers 3. The gross amount before deductions 4. Any taxes or other withholdings This will help you verify you received the correct amount and will also be useful for tax purposes next year. PFML benefits are taxable income, and sometimes the tax withholding isn't applied consistently across all payments, especially with backpay situations.

Just a friendly reminder that ESD processes payments Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. So since you were approved on March 1st (which was a Friday), the payment processing likely didn't start until Monday, March 4th. Direct deposits typically take 2-3 business days after processing begins. And yes, as others mentioned, back payments generally arrive as one lump sum. Check both your ESD account payment history AND your bank account regularly. Sometimes the ESD portal will update before the money arrives.

UPDATE: My back payments just hit my account! It took exactly 4 business days after approval. Total relief! Thanks everyone for your help and advice. For anyone else in the same situation - hang in there, the money does come through eventually.

One more critical piece of advice: start documenting your job search activities immediately (at least 3 per week). Even if your claim is still processing, you need to be completing and logging these activities from the first week you're unemployed. I've seen so many people get denied retroactive payments because they didn't do their job search requirements during the waiting period. The WorkSource Virtual Job Fair next Tuesday might be worth attending - it counts as a job search activity and you might find something that beats waiting for unemployment.

btw dont forget to check ur spam folder for ESD emails.. they sent me like 5 messages asking for more info and they ALL went to spam. cost me like 3 extra weeks of waiting!

my friend did instacart while waiting for unemployment and ended up getting denied completely bc she made too much money one week. just be careful how much u work

I went through this last year. Two important things to remember: 1. You have to file weekly claims WHILE your initial claim is processing. You can only backfile for 4 weeks, so if you've missed more than that, those benefits may be lost. 2. For self-employment: ESD considers your GROSS earnings before expenses in the week you performed the work (not when paid). They apply this formula: (your weekly benefit amount) - ((gross earnings) - ($5 × 20%)) = adjusted weekly benefit So if your weekly benefit amount would be $850, and you earn $400 in self-employment in a week: $850 - ($400 - $80) = $850 - $320 = $530 benefit for that week Hope this helps!