Ugggghhhh the ESD system is BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR. I went through this exact nightmare scenario in January. Waiting week status for TWENTY-THREE DAYS with zero explanation! When I finally got through to someone they said "oh we needed to verify something with your employer" - THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT THREE WEEKS AGO???? The whole system is designed to frustrate people into giving up. They WANT you to abandon your claim. Don't let them win! Keep calling, keep messaging, and document EVERYTHING in case you need to appeal.

UPDATE: I finally got through to someone! Used the Claimyr service mentioned below and got connected to an ESD agent in about 15 minutes. Turns out there was an employer verification issue - my former company hadn't responded to ESD's request for information. The agent submitted an override since it had been more than 10 days with no employer response. She said my payment should process in 48-72 hours. Such a relief! Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

I hate to say this but you might need to talk to a lawyer who specializes in unemployment issues. I know it's expensive, but when you're facing $22k in repayments, it might be worth it. The Legal Aid office sometimes offers free consultations for these cases.

If you go the appeal route, make sure to clearly explain how you calculated your weekly income from your biweekly payments. The key issue will be whether you properly reported your work hours and earnings each week, even if the actual payment was biweekly. For example, if you earned $1600 biweekly for 80 hours of work, ESD would expect you to report $800 for each week (40 hours). If you reported the full $1600 only on the weeks you received payment, that would trigger an overpayment determination because it would appear you weren't reporting income for the alternate weeks. The good news is that if this was an honest misunderstanding about reporting requirements rather than intentional fraud, you have a much better chance of getting the overpayment reduced or the penalties waived.

kinda off topic but make sure u update ur address with esd ASAP! they sent me important paperwork to my old place and when i didnt respond they shut off my benefits for like 3 weeks

UPDATE: I got through to someone at OAH! Used that Claimyr service someone mentioned and it actually worked to get me connected to ESD, who then transferred me directly to OAH. The hearing coordinator confirmed my appeal was actually resolved months ago when the adjudicator approved my benefits, but the hearing was never formally canceled in their system. She's removing it from the calendar and sending me email confirmation. Such a relief! Thanks everyone for your help today - I was seriously panicking!

my cousin won his appeal and it took like 2 months total but he got all back pay so at least theres that to look forward to if you win.

BTW if ur appeal is denied do NOT give up!! You can file a petition for review with the commissioner's office. I won at that level after losing my hearing. It takes even LONGER but worth it if ur claim is legit.

Hey, I just noticed something in your original post - you mentioned this is a 12-week program? Make sure you're aware that after 5 weeks on unemployment, your job search requirements change and you have to be willing to accept work outside your usual occupation or at lower pay (like 90% of previous wages for weeks 5-8, then 80% after that). So if retail jobs that require weekend work become "suitable employment" for you after a few weeks, that gardening program could actually make you unavailable for suitable work by ESD's definition.

Thank you all for the helpful advice! I'm going to try contacting ESD directly to document this situation. Better to be upfront now than deal with problems later. I'll make it clear that I'm primarily looking for work in my field (which is typically M-F) but that I'm willing to accept suitable work even if it means quitting the gardening program. Sounds like being transparent is the safest approach.