Can I restart my UI claim after brief employment without claiming backpay from ESD?

You haven't actually messed up as badly as you think. Getting your final paycheck doesn't disqualify you from claiming the current week if you didn't actually perform work during that week. The key is reporting WHEN you earned the money, not when you received the payment. When you restart your claim, you'll need to: 1. Report your work and earnings for the weeks you actually worked 2. Report zero earnings for the current week (if you didn't work) 3. Make sure you're completing your job search requirements (3 activities per week) Just be careful to correctly report which weeks you worked and which you didn't. The online system should allow you to restart your claim without much trouble.

ur overthinking this whole thing tbh. just file ur weekly claim and make sure u report the exact hours/pay for the weeks u actually worked. if u didnt work this week then u put 0 for earnings. they care about when u EARNED the money not when u got paid. i stopped and restarted my claim like 3 times last year, its not that complicated

Wait, did you formally CLOSE your claim when you started that job? Or did you just stop filing weekly claims? Those are two different things and will affect how you restart. If you formally closed it, you might need to file a new initial claim. If you just stopped filing weekly claims but your benefit year is still active, you might just need to start filing weekly claims again. Also, you mentioned your claim is ending soon - check your benefit year end date. If it's within a few weeks, that could complicate things too. They might make you file a new claim instead of restarting the old one.

I was in almost the exact same situation back in January. Worked for 3 weeks, job didn't work out, then tried to restart my claim. The trick is that you need to submit a weekly claim and just be honest about which weeks you worked and which you didn't. BUT - I had a nightmare trying to get through to someone at ESD to confirm I was doing it right. Spent 4 days calling constantly and getting disconnected. Finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual human at ESD. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 The agent was able to look at my specific situation and walk me through exactly what I needed to do. Saved me so much stress and guesswork.

A few important points to clarify for you: 1. The date you RECEIVE a paycheck is irrelevant for unemployment purposes. What matters is the week in which you PERFORMED the work. 2. Your benefit year ending soon is actually important. If you're within 4 weeks of your benefit year ending, ESD will likely require you to file a new initial claim rather than restart your old one. 3. If you didn't formally close your claim but just stopped filing weekly claims, you may be able to simply resume filing. However, there's typically a break in filing limit (often around 4 weeks) after which you must contact ESD to restart. 4. Be prepared to explain the employment gap. Have documentation showing your start/end dates at the job and why it ended. I recommend filing your weekly claim for the current week (reporting zero work/earnings if you didn't work) and see what happens. The system will prompt you if additional information is needed.

THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO CONFUSE YOU!!! I swear they make these rules complicated so people give up and don't get benefits they deserve. I've been through this nightmare 3 times now! The worst part is that even if you do everything right, there's a good chance they'll put you in adjudication for weeks anyway and you'll be waiting forever!!! 😡😡😡

@OP - Did you try submitting your weekly claim yet? What happened? Sometimes the system is actually smarter than we give it credit for and will walk you through the restart process.

That "return to work date" screen definitely means you need to talk to an agent. When I used Claimyr (claimyr.com), I got connected within about 15 minutes instead of spending hours redialing. The ESD agent was able to override something in their system to properly restart my claim. Definitely worth it in my situation.

Just wanted to say good luck! The unemployment system can be so confusing especially when you have brief periods of work in between. Hope you get it sorted out soon! 👍

One more thing to keep in mind - since your benefit year is ending soon, you might want to prepare for filing a new initial claim. Make sure you have information about all your employment over the past 18 months handy, including that brief 2-week job. You'll need employer names, addresses, employment dates, and earnings for the new application.