Can I still claim unemployment benefits after accepting a job offer with a future start date?

yes u can still claim until ur actually working! when u do ur weekly claim just answer honestly that u got a job offer but haven't started working yet. they ask if u worked during the week - if u didn't work, u didn't work! simple as that

You can absolutely continue claiming benefits until your first day of work. Your unemployment eligibility is based on whether you're currently employed and earning wages, not whether you've accepted a future job offer. You should continue filing your weekly claims normally until your actual start date. However, you DO need to report the job offer on your weekly claim. There's a specific question about whether you've obtained work that will begin in the future. Answer "yes" to this and provide the details when prompted. This won't disqualify you from receiving benefits for the weeks before you start working. And yes, you still need to complete and document your 3 job search activities each week until you actually start the new job. ESD requires this even if you have secured future employment.

I went through this exact situation last year! You can definitely still claim until your first day of actual work. Make sure you answer "Yes" to the question that asks if you've obtained work that will start in the future. One important thing - keep a copy of your offer letter showing the start date. If ESD has any questions later, you'll have proof of when your employment actually began. Also, don't forget you STILL need to complete your job search requirements each week, even with a job lined up. I know it seems pointless, but I got flagged for skipping my job searches during my final two weeks before starting my new job.

I HAD THE EXACT SAME SITUATION IN JANUARY!!! The ESD website is SO CONFUSING about this. I tried calling them for 2 WEEKS to get clarification and couldn't get through to ANYONE!!! I was panicking about potentially doing something wrong and getting hit with an overpayment later. I ended up having to wait 6 weeks for my claim to be processed because they put me in adjudication over this very issue! They eventually approved everything but it was SO STRESSFUL not knowing if I'd get the money I needed for rent.

my brother in law had this happen and he just kept claiming until he actually started the job. its about whether ur actually working not whether uve accepted a job. makes sense if u think about it cuz why would they stop paying u when ur still not earning any money yet? just be honest on the weekly claim forms

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! Just to update - I called ESD (took forever to get through) and they confirmed what you all said. I need to answer "yes" to the question about obtaining future work and provide my start date, but I can continue claiming until I actually start working. And yes, I still need to do my job search activities each week. They also suggested I keep my offer letter handy in case there are any questions later. Really appreciate all the advice!

One additional tip since you mentioned the weekly claim questions - when you get to your first week of actual work, remember that ESD uses a Sunday-Saturday week. So if you start on a Tuesday, you'll report the earnings for those days (Tuesday-Saturday) on that week's claim. You'll receive partial unemployment for that week if your earnings are below your weekly benefit amount. Just make sure to report your gross earnings (before taxes) for the days you actually worked, not your future full weekly salary.

This is such great information everyone! I'm in a similar boat - got a job offer yesterday with a March 31st start date. Reading through all these responses has been super helpful, especially knowing that I need to answer "yes" to the future work question and keep doing job search activities. It's reassuring to see so many people have gone through this same situation successfully. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Congratulations on landing the new job! This thread has been incredibly helpful - I'm actually in a similar situation myself. Got a job offer two weeks ago with a start date of April 7th, and I've been stressed about whether I'm handling the weekly claims correctly. It's so reassuring to see that multiple people have successfully navigated this exact scenario. The tip about keeping the offer letter as documentation is really smart too. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is such a lifesaver when ESD's website leaves you with more questions than answers!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm actually dealing with a similar situation right now - accepted a job offer last week with a start date of April 14th. I've been so worried about answering the weekly claim questions correctly, but reading everyone's experiences has put my mind at ease. It's good to know that being honest and transparent is the key, and that so many people have successfully navigated this exact scenario. The reminder about keeping documentation is really smart too - I'm definitely going to keep my offer letter readily available. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, especially @Miranda Singer for starting this discussion!

Just wanted to add my experience to this helpful thread! I went through this exact situation about 6 months ago - accepted a job offer in October but didn't start until November 15th. I was able to continue claiming benefits for those 3 weeks without any issues. The key things that worked for me: 1) Always answered honestly on the weekly claims about having future work lined up, 2) Kept doing my job search activities (I focused on LinkedIn networking and online skill-building courses since I already had a job), and 3) Saved all my documentation including the offer letter and screenshots of my weekly claim submissions. ESD never questioned it, and the transition was smooth when I actually started working. It's such a relief to see so many people sharing similar positive experiences - this really should be clearer information on their website!

I'm so glad I found this thread! I'm actually in the exact same situation right now - just accepted a job offer yesterday with a start date of April 21st, so I have about a month to go. I've been losing sleep worrying about whether I'd be committing some kind of fraud by continuing to claim benefits, but reading everyone's experiences has been such a huge relief. The consensus seems clear: be honest on the weekly claims about having future work, keep doing the job search activities (even though it feels pointless), and keep all documentation handy. It's ridiculous that ESD's website doesn't explain this scenario clearly - seems like SO many people go through this exact situation! Thanks to everyone who shared their stories, especially @Miranda Singer for asking the question we were all thinking. This community is invaluable when navigating the confusing world of unemployment benefits!

This thread is incredibly helpful! I'm actually dealing with this exact situation right now - accepted a job offer two weeks ago with a start date of April 10th. I've been absolutely panicking about whether I'm handling the weekly claims correctly, especially after reading some horror stories online about people getting hit with overpayment demands. It's so reassuring to see that multiple people have successfully navigated this scenario by just being honest and transparent. I've been answering "yes" to the future work question and continuing my job search activities (focusing mostly on online courses and LinkedIn networking since applying to new jobs feels pointless when I already have one lined up). The tip about keeping documentation is so smart - I've been saving everything including my offer letter, email confirmations from my weekly claims, and even screenshots of the questions I'm answering. Better safe than sorry with ESD! Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, especially those who mentioned the partial week earnings when you first start. I hadn't even thought about that part yet but it's good to know in advance. This community is seriously a lifeline when ESD's own website leaves you with more questions than answers!

This has been such a valuable thread to read through! I'm currently in the exact same situation - just accepted a job offer this morning with a start date of April 28th, so I have about 4 weeks to go. I was literally about to create my own post asking this exact question when I found this discussion! Reading everyone's experiences has been incredibly reassuring. I was really worried about accidentally doing something wrong and getting flagged for overpayment later. It sounds like the key is just being completely honest on the weekly claims - answer yes to having future work lined up, keep doing the job search activities (even though it feels silly), and document everything. I'm definitely going to follow the advice here about keeping my offer letter and taking screenshots of my weekly claim submissions. The tip about ESD using Sunday-Saturday weeks for earnings reporting is also really helpful to know in advance. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this community is amazing for navigating all the confusing ESD stuff that their website doesn't explain clearly. It's wild how common this situation apparently is but how little guidance there is about it officially. Congrats to everyone who got through this successfully and landed new jobs!

I'm dealing with this exact situation too! Just accepted an offer yesterday with a start date of May 5th, so I have about 5 weeks left. This thread has been such a relief to find - I was starting to panic about whether continuing to claim benefits would get me in trouble later. It's really helpful to see so many people have successfully navigated this by just being honest on the weekly claims. I've been answering "yes" to the future work question and will definitely keep doing my job search activities even though it feels pointless now. The documentation tips are great too - I'm going to start keeping screenshots of everything just in case. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences! It's frustrating that ESD doesn't make this clearer on their website when it seems like such a common situation. At least we have this community to help figure things out!

This thread is incredibly helpful! I'm actually in this exact situation right now - just accepted a job offer last Friday with a start date of May 12th. I've been so anxious about whether I'm handling everything correctly with my weekly claims. Reading through everyone's experiences has been such a huge relief. It sounds like the consensus is clear: be completely honest on the weekly claims about having future work lined up, continue doing the required job search activities (even though it feels pointless when you already have a job), and keep all documentation organized. I've already started a folder with my offer letter and I'm going to start taking screenshots of my weekly claim submissions like several people suggested. The tip about ESD using Sunday-Saturday weeks for reporting earnings when I actually start working is really valuable to know ahead of time too. It's honestly ridiculous that ESD's website doesn't have clear guidance on this scenario when it seems SO common based on this thread! Thank goodness for this community helping us navigate these confusing situations. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's made this whole process feel way less scary! 🙏

I'm in this exact situation too! Just accepted a job offer this week with a start date of May 19th. This thread has been such a lifesaver - I was literally losing sleep worrying about whether continuing to claim benefits would somehow get me flagged for fraud later. It's so reassuring to see that SO many people have successfully navigated this by just being honest and transparent on their weekly claims. I've been answering "yes" to the future work question and will definitely keep up with my job search activities even though it feels completely pointless now that I have a job lined up. The documentation tips are brilliant - I'm starting a folder today with my offer letter and will screenshot all my weekly claim submissions going forward. Better to be over-prepared than caught off guard later! It's honestly mind-boggling that ESD doesn't have clear guidance about this scenario on their website when it's apparently super common. Thank goodness for communities like this where we can actually get real answers from people who've been through it. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - you've all made this whole process feel so much less stressful! 🙌

This thread is amazing! I'm currently dealing with this exact situation - accepted a job offer yesterday with a start date of May 26th, so I have about 6 weeks left on unemployment. I was literally googling "can I claim unemployment after accepting job offer" at midnight last night because I was so worried about doing something wrong! Reading through everyone's experiences has been incredibly reassuring. It's clear that being completely honest on the weekly claims is the way to go - answer "yes" to having future work, keep doing those job search activities (even though it feels silly), and document everything just in case. I'm definitely going to follow the advice here about keeping my offer letter handy and taking screenshots of my weekly claim submissions. The tip about ESD using Sunday-Saturday weeks when I actually start working is also really helpful to know in advance. It's honestly frustrating that this scenario is SO common (based on all these responses!) but ESD's website gives zero clear guidance about it. Thank goodness for this community! Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - you've made this whole process feel way less scary for those of us going through it now. Congrats to everyone who successfully navigated this and landed new jobs! 🎉

This thread has been such a goldmine of information! I'm actually in this exact situation right now - just accepted a job offer this morning with a start date of June 9th, so I have about 8 weeks to go. I was frantically searching online last night trying to figure out if I could keep claiming benefits, and finding this discussion has been such a relief! It's incredible how many people have been through this exact scenario - really makes you wonder why ESD doesn't have a clear FAQ section about it on their website. From reading everyone's experiences, it seems like the formula is pretty straightforward: be completely honest on weekly claims about having future work, keep doing those job search activities (even though it feels pointless), and document everything thoroughly. I'm definitely going to start that documentation folder today with my offer letter and begin screenshotting my weekly claim submissions. The tip about ESD using Sunday-Saturday weeks for earnings when I actually start working is also really valuable - I would have probably messed that up without this heads up! Thanks to everyone who shared their stories, especially @Miranda Singer for starting this whole discussion. It's amazing how this one post has helped so many people navigate the same confusing situation. This community is honestly invaluable when ESD's own guidance leaves us all scratching our heads! 🙏