ESD benefits question: If my former employer rehires me, will I have to repay unemployment benefits?
So I was fired on October 1st from my customer service job after the regional manager decided our location wasn't performing well enough. I've been on unemployment since then and getting my weekly benefits without any issues. But I just got a text from my old supervisor saying there's been a management shakeup at corporate and the new regional manager wants to bring back some of the experienced staff. They're asking if I want my position back, possibly with a small raise. I'm honestly torn because the job market has been tough, but I'm worried about the unemployment benefits I've already received. If I accept the job offer, will ESD make me pay back everything I've collected so far? I've been collecting for about 6 weeks now and I've been following all the rules - doing my job searches and filing weekly claims correctly. Would going back to my old employer somehow invalidate my claim for the weeks I was legitimately unemployed? Any advice would be really appreciated!
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Sofia Gutierrez
Good news! You won't have to pay back any legitimate benefits you received while you were actually unemployed. Those benefits were rightfully yours during the period you qualified for them. If you accept the new job offer, you'll simply stop claiming benefits going forward and report your return to work on your last weekly claim. Just make sure to report your employment status change and first day back at work accurately on your final weekly claim. Your benefits will stop once you're employed again, but there's no repayment required for the weeks you were genuinely unemployed and eligible.
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Dylan Mitchell
•That's such a relief! I was stressing about potentially owing thousands back to ESD. Thank you for clearing that up. I'll definitely report my return to work date accurately when I decide what to do.
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Dmitry Petrov
congrats on the job offer! same thing happened to my cousin last year, went back to his old job and didnt have to pay anything back 👍
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StarSurfer
WRONG INFORMATION ABOVE!! Be very careful here. My sister got rehired by her old company last year and ESD came after her for ALL the money because they claimed she wasn't really laid off!!! They said it was some kind of "planned temporary layoff" even though she had NO IDEA she would get her job back. She had to appeal 3 TIMES and is still fighting with them!!!!
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Ava Martinez
•This is actually a different situation. The key factor is the reason for separation and timing. In the original post, they were fired on October 1st and there was a legitimate separation from employment. The company had a management change AFTER the firing, which led to the rehire offer. This clearly establishes there was a genuine qualifying separation with no expectation of rehire at the time benefits began. Your sister's situation sounds like ESD suspected some kind of pre-arranged temporary layoff or furlough situation, which would be treated differently under unemployment regulations. Those are handled under different provisions where the employer may have indicated a return date or temporary status on their response to ESD.
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Miguel Castro
When this happened to me I was so confused too. The most important thing is to stop claiming as soon as you start working again. Don't claim for any week where you've worked, even if you haven't gotten paid yet. That's where people get in trouble. I went back to my old employer after 2 months unemployment and didn't have to repay anything.
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Zainab Abdulrahman
Have you tried calling ESD directly to get a definitive answer? This is really something you want to be 100% sure about rather than relying on forum advice. When I had a similar question last month, I tried calling ESD for three days straight and couldn't get through because of the high call volume. I ended up using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an ESD agent in about 25 minutes instead of spending days redialing. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. The agent I spoke with was able to check my specific claim details and give me a definite answer about my situation. Might be worth it for peace of mind.
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Dylan Mitchell
•I didn't know services like that existed. I definitely want to hear directly from ESD on this. I've tried calling a few times already and just got the 'high call volume' message. I'll check out that website - thanks for the suggestion!
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Connor Byrne
when u go back 2 work make SURE u report all earnings even if its not the same amount as b4!! i got hit with overpayment cuz i reported wrong amount when i went back part time first. ugh so many forms 2 fix it
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Ava Martinez
To clearly address your situation: 1. Benefits received while legitimately unemployed are yours to keep 2. You must stop claiming once you return to work 3. On your final weekly claim, report your return to work date accurately 4. If you worked partial weeks, report those earnings properly The key legal distinction is that your separation was genuine, and the rehire offer came after a management change. This creates a clear break in employment with no expectation of recall at the time of separation. This is different from planned temporary layoffs or furloughs. As long as you've been honest in your claims and job search activities while unemployed, you should have no issues keeping the benefits you've already received upon returning to work. Just be accurate with your final claim to avoid complications.
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Dylan Mitchell
•Thank you for the detailed explanation! This makes perfect sense. If I decide to take the offer, I'll definitely be careful with my final claim and make sure everything is reported correctly.
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Miguel Castro
just wondering... did they give you any explanation about why they fired you and now want you back? seems suspicious tbh
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Dylan Mitchell
•The original regional manager was on a cost-cutting mission and laid off several experienced staff members across multiple locations. Apparently, the new management looked at the performance metrics since then and realized it was a mistake. Customer complaints went up and they're losing business. At least that's what my old supervisor told me.
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Miguel Castro
•ah that makes sense then. happens all the time with corporate types making decisions from spreadsheets without understanding the actual business lol
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StarSurfer
Also think about if you even WANT to go back! They fired you once already! What's to stop them from doing it again next month??? The job market sucks right now but being jerked around by the same company is worse IMO.
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Sofia Gutierrez
Just to add an important detail - if you do return to work, make sure to report your work and earnings on your weekly claim for the week you start working, even if you haven't been paid yet. You report based on when you performed the work, not when you receive payment. This avoids potential overpayment issues later. Also, if you return part-way through a week, you may still be eligible for partial benefits for that week depending on how many hours you work and how much you earn. The ESD system will calculate this automatically based on what you report.
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Dylan Mitchell
•Thanks for the extra info! If I end up accepting the offer, I'll make sure to report everything properly for that transition week. Definitely don't want to deal with overpayment issues later.
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