Job offer with delayed start date - how to handle ESD weekly claims until I start?
I just got some good news! I finally got a job offer today after searching for months, but here's my situation - they want me to start at the end of next month (about 5 weeks away). I'm still collecting unemployment benefits right now and I'm not sure how to handle my weekly claims between now and my start date. Do I need to report the job offer on my weekly claim even though I haven't started working yet? Should I continue doing my 3 job search activities each week until I actually start? I don't want to mess anything up and end up owing ESD money later. Has anyone dealt with this before?
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Yuki Tanaka
Congratulations on the job offer! You should continue filing your weekly claims as normal until your actual start date. You don't need to report the job offer until you actually start working and earning wages. Keep doing your 3 job search activities each week until your first day of work. The week you start working, you'll report your hours and earnings on that week's claim.
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Ethan Davis
•Thanks! That's what I thought but wasn't 100% sure. So even though I technically have a job lined up, I still need to keep applying for other positions to meet the job search requirements?
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Carmen Ortiz
just make sure u dont say YES to the question about refusing work or something like that cuz that could mess things up. but ya keep doing claims normal til u get paid
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Ethan Davis
•Good point, I didn't even think about that question. I definitely didn't refuse work - I accepted the offer!
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MidnightRider
This is actually a situation where you might want to ask ESD directly about your job search requirements. Since you have a definite job offer with a future start date, you might qualify for "standby" status, which could exempt you from the job search requirements until your start date. It depends on your specific situation and how far out your start date is. You'll need to call ESD to request this though - it's not automatic.
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Andre Laurent
•I tried calling ESD about standby status last month and was on hold for 3+ hours before getting disconnected. Try using Claimyr (claimyr.com) - they have a service that gets you through to an ESD agent much faster. I used it and got through in about 20 minutes instead of hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. Definitely worth it to avoid the endless hold times!
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Zoe Papadopoulos
When this happened to me they denied my standby request because my job was starting more than 4 weeks away. So I had to keep doing job searches which was SUPER AWKWARD because I already had a job! One place actually offered me a position and I had to tell them I already accepted somewhere else. So embarrassing.
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Jamal Washington
•The standby rules are different now post-COVID. For regular standby, the max is 4 weeks, but if your employer specifically requests it, they can sometimes approve up to 8 weeks. But honestly, for just 5 weeks, it might be easier to just keep doing the job search activities rather than go through the whole standby approval process, especially since standby requests can take 2-3 weeks to process anyway.
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Mei Wong
OMG the ESD system is SO BROKEN!!!! I was in the EXACT same situation last year and I kept doing my job searches like I was supposed to but then they still hit me with an overpayment notice 6 months later claiming I should have been on standby!!! Now I owe $2,800 and they're taking 25% out of my tax return. MAKE SURE YOU DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!!!!
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Yuki Tanaka
•That sounds frustrating, but I think there might have been some other issue with your claim. If you continued doing job searches while waiting for your start date, that shouldn't have resulted in an overpayment by itself. Were there other factors involved? Did you report your job offer on your weekly claim in some way? The system doesn't automatically know you have a job offer unless you tell them.
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Ethan Davis
Thanks for all the advice everyone! I think I'll just keep doing my job searches to be safe. My start date is only 5 weeks away, so it's not too bad. I might try calling ESD using that Claimyr service to double check though. Better to be safe than sorry with unemployment stuff!
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Jamal Washington
•Good plan. One last tip - for your job search activities, consider using things like checking in with your new employer about onboarding paperwork, researching the company, attending any pre-employment orientations, etc. These can actually count as valid job search activities while you're waiting to start. Just document them properly in your job search log. Congrats on the new job!
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Elijah Knight
Smart move keeping it simple with the job searches! Just wanted to add that when you do start your new job, make sure to report your GROSS wages (before taxes) on your weekly claim, not your take-home pay. A lot of people mess that up and it can cause issues later. Also, if your employer gives you any signing bonus or relocation assistance, that might need to be reported too depending on the timing. The ESD website has a good section on what counts as reportable wages. Good luck with the new position!
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Sofia Price
•That's really helpful info about reporting gross wages! I hadn't thought about the signing bonus aspect either. My new employer did mention they'll reimburse some moving expenses, so I'll definitely need to check on that. Thanks for pointing out the ESD website section on reportable wages - I'll make sure to read through that before my first week of work so I don't mess up my claim.
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Salim Nasir
Congrats on the job offer! I went through something similar last year and here's what worked for me: I continued filing weekly claims and doing my 3 job searches until my actual start date. The key thing is DON'T report the job offer on your weekly claims - you only report actual wages earned. I kept a detailed log of all my job search activities just in case ESD ever audited me later. When I finally started working, I reported my first week's gross wages on that weekly claim. The whole process went smoothly and I never had any issues with overpayments or anything like that. Just stay consistent with your weekly filings and job searches until you're actually earning a paycheck!
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Giovanni Rossi
•This is exactly the kind of detailed, practical advice I was looking for! Thank you for sharing your experience. It's reassuring to hear from someone who went through the same situation successfully. I'll definitely keep that detailed job search log - that's a smart idea in case there are any questions later. Did you find it awkward explaining to potential employers during your job searches that you already had another job lined up? I'm worried about that part but I guess I need to keep applying to meet the requirements.
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