Reporting severance pay on ESD weekly claims after layoff - need help with specific questions

For your first question, severance IS different from a notice period. A notice period is when they tell you in advance that you'll be laid off but you're still technically employed until that period ends. Since you were already laid off on Oct 21, you should answer NO to that question. For the second question, YES, you should report the PTO payout for the week you received it (Oct 31). Make sure to include the exact amount. You'll also need to report your severance pay each week when you receive it, which will likely reduce or eliminate your UI benefits during those weeks depending on the amount. Be sure to answer YES to "Did you receive any other income?" and select "severance pay" from the dropdown when filing your weekly claims.

Waitt a minute I don't think that's right... When I got laid off last year they kept paying me for 4 more weeks and ESD told me that WAS a notice period even though I wasn't working anymore. I think if your getting money from your employer after being laid off, that's technically a notice period payment not severance??? The whole thing is so confusing I almost gave up on filing!

i went thru this exact same thing in january!! the esd rep told me that severance is NOT a notice period so u answer NO to #1. but u DO have to report the severance as "other income" every week u get it. and yes mark YES for the PTO payout but only for that one week. FYI your benefits will probably be reduced or $0 for the weeks ur getting severance if its more than ur weekly benefit amount. but keep filing anyway!! thats super important even if ur getting $0, becuz once severance ends u want ur claim to already be established.

To add some clarity here: 1) A notice period is specifically when you're informed of termination but still technically employed for a specific timeframe (typically 2-4 weeks). Severance pay is compensation provided after employment has already terminated. Since you were laid off on October 21st and are receiving severance payments starting October 31st, you should answer NO to the notice period question. 2) For the PTO payout, answer YES only for the week you received the payment (the week including October 31st). In subsequent weeks, you'll answer NO to this question. 3) You must report your severance payments as "other income" each week you receive them. ESD will automatically deduct dollar-for-dollar from your weekly benefit amount. If your severance exceeds your weekly benefit amount, you'll receive $0 for that week, but you've still satisfied the weekly claim requirement. Do continue filing weekly claims even if you're receiving full severance. This maintains your claim and ensures benefits resume smoothly once severance ends.

I spent 3 weeks trying to reach someone at ESD about a similar question when I was laid off. Kept getting busy signals or disconnected. Finally used a service called Claimyr that got me connected to an ESD agent in about 20 minutes. Totally worth it because the agent walked me through exactly how to report my severance and PTO correctly. They have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. Their website is claimyr.com if you want to check it out.

just be carful to keep all ur severance pay stubs!! my buddy got an overpayment notice 6 months after his claim ended cuz esd said he didnt report severance right. had to pay back like $5000!!! but he had all his paystubs and payroll report and proved he reported everything correctly. took 3 months to get resolved but he didnt have to pay it back.

One more important thing: when you report your severance pay, you need to report it for the week you RECEIVE the payment, not the period it covers. So if you get paid biweekly, you'll report the full amount during the week you actually get the payment. And as others have said, definitely keep filing your weekly claims even if you're receiving $0 due to your severance deductions. This keeps your claim active and ensures you don't have to file a new claim when your severance ends in March.

To address the confusion about how to report severance: The correct method is to report severance for the week you RECEIVE the payment. If you receive a lump sum covering multiple weeks, you report the entire amount for that week only. If your HR department specifically instructed you to allocate the payment across weeks, that would be a unique situation, but ESD's standard procedure is to report based on when payment is received, not when it's earned. This is different from how wages are reported (which are reported for the week worked, regardless of when paid). That's why severance reporting causes so much confusion.

Hey Riya! I just went through this exact same situation a few months ago when I got laid off from my tech job. The advice you're getting here is spot on - definitely answer NO to the notice period question since severance is completely different. One thing I wish someone had told me early on: create a simple spreadsheet to track all your severance payments, dates received, and what you reported to ESD each week. It saved me so much headache when I had questions later. Also, if your severance payments are substantial like mine were, don't be surprised if you get $0 benefits for several weeks - that's totally normal and expected. The most important thing is to keep filing those weekly claims religiously, even when you're getting nothing. I made the mistake of skipping a few weeks thinking "what's the point if I'm getting $0" and it created issues when I tried to restart later. Just keep filing and everything will smooth out once your severance period ends in March!

I'm going through a similar situation right now after being laid off from my marketing job in September. Just wanted to add that when you're reporting your severance payments, make sure you're clear about whether they're taxable or not - this can affect how much gets deducted from your benefits. Also, if your company is providing any continuing benefits (like health insurance coverage) during your severance period, that doesn't need to be reported as income, but it's worth noting in case ESD asks about it later. One tip that helped me: I took a screenshot of each weekly claim submission showing exactly what I reported and when. It creates a paper trail in case there are any questions down the road. The whole process is stressful enough without worrying about documentation issues later! Good luck navigating this - it sounds like you're being really thorough about getting it right, which is exactly the right approach.