Worried about potential ESD overpayment in future - how to verify my claim info is correct now?

This is actually a really smart approach! It's much better to verify everything now than deal with problems later. Here are some things you can check: 1. Compare your Monetary Determination letter against your paystubs from your base year (usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you filed). Make sure the wages match. 2. Verify that your separation reason is correctly reported. This is huge - if ESD thinks you quit but you were laid off, that could cause problems. 3. Make sure you're reporting ANY work and earnings correctly on your weekly claims, even small amounts. 4. Double check that your able and available status is accurate each week. You can also request your claim file through the secure message portal. This gives you all the information ESD has on file for you. If you find any discrepancies, report them right away through the same message system.

omg ive been worried about the SAME THING!! my friend just got hit with a $7k overpayment from 2022 and she swears she did everything right. the system is so confusing sometimes i dont even know what im agreeing to half the time when i file my weekly claim

I think ur being paranoid. The ESD system pulls most info automatically from employers. As long as u didn't lie about anything major you'll be fine. I got unemployment twice in my life and never had problems.

Here's a serious issue that people don't realize - the wage reporting system between employers and ESD isn't perfect. I've seen cases where employers report different quarterly wages to ESD than what appears on your paystubs due to their accounting methods. Call ESD directly and ask to verify your wage information on file. You specifically want to confirm: 1. Wages for each quarter in your base year 2. Your last day worked 3. The correct separation reason The challenge is actually getting through to someone at ESD. Their phone lines are constantly overwhelmed. You might spend days trying to get through without success.

Listen carefully: overpayments happen for specific reasons. In my 12 years working with unemployment cases, the most common are: 1. Misreported work/earnings during weekly claims 2. Incorrect separation reason (quit vs. layoff) 3. Unreported return to work 4. Job refusal not reported 5. Incorrect base year wages You can prevent most issues by printing out EVERY weekly claim confirmation and keeping detailed records of ANY work (even 1 hour), job applications, and communications with ESD. ESD cannot legally issue an overpayment notice after 3 years unless they prove fraud, so your worry about 2027 is excessive. But better safe than sorry - document EVERYTHING.

my cousin works at esd and he says they're doing way more audits now bc of all the fraud during covid. they're checking old claims from years ago. the system flags anything weird automatically