
Unemployment Filing Guides
Note that this site is not a substitute for professional legal or financial advice.
Unemployment Workshop (slide deck presentation - PDF)
Denials & Appeals (slide deck presentation - PDF)
If You Filed and Have Not Heard Back From the EDD
The California Employment Development Department is apparently so overwhelmed that many folks are reporting that they filed weeks ago and still have not had any response from the EDD, even after multiple emails. If more than three weeks have gone by and the EDD has not processed your claim:
- Do not file again. This will not help, and may create more confusion.
- Call the EDD at 1-800-300-5616.
- If you cannot reach the EDD by phone, contact your California state senator or assemblymember.
There is one other option: you can try to contact the EDD by going to a local EDD office. The staff at a local EDD office have their own phone line that connects them with a live person at EDD. Sometimes, if you explain that you are desperate and cannot reach the EDD by phone — and if you get a nice person — they may call the EDD on their special phone line and then allow you to get on the line.
If You Receive a Notice of Overpayment
If you receive a notice of overpayment from the California Employment Development Department (EDD) that claims you were actually working when you were not, and tries to claw back the unemployment benefits money already paid to you, you will need to file an appeal to stop the EDD from trying to get the money back.
For CA Community College Contingent Faculty
- READ FIRST: Overview: How to File for Unemployment (for CA Community College Contingent Faculty)
- Info Worksheet - for general information you will need to file (for printing)
- Earnings Worksheet #1 - for calculating the quarterly income (interactive online form)
- Earnings Worksheet #2 - for calculating hours worked and hourly pay (for printing)
- How to File Bi-Weekly Certification Forms
- How to Appeal an Unemployment Denial
- How to Appeal a Notice of "Overpayment"
For Cabrillo College Associate Faculty
- READ FIRST: Overview: How to File for Unemployment (for Cabrillo College Associate Faculty)
- Info Worksheet (for Cabrillo) - for general information you will need to file (for printing)
- Earnings Worksheet #1 - for calculating the quarterly income (interactive online form)
- Earnings Worksheet #2 (for Cabrillo) - for calculating hours worked and hourly pay (for printing)
- How to File Bi-Weekly Certification Forms
- How to Appeal an Unemployment Denial (for Cabrillo College Associate Faculty)
- How to Appeal a Notice of "Overpayment" (for Cabrillo College Associate Faculty
Other Unemployment Filing Guides & Resources
- Guide to Applying for Unemployment Benefits
- the official guide from the CA Employment Development Department
- A Guide to Benefits and Employment Services
- a handbook from the CA Employment Development Department
- About Unemployment Insurance During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- from California Federation of Teachers (CFT)
- from California Federation of Teachers (CFT)
- How to Handle EDD Phone (or Personal) Interviews (PDF)
- from AFT Guild, Local 1931
- Official (and unofficial) ways to get unemployment help
- from CalMatters
- Cervisi v. Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (1989)