Unemployment Filing Guides

Unemployment Workshop (presentation of 5/16/24) (PDF)

EDD Now Supports Direct Deposit Without a Bank Card

The California Employment Development Department now supports directly depositing your unemployment benefits into your personal bank account. You no longer need to use the Money Network bank card to do this; the money will go from EDD to your bank account. To set this up, log in to your EDD Benefits Online account and click the "Profile" link. You will need your bank routing number and your bank account number.

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.

See How to Appeal a Notice of "Overpayment".

Recent Changes to Your EDD Login

This is a message sent out earlier this year by EDD:

"Towards the end of June, how you log in to your account (Benefit Programs Online, or BPO) will be replaced with myEDD, a simple and more secure way to log in to and access your benefits. myEDD is the first step of EDDNext, a multi-year modernization project that will improve your customer experience. myEDD will include secure login verification, like with online banking, and easier password recovery. No action is needed at this time. In the next few weeks, we will send you information about the few simple steps you’ll need to take the first time you log in to myEDD."

Apparently the only functional difference with this new "project that will improve your customer experience" is that their email system no longer allows you ro reply to messages sent from EDD that appear in your in-box. In fact, there seems to be no way to contact EDD through email anymore.