Denied Extension in Ca. Cant file a second claim (receive, EDD, employment)

[AK Glendale]

Hello to all:

I am hoping someone can answer my question. I was employed from Oct 2009 until May 2010. I applied for unemployment on 05/09/2010. My base period was from Jan 09 till dec 09. I earned $8410 in wages that year and received $324 a week for 13 weeks for a total of $4206. I did not get my extension due to the fact that I didn’t have earnings in excess of 40 times my weekly benefit amount or 1.5 times the highest quarter. My problem is that I was told that if I file a second claim in May of 2011, I will not be eligible for unemployment benefits for the Jan 09 through May 2010 unless I had been employed again after my original claim which I have not been. Is there anything I can do to get any more benefits? It seems very shady that if I waited for a few my months, my base period would have changed and I would have received $401 dollars plus been able to receive extensions. Has anyone been through this or have any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate any feedback.


Thank you

[Ariadne22]

You are not alone. Sadly, most unemployment reps do not discuss the possible advantages of waiting a few weeks nor explain how to navigate the system to the newly unemployed. Claimants experienced with the system know that sometimes it is to their advantage to wait until the next quarter to file for benefits. Can't offer you much consolation, I am sorry to say.

You could file an appeal with the CA EDD stating that the reps did not inform that by waiting a few weeks you would have qualified for benefits for a substantially longer period of time. If by some remote chance CA finds in your favor, they may ask you to repay what you have received so far, or at least the net amount, before recalculating your benefit. It might be worth a try. Not sure if this is doable. Just a thought.