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Claim Status: Pending Payment

If you have a Pending status for any weeks on your UI OnlineSM Claim History, we may need to determine your eligibility or verify your identify. If we need to verify your identity, you’ll receive a notice to provide additional documentation. For more information, visit Respond to Your Request for Identity Verification.

Determining Your Eligibility

To collect benefits, you must meet the eligibility requirements for unemployment when filing a new claim and when certifying for benefits.

If there is an issue and we can’t determine your eligibility based on the information you provided, we will schedule a phone interview with you, email you with instructions on how to complete your Eligibility Questionnaire online, or mail you a Request for Eligibility Information (DE 4365FF). Monitor your UI Online homepage for notifications.

Note: Beginning July 23, 2021, if you have received at least one payment on your claim and have a Pending status on your certifications for more than two weeks, we will process conditional payments while we determine eligibility.

Conditional Payments

If you received at least one payment on your claim, but your payments have been pending for more than two weeks because of an eligibility issue, we will process a conditional payment as we continue reviewing the issue. If you continue to certify for benefits while we review, you may have to pay back any conditional payments you received if we later find you ineligible.

We still need to determine your eligibility on the pending issue, which will lead to one of these results:

  • You will receive a conditional payment and later be found eligible for those benefits.
  • You will receive conditional payment and later be found ineligible for those benefits. If you are ineligible, we will send you a Notice of Determination (DE 1080CZ), which you can appeal. You may have to pay back the conditional payment if you do not qualify for an overpayment waiver.

During the review, you may not receive payment if you:

  • Are fully employed or reported excessive earnings.
  • Are serving a prior false statement penalty.
  • Have an existing disqualification.
  • Had a prior overpayment and your benefits were applied to the overpayment.

What to Expect

While we determine your eligibility, continue to certify for benefits if you continue to be unemployed or are working reduced hours. The fastest way to certify is through UI Online. We will continue to pay you as long as you continue to certify, unless we find you ineligible.

We will mail a Notice of Conditional Payment Pending Eligibility Review (DE 5400) once we process your payments.

Important: We may contact you if we need more information to determine your eligibility. It is important that you respond to us even if you no longer have an active claim. If you don’t respond as requested, we will make a decision based on the information available to us. Without information from you, we may find you ineligible for any conditional payment you received.

After We Determine Eligibility

To be eligible to receive benefits, you must meet the eligibility requirements for unemployment each week.

If we confirm your eligibility, we will send you an Additional Instructions (DE 238) which will inform you what weeks were found to be eligible for benefits. You do not need to do anything additional for the weeks that were paid. Continue to certify for benefits every two weeks if you remain unemployed or are working reduced hours.

If you reapplied for a new claim, visit Benefit Year End for more information.

For help answering certification questions, visit Understanding the Certification Questions or review Unemployment Benefit Certification Question Information (YouTube). Answering questions incorrectly can delay your payment.

If you do not meet eligibility requirements, we will send you a Notice of Determination (DE 1080CZ), which you can appeal. If you do not qualify for an overpayment waiver, you will be required to repay the conditional payments. An overpayment is when you receive benefits you are not eligible for. We will mail you a Notice of Potential Overpayment (DE 1447), a Notice of Overpayment (DE 1444), or both. You will have the right to appeal this determination and overpayment and be reconsidered for an overpayment waiver. For more information, visit Overpayments and Penalties.

Phone Interview

If we need to confirm your eligibility for unemployment, we may schedule a phone interview with you. You will receive a Notification of Unemployment Insurance Benefits Eligibility Interview (DE 4800) with the date and time of the interview. The date and time of the interview is also available on your UI Online homepage.

If you need to reschedule your interview, use UI Online or contact us. For instructions, review How to Reschedule Your Phone Interview (YouTube). You must reschedule at least one day before the interview.

If you do not receive a call from the EDD at your scheduled appointment time, we may have canceled your appointment because we confirmed your eligibility or resolved the issue before your interview. If your appointment has been canceled, it will no longer display in UI Online. Check UI Online for your current payment status.

Important: If you missed your scheduled appointment, please call back the same day to avoid your benefit payments being delayed or denied. If you call back on the same day that your interview was scheduled, a customer service representative will be able to transfer you.

If you miss your phone interview, we will make a decision based on the available facts, which could result in your unemployment payments being delayed (if you have not yet received any benefits on your claim) or denied.

Eligibility Questionnaire 

If we need to confirm your eligibility for unemployment, we may email you with instructions to create an Eligibility Questionnaire account. You will have up to three days to create your account and complete the electronic questionnaire, if you do not respond to your questionnaire, you will be mailed a Request for Eligibility Information Questionnaire (DE 4365FF) or be scheduled for a phone interview.

Request for Eligibility Information Questionnaire (DE 4365FF)

To speed up the determination process, we may send you the Request for Eligibility Information (DE 4365FF) instead of scheduling a phone interview. If you receive this form, respond to the questions immediately.

This form will only be mailed to you if you:

  • Are in pending status.
  • Have not been scheduled for a phone interview.
  • Have one of the three most common eligibility issues related to wage information or related to the reason you are no longer working for your employer.

If you do not respond to the questionnaire a decision will be made based on available facts, which could result in your unemployment payments being delayed (if you have not yet received any benefits on your claim) or denied.

The Notification of Unemployment Insurance Benefits Eligibility Interview (DE 4800) includes the questions the interviewer is most likely to ask. Be prepared to answer those questions.

An EDD representative will call you at the scheduled time. Your caller ID may show “St of CA EDD” or the UI Customer Service number 1-800-300-5616.

During your interview, you may be asked to provide additional information. The interviewer will give you instructions on how to submit any required information.

After the phone interview, if you are eligible for unemployment, we will process your payments if you have not already received a conditional payment.

If we determine that you are not eligible, you will receive a Notice of Determination (DE 1080CZ) with the reasons you were denied benefits and an Appeal Form (DE 1000M). If you disagree with the decision, you have the right to appeal the decision.

For more information, visit Unemployment Insurance Appeals.