Unemployment Insurance

There are several reasons you might be denied unemployment insurance.  The Employment Development Department (EDD) might not approve your unemployment claim if you did not work long enough, if EDD says you did not verify your identity, if you quit and did not have a good reason, or if your employer says you quit or were fired because you did something EDD thinks is “misconduct”.  

Under unemployment rules, misconduct is something that is not allowed and hurts your employer. Most mistakes that do not harm your employer are not misconduct.

If EDD denies your unemployment claim it must give you a written notice that says why your claim was denied.  You have the right to appeal and have a fair hearing before an independent hearing officer. You have 30 days to appeal from the date of the written notice.  You need to have a good reason to appeal more than 30 days after the date of the written notice.

Once you appeal, there will be a hearing scheduled to give you a chance to explain why you think you are eligible for unemployment and for a hearing officer judge to decide if EDD is right or wrong. You can get information about your appeal at MyAppeal.  If the judge decides you are right, the hearing officer may order EDD to pay you unemployment benefits.