When I first learned that the CARES act allowed the self-employed to receive Unemployment Insurance benefits, I began the process of applying for them. Or tried to. It was a frustrating experience at first, there was not a clear set of instructions in one place (at the time), but I was ultimately successful. So, while waiting for my first payment to arrive, I thought I would share what I learned, which might benefit some other formerly self-employed individuals in California.
First: Yes, if you were self-employed when the coronavirus hit, you can receive unemployment benefits. Not only that, but once you get through the steps, the payments will be arriving in short order, and you will receive retroactive payments for all the weeks you were unemployed starting one week after you stopped working. The award will be the same as any former employee with your prior income, and that award maxes out around $450 per week. However, the CARES act also provides for an additional $600 per week on top of that.
(All of the above is my understanding based on my experience, and not a promise of anything on the state’s behalf. As should be crystal clear, I do not work for the State of CA.)
My specific difficulty came about because I applied for UI almost as soon as I learned that self-employed individuals were eligible in early April. Although the CARES Act had passed and Nancy P. had announced that the self-employed could get UI, the state’s website had not been updated to reflect the changes. But I read the official advice that one should apply anyway, even if one does not think one qualifies. I did, answered the questions honestly, including the fact that I had not actually had an “Employer” at all in 2019.
I was dismayed though not surprised that, after it was all done, the award that showed up in my account page was $0.00. However, I figured that it would update soon and things would change. After several weeks with no change and no answers to my emails (and forget about getting anyone on the phone), some new information was finally posted on one of the many EDD pages with application advice, and this pertained specifically to the self-employed:
- File a new claim if you have already applied for UI but are eligible for PUA [Pandemic Unemployment Assistance] because you are a business owner, independent contractor, self-employed worker, freelancer, or gig worker affected by COVID-19, and you have not already appealed a $0 award notice, been asked to verify your identity, or requested a wage investigation.
(Emphasis mine.)
That’s the main lesson and reason for this diary: If you, like me, applied before the new CARES Act changes to the UI website and were awarded $0: This is not correct, but you must reapply to change your status. They will not automatically reapply for you under the new rules.
For completeness’ sake and for the benefit of anyone eligible who has not applied yet, I will go through the rest of the process as briefly as possible.
To begin your application, you need to apply online for an account with the EDD’s UI system. You can do that by visiting this link:
Benefits Program Online
You will go through the usual process of providing an email address which is used to confirm your registration before you can begin the application. As you fill out your answers, take note of the advice for the self-employed given by the state on how to answer certain questions:
If you are a small business owner, independent contractor, self-employed worker, freelancer, or gig worker, here’s how to answer key questions in the application form:
- On the Employment History screen when you supply your last employer information, select "No."
- On the Availability Information page, answer question 7 with "No."
- On the Disaster Information page, answer question 1a.3 with “You are an independent contractor.” If you got paid in cash, select “None of these options apply to me.”
Most of the questions are not very difficult.
When they ask you when you last got paid work, they want self-employed persons to count the day you received payment from clients, not when you did the work or invoiced for it. This is not the same question as, “When did you stop working?” which you answered early on. I receive most of my payments several weeks after invoicing, so I entered the amounts I received for the weeks I received it.
Don’t worry that it might affect how much you receive in a given week. I reported a large payment for one week and my award was apparently not reduced at all.
Also, the $600 is added to every week regardless of the regular weekly award. You will get at least that, until that money runs out. (The house’s third Covid-19 stimulus bill will extend that further.)
Finish the application. Check your answers, because making a change after the fact will require assistance from the UI online staff, and they are not answering calls or replying to emails, as previously mentioned. Hit “submit,” grab a snack or a beverage, but sit right down again.
You will probably find that your account already shows you have an award and payments allotted for several weeks prior to today, but you now have to “certify” those weeks. In other words; swear that you are, in fact, still unemployed. Unlike during the before-time, you will not have to claim that you are actively looking for work.
You have to certify for every week that you have an award. Again, not difficult. You will have to do this again every two weeks. Check in on your EDD account page once in a while for notifications.
Here's another thing: I discovered that my weekly award was a quite low $167. This is not what the EDD’s UI award estimator tool said I should get. Here is the link to the award estimator tool:
Calculator - Unemployment Insurance
Note: When using this estimate calculator, be sure to give accurate amounts for each month’s income, rather than an average based on your annual net income. If you have varied income over the year like I do, this may affect your award estimate.
According to this (and other sources), I should have been awarded the max amount of $450 per week. I sent another email through the system asking wtf, not expecting a response for many weeks. Saturday, however, I received a (paper!) letter in the mail from the EDD, telling me what I already knew from the website. But then I noticed this paragraph:
…In order to provide benefits as quickly as possible, your claim has been filed with the minimum amount of $167 allowed under federal law. After these initial payments, depending on your prior earnings, your weekly amount of $167 per week may be increased based on the annual income you provided in your initial PUA application The DD is working to establish efficient procedures to determine if an increase to the weekly PUA amount will be appropriate….
In other words, the amount should go up and I’ll get the difference retroactively at some point in the future. This was not mentioned on the website. So don’t be surprised if you get the same small award initially.
The total time between my re-application and the confirmation letter was 3 days. I expect to receive that debit card (by which payments are made) next week. I consider this a stellar result, and I give due credit to the democratically elected Democratic government of California for their diligence and dedication during these dark days. I daresay, I could find some more D words for them, given the discretion.
I’m sorry that, for those in other states, I can only provide the advice to keep checking back on your state’s unemployment website, and search through the various “Help” and “Tips” pages for updates, if you have not had success. Good luck!