California Employment Development Department (EDD) Phone Number

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  • Calls California Employment Development Department (EDD)'s Claims Department department
  • The average hold time is 8m
  • Hours are Mon-Sun 8am-8pm PST
  • The best time to call is 10:45am
  • Popular issues for this call center: Speak to an agent, Re-open a claim, File a claim, I'm currently out of state, and Where is my claim?.
  • Reach a live California Employment Development Department (EDD) agent: Press 1, then 6, then 7, then 3, then your SS#, then 1 if your SS# is correct
  • What you hear when you call: Debit card info - Call B of A at 1-866-692-9374. Claim status, file a claim, certify for benefits, or need 1099G info, press 1. Employers, press 2. Report fraud - Go online to the website.

What to expect when you call

Heard when the phone system first answers
"Thank you for calling the employment development department unemployment insurance customer service center. After you apply for unemployment benefits, it typically takes at least three weeks to receive your payment. Apply at e d d dot c a dot g o b forward slash u I underscore online. For in person help with your application, visit in America's Job Center of California disability insurance or tax office. To find one near you, go to edd dot c a dot gov forward slash office underscore locator. We are changing the bank we use to issue debit cards to receive benefit payments. Beginning in February fifteen two thousand twenty four, benefits will no longer be issued to a Bank of America debit card. Instead, they will be issued to a new Money Network prepaid debit card. Visit e d d dot c a dot g o v forward slash debit card for more information. Select from the following. If you have a claim, need to file a claim, certify for benefits, or get ten ninety nine g information, press one. Employers, press two. If you suspect fraudulent involving unemployment insurance or to report fraud, visit e d select from these claim options."
Excerpt from a call with California Employment Development Department (EDD)
Friday, January 12, 2024 10:35 PM
They may ask you to enter information with the dial pad
"Thank you for calling the employment development department unemployment insurance customer service center. After you apply for unemployment benefits, it typically takes at least three weeks to receive your payment. Apply at e d d dot c a dot g o v forward slash u I underscore online. We have changed the bank we use to issue debit cards to receive benefit payments. Starting February fifteen two thousand twenty four, benefits are no longer issued by a Bank of America debit card. They are now issued to a new Money Network prepaid debit card. Visit e d d dot c a dot g o v forward slash debit card for more information. Or visit money network dot com forward slash e d d.
Select from the following. If you have a claim, need to file select to get started and securely access your information, I'll need to ask you some questions.
First, please enter your Social Security number."
Excerpt from a call with California Employment Development Department (EDD)
Tuesday, March 5, 2024 9:48 PM

Calling California Employment Development Department (EDD) Customer Care at 800-300-5616

There are a number of reasons you might call the California Employment Development Department’s (EDD) service line. Primarily, the office handles unemployment insurance claims for California residents. You may be seeking information about how to file a claim, an update about the status of their claim, or even details on how to access their unemployment insurance payments.

When I dialed the EDD's number, I was greeted with a pre-recorded message providing instructions for resolving several common customer issues. The majority of these instructions encouraged me to visit the EDD website. The message offers solutions for filing an initial claim, instructions for how to find the closest physical EDD office, and information about how long it typically takes to process a claim and receive payment.

This initial, pre-recorded message lasts for nearly two minutes. There's no way to skip or fast-forward through the message, so even if you’ve heard it previously, you’ll need to listen to the entire thing every time you call.

Following the message, I was granted access to the system’s automated menu. This menu provides options for individuals with questions about unemployment insurance, employers with queries about unemployment insurance, and people who want to report fraudulent activity. 

Individuals calling with questions about unemployment insurance can next access a menu that allows you to “certify” your unemployment claim. This is a helpful service; California residents who are approved to receive unemployment insurance must certify their claims every two weeks. Provided that you have all of the required information handy, being able to do so via phone could be quite convenient.  

I didn't find the automated menu to be particularly flexible, however. If a caller wants to accomplish something other than certifying a claim or has a question that isn't answered by the pre-recorded message, it can be difficult to get connected to a human customer service representative.

When I called, I navigated through the system to ask a question about my potential eligibility for unemployment insurance. After making it through the initial message and the automated menu, I was instructed to enter my social security number. I then had to respond to a series of questions that likely wouldn’t apply to most callers’ situations, such as whether any part of my earnings had come from another state or whether I worked for the federal government. 

I was then instructed to stay on the line if I wanted to speak with a customer service representative. After a brief hold, another recorded message informed me that the EDD was receiving more calls than they could answer and couldn't assist me at this time. I was asked to “please try again later,” and then the system automatically ended the call. 

Although I called back several times, I was never connected to a live customer service agent. Ultimately, while the EDD’s phone system provides good information and referrals to specific areas of its website, it's very challenging to speak with a live representative. 

Christian has been writing about long hold times and customer service call center experiences since 2010. He's been featured in Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe.

California Employment Development Department (EDD) Customer Phone Number 800-300-5616 - Stats

Phone number to dial800-300-5616
Call-back availableNO
Call picked up by a real personYES
Department you're callingClaims Department
Call center hoursMon-Sun 8am-8pm PST
Best time to dial10:45am
Average wait8 minutes
Current wait21 minutes
Rank (among phone numbers)1
Rank (overall)1
Communication channelsphone, facebook, chat, web
Quality of communication71%
Quality of help64%
Customer votes4,852
Information last updatedSun Mar 24 2024 09:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

California Employment Development Department (EDD)'s Best Toll-Free/800 Customer Phone Number

This is California Employment Development Department (EDD)'s best phone number, the real-time current wait on hold and tools for skipping right through those phone lines to get right to a California Employment Development Department (EDD) agent. This phone number is California Employment Development Department (EDD)'s Best Phone Number because 28,428 customers like you used this contact information over the last 18 months and gave us feedback. Common problems addressed by the customer care unit that answers calls to 800-300-5616 include Speak to an agent, Re-open a claim, File a claim, I'm currently out of state, Where is my claim? and other customer service issues. The California Employment Development Department (EDD) call center that you call into has employees from California and is open Mon-Sun 8am-8pm PST according to customers. In total, California Employment Development Department (EDD) has 7 phone numbers. It's not always clear what is the best way to talk to California Employment Development Department (EDD) representatives, so we started compiling this information built from suggestions from the customer community. Please keep sharing your experiences so we can continue to improve this free resource.

What is GetHuman's Relationship to California Employment Development Department (EDD)?

In short, the two companies are not related. GetHuman builds free tools and shares information amongst customers of companies like California Employment Development Department (EDD). For large companies that includes tools such as our GetHuman Phone, which allows you to call a company but skip the part where you wait on the line listening to their call technology music. We've created these shortcuts and apps to try to help customers like you (and ourselves!) navigate the messy phone menus, hold times, and confusion with customer service, especially with larger companies. And as long as you keep sharing it with your friends and loved ones, we'll keep doing it.

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Beyond the Phone Number

There are other ways to get in touch with California Employment Development Department (EDD), including live chat and their website / help desk and through Facebook / Messenger. Visit our California Employment Development Department (EDD) Customer Service page for more information.
California Employment Development Department (EDD) Customer Service

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