Hello,

I have been informed by the California Employment Development Department that they are going to withhold five weeks of my benefits for having made an error on my benefits claim form which resulted in an overpayment of one week's worth of benefits. The amount they overpaid to me was $398. The amount they are penalizing me is $2250 plus having to pay back the overpaid amount plus a 30% penalty.

I am appealing this decision but understand that it may take up to six weeks in order to get a hearing in the matter. I believe the punishment they have charged against me far outweighs any perceived crime, and in preparation for a hearing, I would like to know if there is a standard fine for a first offense theft that I might use as an example in my argument against their decision.

I would also like to know if anyone knows if someone has ever legally taken on the EDD.

Thanks,

EDDHM

Is your penalty because you worked without reporting while still collecting benefits and reported it that way? Is that what you mean? That would result in a penalty here in Ontario but not an offence. The reporting system for working even a contract job while collecting unemployment insurance in Ontario is done on the honour system and it works. But recipients of unemployment insurance benefits have to submit a bi weekly list of all the employers they contacted for work plus phone numbers so EI can follow up if necessary.

So they penalized you for five weeks it looks like.

No one here has every taken on EI here and won a case. I don't think they would even try.

I know I don't know anything about your system but it must be similar to ours. This is just my opinion.

Hello EDD:

Error?? What error did you make? IF it was an "error", then you should recover the money. But if it wasn't an "error", then that changes things.

Come on Dude, tell me what REALLY happened. Otherwise, I can't help.

excon

They didn't tell me what I actually did to cause the overpayment and they're talking about a form I filled out almost a year ago. The point is that I have always claimed my work. So if I didn't for that week, then yes... it was an ERROR! The California EDD is NOTORIOUS for their bumbling and errors, so for all I know my being "overpaid" was their error. You are missing the point of the question. I offered to pay it back when I responded to their inquiry. In fact I believe my actual words were, "I will happily pay back any overpayment." My problem with the whole thing is that they are penalizing me over four times the amount of the overpayment, plus the money I will pay them back (a week's benefits plus 30% penalty).

I want to know if there is a standard fine for a first-offense of theft because that is essentially what they have decided I guilty of. Of course, unlike criminals, I received my conviction and sentence PRIOR to a hearing. This seems less than legal / constitutional in nature.