DE 429Z: Notice of Unemployment Insurance Award

DE 429Z is the notice EDD mails after your claim is set up. It shows your claim dates, your weekly and maximum benefit amounts and the employer wages EDD used. EDD states it is not a final decision on your eligibility.

Last checked: October 18, 2026 · Form revision: DE 429Z Rev. 10 (12-20)

Who uses it: Every claimant whose unemployment claim is established.
When you get or need it: Mailed after you file; EDD says claim documents arrive within about two weeks of submitting the application. A Notice of Amended Award follows if federal-agency wages are added.
How to submit it: Nothing to submit unless something is wrong. To dispute wages or employers, mail a letter to the EDD address on the notice with your name, address, Social Security number and proof of wages (W-2, 1099, pay stubs) or a statement that you did not work for a listed employer.
Deadline: Contact EDD within 30 calendar days of the Mail Date at the top of the notice; EDD may extend this for good cause.

Open on the EDD site Official PDF

What each part means

Labels are quoted from the form; the explanation is EDD's own meaning in plain words, not advice on how to answer.

1. Claim Beginning Date: The date your claim begins. It is the Sunday of the week you filed, not the day you became unemployed.
2. Claim Ending Date: The date your claim ends, which is the end of your benefit year. Benefits left over cannot be paid for later weeks.
3. Maximum Benefit Amount: The total money you can receive from this claim.
4. Weekly Benefit Amount: The most you can be paid each week if you meet the weekly eligibility requirements.
5. Total Wages and 6. Highest Quarter Earnings: Total wages employers reported in the quarters listed set your maximum benefit; the highest quarter sets your weekly amount.
7. School wages award: If shown, your award without wages from a public or nonprofit school, because those wages may not be usable during a school recess. Otherwise it says it does not apply.
8. Work search instruction: You must look for full-time work each week. This is where your own work-search instructions appear.
9. Prior-claim work requirement: Under UI Code 1277 you must have worked between the beginning and ending dates of a prior claim to have a valid claim next year. Shown only if it applies.
10. Type of base period: Whether the Standard or the Alternate Base Period was used to set up your claim.
11–14. Employee name, wages for the quarter, employer name, totals: The name your employers used when reporting your wages, the wages reported for each three-month quarter, the employers and the totals. Check every line.
Page 2: wages may show $0 or an employer may be missing: EDD lists reasons: your identity still needs verifying, wages were reported under a wrong Social Security number, federal wages are being verified, or an employer did not report earnings (for example, you were treated as an independent contractor).
Page 2: how to cancel a claim: Allowed only if no benefits were paid, no disqualification notice was mailed, no overpayment was established and the benefit year has not ended. A cancelled claim cannot be reopened.

What EDD warns about

Not reporting wrong information can cause an overpayment and penalties.

Sources

Last checked: October 18, 2026. Legal information from the agency's own materials, not legal advice. Rules and forms change: confirm with EDD before you rely on a detail. We are not the EDD or the State of California. We never ask for your EDD login, Social Security number or any claim details.