It's not too late. There's no deadline to apply for unemployment. The only thing you should consider is that the longer you wait, the less you're going to get.
If you make $1000 per week in California, your estimated weekly benefit is $450 for up to 26 weeks. If you make $1500 per week in California, your estimated weekly benefit is $450 for up to 26 weeks. If you make $2000 per week in California, your estimated weekly benefit is $450 for up to 26 weeks.
Unemployment benefits are temporary income for eligible workers who lost their job (or had hours reduced) through no fault of their own. You get from $40 to $450 each week, depending on how much you earned in the past 18 months. Our Unemployment Benefit Calculator helps estimate your benefit amount.
(The start date is the date the applicant asks to begin receiving benefits—not the date the application submitted to EDD.) Next, multiply the applicable rate by the applicant's regular weekly wages to get the benefit payment. The maximum weekly benefit amount for 2025 is $1,681.
"An individual is disqualified for unemployment compensation benefits if the director finds that he or she left his or her most recent work voluntarily without good cause or that he or she has been discharged for misconduct connected with his or her most recent work."
The “Standard” Base Period uses the wages earned in the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the beginning date of the UI claim. The “Alternate” Base Period uses the wages earned in the four most recently completed calendar quarters.