California UI and Travel

[CAUnemployed]

My question involves unemployment benefits for the state of: CA

I have been on CA UI for a few months now and I recently was out of state for two weeks, during which time I continued looking for work online and have been in conversation by phone with a couple of people about starting some initial work for them which I could do remotely.
I came back, and my claim for UI had come and was way overdue. I filled it out and send it in immediately. I told them I was looking for work and available to work during that time.
My next check came a month late, and now I am scheduled for a phone interview to explain why I sent a claim in so late. I now am worried about whether I was correct in saying I was available during that time.
What I wanted to know was several things: What would they likely penalize me if I say, yeah, I was out of state and thought working online was valid and I was in error. Can they cancel my whole claim, or just dock me that period?
Or, do I have to mention my travel at all and simply say I didn't get the mail until the day before I sent it (which is true but omits info). Can they look into travel and mail hold records to check up on me?
Does anyone know what they will ask me when they call to follow up on the late claim? Do they stick to a script on that? Will they ask if I traveled?
I feel like I probably made a mistake there, and now am worried I put my claim in jeopardy, at this point I don't want to make it worse but want to know what their policies are.

[Mr. Knowitall]

If you're planning to argue that you were able to take any job that came along, provided they would interview remotely, then hire you and employ you in an online capacity, that seems unlikely to fly. What if you had received an interview or job offer during your travel - would you in fact have turned it down, or would you have gone home to take advantage of it?

[CAUnemployed]

My argument was more that I was talking to some specific people about work that I would be able to do remotely. They didn't start yet, but they are still jobs I am going after. If I had an offer or interview come up, I would have had to cut my trip short to take advantage of it, but I didn't hear from other people during that time.
If they don't agree with me that I was available, even given the fact I would have returned, would you know what action they would likely take?
I am also curious as to what they are likely to ask me on this phone interview about being late.
Thanks for your advice/assistance.

[Scott67]

Travelling, either within the state or outside of it does not disqualify you from unemployment. But, when your travel prevents you from doing a simple task, such as mailing a ui form on the date specified, you give a strong indication that you were not available for work. -- How could you report to a job if you couldn't even mail a letter?

Hanging your hat on the "working remotely" concept is probably a loser.

You have 3 issues to explain (1) why were you late in mailing the form (2) were you available for work during this time and (3) were you looking for work?

In reverse order, for (3) it is perfectly normal to seek employment and apply for jobs on-line and you can do that from anyplace in the world, so travel doesn't affect it. For (2) if you were prepared to return immediately for an interview to report for work if offered a job, the fact you were out of state is not relevant. So (1) is the hoop you have to deal with. They know the date the form was mailed, so stating that you didn't receive the form until then will look dishonest to them.

I would tell them that I was out of town and didn't receive my mail that week until I returned, but that I continued looking for work and would have returned immediately had any opportunity for an interview or a job arisen. They'll probably disallow your claim for the week you reported late, although, if you are lucky, they may not. -- Stay entirely away from the idea of "working remotely". That tells them the opposite of what you think you are saying. To them, it means you are making yourself unavailable for all jobs which require you to physically report.

[CAUnemployed]

Thanks for breaking it down clearly, that is enormously helpful. If they disallow that week I will just have to deal with it.
BTW, the thread about how to contact them by phone helped me out when I had to try to get in touch with them about why my check was so late.