California unemployment: Nearly 2 million claims unpaid
Nearly 2 million unemployment claims filed in California over the first three months of the government-ordered business lockdowns have yet to be paid, an analysis of federal government statistics shows.
The brutal backlog is further evidence of the troubles plaguing the embattled state Employment Development Department, prompting the newly jobless to complain of an overwhelmed phone system and antiquated technology. The first-time claims have gone unfilled even as Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised reforms and increased staffing for the EDD.
“I have done just about everything I know how to do as a public official to make things work, but my colleagues, my staff, my constituents and I are at our wits’ end,” Assemblymember David Chiu, DSan Francisco, said in a tweet.
The backlog of unpaid claims has infuriated a growing number of jobless workers starting in March.
“I know people who are on hold every day and can’t get a response,” said Armand Domalewski, a San Francisco resident and workforce development expert who helped set up an employment-oriented Facebook group called Albert’s List that also helps people find solutions to EDD woes.
The mounting claims arrive as some county and state government agencies are again moving to shut down an array of business activities as fears escalate that the coronavirus outbreak might intensify — a collective decision that could cause additional workers to lose their jobs.
“I’m terribly disappointed. The EDD has let us down terribly,” said Rhonda Dias, a San Jose resident and daycare teacher. Dias was temporarily laid off and later returned to her job, but at reduced hours. “The website doesn’t work and you can’t get through on the phone. People have to pay their taxes. Then they can’t help us.”
Over the three months of March, April and May, 5.01 million California workers filed initial claims for unemployment benefits and the EDD completed first-time payments to just 3.13 million workers, statistics compiled by the U.S. Labor Department show. That points to a grim gap between the initial claims and the first-time payments, leaving 1.88 million claims unfilled and suggests a mammoth backlog of workers who have yet to receive any benefits despite being out of work for weeks or months.
“You can’t get a clear answer from anybody with the EDD,” said Laurie Nelson, a Union City resident who lost her job in March as a fundraiser for a foundation. “You go week after week trying to certify your claim and get some sort of unemployment payment. If I hadn’t gotten loans from family members, I would be out on the street. I wouldn’t be able to pay my rent.” Nelson hopes an EDD judge will force the agency to issue her benefits.
The backlog has grown steadily since business shutdowns began and more workers have filed for benefits.
After the first month of government-ordered closures, the backlog of unpaid workers was already huge: 1.44 million in March. For March and April combined, the backlog totaled 1.75 million. Now, after the first three months shutdowns, the backlog is approaching 2 million. During the onemonth period that ended June 27, 1.06 million California workers filed initial unemployment claims.
“These numbers show what we have suspected all along: EDD is utterly failing millions of Californians,” Chiu said. “EDD’s failure has real human consequences. Californians have depleted their life savings, gone into severe debt, and been unable to feed their families because of bureaucratic incompetence.”
To be sure, the labor agency has steadily increased the percentage of first-time payments to people who have filed unemployment claims over the first three months of shutdowns, the federal Labor Department figures show.
“We continue to work around the clock, seven days a week to expand our capacity for processing this unprecedented demand for unemployment benefits as quickly as possible,” EDD spokesperson Barry White said.
EDD officials said steps are being taken swiftly.
“We are enhancing our technology systems to increase efficiencies, and have already hired or have offers extended to more than 4,000 new staff needed as part of an expedited mass hiring effort with the increased federal funding we’ve received,” White said.
The EDD also promised to move older claims from March and April to the top of the priority list, based on information provided by state lawmakers, according to Chiu and other legislators. But the timetable for processing that part of the backlog wasn’t clear.
During March, April, and May, the EDD’s firsttime benefit payments to unemployed workers amounted to 62.4% of the jobless claims filed in the first three months of business shutdowns. But that also means about 38% of those workers didn’t receive their first payments.
Unemployed workers continue to encounter phone loops that lead to recorded messages but no live attendants, an EDD computer site that’s hobbled by glitches, and a lack of information about the status of their jobless claims.