Need an interview to get unemployment benefits? Some have to wait as long as five months
About 475,000 Californians are waiting as long as 16 to 20 weeks for an interview with the state Employment Development Department to see if they qualify for unemployment benefits – and some can’t get any benefits while they wait.
Those who are waiting fall into two broad categories.
About 92,000 people are waiting up to 16 weeks for an interview and are not getting any payments. If they qualify, they will receive back pay from the time they qualified.
“These are generally workers with an initial claim that have yet to be paid until we iron out eligibility issues about how they separated from their employers,” said agency spokeswoman Loree Levy.
Another 383,000 people have already received at least one payment on their claim and are also awaiting interviews. They receive what are called “conditional payments.” Their wait for an interview can be as long as 20 weeks.
EDD wants to talk to them usually because information they provided when they sought benefits when they certified they were eligible – which people must do every two weeks – did not seem to match other data EDD had.
If they are found ineligible, they will have to repay any of those conditional benefits.
The waits have sparked lots of complaints to Assembly members and state senators.
“Because of EDD’s inability to function, many never had access to the funds they were entitled to when they needed it,” said Assemblyman Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, an EDD watchdog. Carrillo said she was “in no way satisfied” with the lag time.
“No one should have to wait weeks to be interviewed to determine the status of their case in order to receive assistance. By that time, rent and bills are late,” Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, D-Los Angeles, told The Bee. Carrillo chairs the budget committee on state administration.
The long wait for EDD
EDD has been plagued by complaints about customer service since the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed the agency with claims two years ago.
Since then, the agency has paid $181 billion in claims. About 26.5 million new and reopened claims have been filed.
To deal with the deluge, EDD has hired and contracted more people. It’s moving toward using written questionnaires instead of personal interviews to help determine eligibility. It’s cold calling people rather than adhering to a rigid scheduling process.
Assemblyman Adran Nazarian, D-Van Nuys, questioned EDD Director Nancy Farias about the interview process at a recent budget hearing, asking her why the wait persists.
“We have all said in past hearings the wait time is unacceptable,” she said. “It’s a backlog that we have and a backlog that we are addressing.”
Quicker EDD interviews?
There is currently a way of getting through more quickly. EDD offers an “unscheduled” interview, where it tells the potential claimant that a representative will call between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
But Nazarian’s office said constituents have complained that if they miss the call, it’s difficult to call back. Even if they see the call, it’s an unfamiliar 800 number and people may be reluctant to pick up. And the wait time to get one of these calls is an estimated 15 to 20 weeks..
EDD has high hopes that the questionnaire will have a big impact on the backlog.
With it, said Farias, claimants “don’t have to wait that amount of time…We’re hopeful that the questionnaire is the thing that expedites this the most.”
Patterson was wary.
“If EDD has figured out they can send a simple questionnaire instead of making people wait for months, that’s progress. It’s too bad it took this long for them to improve their services,” he said.
Carrillo noted, “This is still an important process to avoid fraud,” and cited progress in several areas by EDD to correct problems the State Auditor has cited with different parts of its systems.
EDD officials also explain that the process can be more complex than it appears.
People receiving benefits have to certify their eligibility every two weeks before EDD can issue a payment.
“There are many issues that may come up throughout the course of that claim which could trigger an eligibility issue and hold up payments,” said Levy, the EDD spokeswoman.
Among them: The claimant did not actively search for work during a two week period, or was not available to accept work if offered.
Such issues require EDD to investigate and determine eligibility. If it takes EDD more than two weeks to collect information, the claimant could get a conditional payment while they wait.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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