More than 1,300 California state workers switching jobs to process unemployment claims

More than 1,300 California state workers are changing jobs to help process millions of unemployment insurance claims, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.

Newsom said about 740 workers within the Employment Development Department have switched over to processing the claims, and that another 600 workers are being trained to pitch in.

He said 2.7 million people have filed unemployment insurance claims as businesses remain closed due to the coronavirus.

The state has managed to keep its turnaround time for unemployment insurance checks at three weeks, the same amount of time as before the pandemic, Newsom said.

The office is processing about a million payments per week, he said. About 500 workers even worked on Easter, he said, refusing the state’s offer to let them take the holiday off.

“If you ever have any doubt about the value of public employees, I hope you’ll consider just that example,” he said. “Rather than stepping aside, they stepped in.”

Newsom thanked SEIU Local 1000, the state’s largest public employee union, for helping make the job switches happen. The union represents a broad range of workers including office and administrative classifications.

The unemployment payments are arriving in the form of debit cards, according to California Labor Secretary Julie Su.

The department has begun sending out additional $600 payments to unemployed workers under the federal CARES Act, and is launching applications April 28 for more payments under another CARES Act program called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, according to Su.

Additionally, the Employment Development Department has expanded hours of its call center to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. Previously the center was open from 8 a.m. to noon.

This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 1:35 PM.