As reported in the prior year’s response, given the unprecedented volume of unemployment insurance claims during the federal disaster—approximately 20 million claims compared to 3.8 million during the Great Recession—EDD took action to speed payments to eligible claimants whenever possible. For exam...
As reported in the prior year’s response, given the unprecedented volume of unemployment insurance claims during the federal disaster—approximately 20 million claims compared to 3.8 million during the Great Recession—EDD took action to speed payments to eligible claimants whenever possible. For example, EDD launched in July 2021 a Conditional Payment Program to speed payments to claimants who certified for benefits and already received at least one week of benefits in the past but whose payments were later pending for more than two weeks. EDD also boosted its capacity to process workloads, prioritized timely payments, and employed automation among other measures.
EDD began automatically cross-matching EDD wage records and Franchise Tax Board records in November 2020 to assist in verifying the income of PUA claimants who could not be automatically verified through these procedures. Such claimants were required to submit additional documentation to EDD for a manual review.
Regarding the manual processing of the income documents to substantiate the PUA weekly benefit amounts that have been increased above the minimum California WBA of $167, and the verification of employment or self-employment substantiation (known in California as “Self-employment/Employment Substantiation” or “SEES”), based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) guidance in Unemployment Insurance Program Letter 05 24, EDD notified DOL on February 6, 2024, that California Unemployment Insurance Code (CUIC) section 1376 bars EDD from resolving the wage verification and self-employment verification items. Section 1376 provides that EDD cannot establish overpayments more than one year after the close of the benefit year in which the overpayment was made unless the overpayment is found to be a result of fraud, misrepresentation, or willful nondisclosure. Given that there is no fraud in creating these overpayments on the part of the individuals identified in these populations, EDD is no longer able to establish overpayments for these populations.
On May 31, 2024, DOL notified EDD that the February 6, 2024, submission regarding how California’s finality laws affect the actions required to correct the wage verification and self-employment findings is sufficient to close these findings.
Estimated Implementation Date: Completed May 2024
Contact: Diane Underwood, Division Chief
Unemployment Insurance Branch
California Employment Development Department