Report 2020-128/628.1 Recommendation 2 Responses

Report 2020-128/628.1: Employment Development Department: EDD's Poor Planning and Ineffective Management Left It Unprepared to Assist Californians Unemployed by COVID‑19 Shutdowns (Release Date: January 2021)

Recommendation #2 To: Employment Development Department

To provide a more transparent picture of claims in its backlog, by March 2021 EDD should revise its public dashboards to clearly indicate the number of claims that have waited longer than 21 days for payment because EDD has not yet resolved pending work on the claim.

In summary, the CSA recommended the EDD provide a more transparent picture of the claims in its backlog by revising the public dashboards.

As of March 26, 2021, the EDD appears to have met this recommendations based on the newly released Unemployment Benefits Data Dashboard. The dashboard shows statewide and county-specific information about unemployment claims in California, call center demand, and other performance metrics. This includes:

- Total Unemployment Claims - including claims paid, claims ineligible for benefits, and backlog of claims past 21 days pending EDD action.

- Claims Filed and Benefits Paid by Month - including data since January 2020 in California.

- County and State Breakout Data - including localized claim, industry, and demographic data.

- Phone Calls - including call attempts, unique callers, and calls answered.

- Assembly Bill 107 Data Dashboard Report - legislatively mandated biweekly update of EDD unemployment services.

The dashboard can be accessed here: https://edd.ca.gov/Newsroom/facts-and-stats/dashboard.htm.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Fully Implemented

We reviewed the revised dashboard and found that EDD now clearly indicates the number of claims that have waited longer than 21 days for payment because EDD has not yet resolved pending work on the claim.

All Recommendations in 2020-128/628.1

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.