Can’t contact California’s unemployment agency during coronavirus crisis? You’re not alone
When her dog woke her up at 4 a.m. Wednesday, Donna Clemons figured that, finally, it was a good omen that would end her agonizing effort to contact California’s Employment Development Department.
So she called the agency handling jobless benefits, and was told to call back at 8 a.m. When she did, she heard a recording advising her of options. She called the governor’s office, was put on hold for 19 minutes and 37 seconds, and gave up.
It was the same sort of mess that Debra Nicholson, Ryan Thaler and countless others who have tried and tried to get information about unemployment benefits have endured since the coronavirus outbreak overwhelmed the state’s unemployment system last month.
New claims jumped to an estimated 878,727 in the state last week, an enormous increase from the 57,606 of two weeks earlier.
Consumers have found recordings, confusion and frustration when they try to ask about benefits. And they say they’re getting few if any good answers.
“The item that causes panic is that you can’t speak to a live person when you don’t have all the facts,” said Thaler, 42, of Arcadia.
EDD officials say they’re working to help everyone as furiously as they can. The agency’s website has detailed instructions on how to apply on its web site and urges people to apply online.
Department Director Sharon Hilliard said Thursday that “the massive around-the-clock staffing and IT efforts the EDD has undertaken is helping the department automatically push a large volume of claims through our system, allowing us to issue payments to Californians in need as quickly as possible.”
Waiting at least three weeks
Before the coronavirus crisis sparked the surge in claims in mid-March, a first-time filer could usually figure on waiting about three weeks before seeing a check, said the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. It said last month that process could take “much longer” because of the volume.
Clemons, 63, a former special education employee from Armona, applied for benefits March 19. She got a printable confirmation page indicating she would receive more information in the mail. She understood she had to both register to file the claim, then register separately for unemployment insurance.
“Why there are two systems is a question only answerable from the entity creating the system,” she said. “Needless to say, a simple question has defeated my abilities.”
California Labor Secretary Julie Su issued a directive last week outlining steps to expedite the process, saying the agency can award benefits before making a final determination whether the recipient is able and available to work.
Many consumers are nonetheless skeptical.
Thaler is an unemployed hotel manager, laid off before the coronavirus outbreak. He got his first payment and last week was due a second check — and it didn’t come.
“I looked at my EDD account online and found I have a ‘pending’ $0 payment,” the Arcadia resident said. “According to the website, this may be due to disqualification or one of any other reasons. I received no notice or opportunity to appeal If I was denied even after being approved and receiving initial payment.”
He went online and got no answer. He tried calling, only to be told they are getting too many calls and a live operator was not available.
He got his payment Tuesday, after reaching out to state Assemblyman, Ed Chau, D-Monterey Park, and doing more research online.
“The frustrating thing, as an unemployed Californian living EDD-payment to EDD-payment, is that there is a lack of communication out to us to let us know of these understandable issues,” Thaler said.
Slow paperwork from unemployment office
Debra Nicholson, who lives in Winters, understands. Her 24-year-old son Henry, who lives in Natomas, has worked for a construction company, and sought benefits when not working because his work is seasonal.
Last year he found the process so complex he gave up. In January, he tried again, got the required claim number, and was told to expect follow-up paperwork within two weeks.
A month later, he’d heard nothing from the department. He went in person to the N Street office in Sacramento, waiting for a few hours, and was finally told to keep waiting for something in the mail.
Two weeks later, still nothing. He returned to the office, and was told again to wait for the mail.
Three more weeks went by. Still nothing. He went to the jobs office in Woodland, but it was closed because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Now he had to do as Thayer and Clemons did — reach someone at the department by phone.
Every morning, for the four hours the line is staffed, he and his mother call. Every morning they can’t reach anyone. They try to log in the website, but it wants a 10 digit account number.
But they don’t have one — because it would have been in that paperwork that never showed up.
Next step: Try to file a new claim. No luck. The department told him Tuesday he’s ineligible to do that.
“If my son is stuck in this limbo, he can’t be the only one,” Nicholson said.
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Can’t contact California’s unemployment agency during coronavirus crisis? You’re not alone."
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