Californians who are receiving unemployment insurance benefits won't have to certify anymore, every two weeks, that they are qualified for the said benefits. This change takes effect under a temporary order which California Labor Secretary, Julie Su, recently issued.

According to Su, over the last couple of days, the benefits system has slowed considerably because of the strain of a lot of claims, keeping Californians from getting access to UI Online to file for new applications and verify for payments. 

Consequently, such a process is threatening people's ability to apply for benefits, as well as the government's ability to send the Californians' payment benefits. More so, in a press conference held via Facebook on Friday, Su said, she knows it may sound crazy as they are in California, known for being the capital of the world.

However, the system, she continued, is built on old systems, and thus, it is hard and not flexible to impose such changes.


The Directive

Labor secretary Lu sent later this week, a memorandum to Sharon Hilliard, Director of the Employment Development Department Director, instructing the department to suspend the unemployment certifications temporarily.

Essentially, to preserve UI Online, including its ability to operate to provide benefits, as well as additional federal benefits to Californians related to the pandemic, there is a need to take further action for a temporary emergency.

Moreover, Su provided clarity as well, on how this new order is permissible in the Unemployment Insurance Code. Specifically, the memorandum specifies that, in line of the continued inability of a lot of "claimants to access UI Online to submit certifications to claim benefits due to the historically high volumes of claims," the secretary has directed the EDD "not to disqualify" any claimant for continued benefits for the reason that he or she has failed to submit a continued claim under the UIC or Underemployment Insurance Code section.

The said condition is valid for the weeks that ended March 14 until May 9 this year. Relatively, this provisional emergency initiative is needed to guarantee that the claimants continue receiving their payments on time. However, the total number of new arriving claims continues to rise swiftly.


EDD's Response

EDD, in response to Su's memorandum, issued a notice that it is temporarily suspending the requirement to verify eligibility, which is usually required for each claimant every two weeks before getting paid accordingly. 

Nevertheless, Claimants, according to the notice the claimant must notify the department instantly if he or she returns to work during the given period. One can do so through the AskEDD system of EDD, and by choosing the "Unemployment Insurance," and "Payments" options, then, selecting the "EDD Paid Me" and "I Returned to Work, Need to Report Wages" options as well.

Meanwhile, the department will continue issuing regular payment during this period of the pandemic, the amounts of UI to qualified claimants. The certification requirement's suspension will help lessen the unprecedented server load on the system that resulted in several intermittent accesses to other users.


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