What You Need to Know: Following the recent release of the Weekly Wage Reporting Tool, the Employment Development Department has made it easier for customers to certify for unemployment benefits online. The Department reviewed the full process from start to finish and used customer feedback to make improvements. This includes clearer questions and simpler instructions to improve the customer experience.
SACRAMENTO — The Employment Development Department (EDD) just made it easier for customers to certify for unemployment benefits online —another step in modernizing California’s benefit programs and improving the overall customer experience
State and federal laws make unemployment insurance very complicated. We listened to our customers and took action to simplify the process. We will keep working to make unemployment insurance as easy as possible.
When customers receive unemployment benefits, they are legally required to answer basic questions every two weeks to confirm that they are still unemployed and eligible for their next benefit payment. This process is called certifying for benefits. We heard from customers that it’s not always clear what information EDD is looking for and some of the questions were confusing.
In response, EDD used customer feedback and research to simplify and streamline this experience. Our team completed a full end-to-end assessment of the entire online unemployment certification experience, including analyzing 45 screens and more than 1,740 lines of content to pinpoint opportunities for improvement.
This comprehensive approach allowed us to evaluate and update all questions and instructions that may have caused customer confusion. The online process now features clearer, easier to understand questions, fewer technical terms, streamlined follow-up prompts, and helpful icons and links to guide customers through each step. The enhanced UI Online system is available in the eight most-commonly spoken languages among working‑age Californians.
The simplified certification questions will provide:
- Greater understanding for customers
Clearer language and simplified screens to help customers better understand what is being asked during certification. - Improved customer response accuracy
With more plain language and less technical terms, customers are more likely to provide accurate responses the first time. - Enhanced customer experience
These improvements reduce confusion and friction, leading to a smoother overall certification experience. - Reduced calls to contact centers
As screens become clearer, customers may need less assistance from EDD contact centers. - Faster benefit payments
These improvements should help EDD process certifications more quickly by reducing the need to seek clarifications from customers, streamlining the benefit payment process.
For example, in question two, the language was updated to be simpler and more direct so customers can quickly understand what is being asked and answer with confidence. The updated version removes confusing wording and clearly explains what “not available to work” means, including examples, so customers can more easily select the option that best fits their situation.
| Before | After |
Was there any reason (other than sickness or injury) that you could not have accepted full-time work each workday?
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Were you not available to work full time for a different reason? If you were not available to work for a reason other than being too sick or injured, select Yes.
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We also changed the layout of the questions and added more information to provide the customer with more guidance to make an informed choice.
This upgrade is just another step in EDD’s commitment to enhance the way Californians engage with its programs and services. It’s all part of EDDNext, an ongoing modernization effort to completely transform the EDD customer and employee experience.