Applying for Unemployment Benefits is Now Easier and Faster

Starting October 26, more Californians will find it easier to apply for unemployment benefits online. A shorter, more streamlined application is the result of customer research. We developed these updates with the help of more than 4,500 hours of research and testing. Enhancements when applying for unemployment benefits focus on simplifying language, improving instructions, and removing unnecessary questions. These updates, along with enhancing our mobile design and reducing time spent on the application, will allow for a smoother customer experience.

Customer feedback helped to identify pain points in the EDD applications for benefits. Customers often noted the application was too long and the language was confusing – forcing them to stop and seek clarification. For example, technical terms like “Standard or Alternate Base Period” are now explained in simpler language. Hard-to-understand questions like, “Which employer did you work for the longest?” – when sometimes employment is intermittent – have been clarified. We also heard from advocates and front-line employees that customers often mistakenly use the term “laid off” for all kinds of scenarios that may not legally be a layoff. This could lead to payment delays while EDD had to spend more time to clarify with the customer. New descriptive options will help customers more accurately provide the reason they are applying for unemployment.

The revised unemployment application is not only easier to understand, but questions are grouped together in a way to better guide customers through the application process. Customers can now choose from more recognizable dropdown options, rather than long write-in fields. These changes help ensure more accurate responses and help us automate much of the processing. This reduces manual reviews and helps us process claims and pay benefits faster.

We’re starting with the unemployment application. Next, we’ll be working to provide shorter and more simplified applications for Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave benefits.

The simplified applications are all part of our EDDNext modernization effort, with a goal of completely transforming the EDD customer and employee experience. Our improvements build upon the Department’s language access expansion for communities speaking California’s top eight languages. Translated unemployment applications are available online in English, Spanish, Armenian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

Empowering Our Workers with Plain Language Training

In collaboration with the Governor’s Office of Data and Innovation (ODI), the Department recently launched a comprehensive training in plain language communication strategies in follow up to other trainings released by ODI earlier this year.

Efforts to simplify customer instructions and forms with plain language at an 8th grade reading level or lower helps everyone with government communication that is easy to understand the first time it’s read or heard.