Our Audit Progress Report

By March 2021, EDD should:

• Update its public dashboards. These dashboards should clearly show how many claims are still waiting to be paid because the EDD hasn’t finished reviewing them. This is especially important for claims waiting more than 21 days.

By June 2021, EDD should:

• Make sure its identity verification process is strong.
• Find out why some claimants can’t successfully verify their identity through ID.me.
• Work with its vendor to fix these issues.
• Regularly check the success rate of identity verifications to avoid extra staff involvement.

By June 2021, EDD should:

• Keep as much automation as possible while processing initial claims.
• Decide which changes made through its emergency processing tool can be kept.

By September 2021, EDD should:

• Make those changes a permanent part of its UI Online system.

By June 2021, EDD should:

• Avoid delaying improvements to its IT systems.
• Decide which parts of the Benefit Systems Modernization (BSM) project can help make quick payments.
• Decide which parts of the BSM can be launched step by step.
• Focus on the parts that will help Californians the most.

EDD should:

• Make sure it can respond quickly to changes in its workload.
• Predict situations that could cause a rise in unemployment claims.
• Plan its staffing based on how likely those situations are.
• Have a backup plan for other situations that could still have a big impact on its workload.

EDD should:

• Keep paying benefits on time to Californians who need them.
• Follow the Department of Labor’s instructions to start checking for eligibility again.

• Evaluate the risks of its delayed workloads, eligibility checks, and retroactive certifications.
• Decide how likely it is that payments were made to unqualified claimants. They should consider past overpayment patterns, and new or changed eligibility rules because of the pandemic.
• If needed, work with another state agency or hire outside help for this evaluation.

EDD should:

• Keep paying benefits on time to Californians who need them.
• Follow the Department of Labor’s instructions to start checking for eligibility again.

• Create a plan that prioritizes the delayed work.
• Figure out the staffing and IT resources we need to complete the work on time.

EDD should:

• Keep paying benefits on time to Californians who need them.
• Follow the Department of Labor’s instructions to start checking for eligibility again.

• Hire and train staff to complete the workload plan.

EDD should:

• Keep paying benefits on time to Californians who need them.
• Follow the Department of Labor’s instructions to start checking for eligibility again.

Using the workload plan, EDD should process the delayed work by considering:

• Paying benefits on time to new or ongoing claimants.
• The federal requirements for how quickly the work should be done.

• Deadlines to recover benefits that were paid by mistake.

By May 2021, EDD should:

• Improve customer service with better call center performance.
• Create a formal policy to track and regularly analyze why UI claimants are calling for help.

Starting by October 2021, and every six months after that, EDD should:

• Use this data to improve its call center.
• Identify and fix problems for UI claimants using self-service and other options that don’t involve the call center.

By May 2021, EDD should:

• Improve customer service and call center performance.
• Create a formal policy to track and regularly analyze why UI claimants are calling for help.

Starting by October 2021, and every six months after that, EDD should:

Use this data to improve its call center by:

• Creating special training for call center staff to address the most common issues.

By May 2021, EDD should:

• Check how well its call center is working.
• Create a policy to track how often issues are resolved on the first call.
• Review this data at least once a month to see if it’s helping callers effectively.

To help answer more calls, EDD should:

• Add a prerecorded message to its new phone system. This message will tell claimants about their rights and responsibilities after they file their claim with EDD staff.

To make the customer experience more convenient, EDD should:

• Add features to its new phone system that lets callers request a callback from an agent instead of waiting on hold.

By mid-February 2021, EDD should:

• Add information to its website.
• Create a special email address for people who got the wrong tax forms because of identity theft. This will help victims reach EDD quickly and get help fixing the problem.

By February 2021, EDD should:

• Create a tracking system to review claims that Bank of America says look suspicious or even fake. This system should help EDD stop payments and check if people responded to identity verification requests from us. If someone proves their identity, their account can be unfrozen.

EDD should:

• Make sure its plans for future recessions include ways to stop fraud.
• Look at which fraud tools can be adjusted during busy times.
• Create clear steps that balance the need to send out payments quickly and prevent fraud.

By March 2021, EDD should:

• Create a team to handle complaints from people who report identity theft using its online fraud form. This team should see how much staff is needed and have enough people available.

By March 2021, EDD should work with Bank of America to:

• Get a full list of accounts that have been frozen.
• Review the list and use tools like ID.me to confirm people’s identities.
• Decide which accounts should stay frozen or unfrozen.

By March 2021, EDD should:

• Set up a special team to lead its fraud efforts in the unemployment system. This team should have enough power and support to do its job well. Its work should follow federal fraud prevention guidelines.

By May 2021, EDD should:

• Make a plan to check how well its tools for stopping fraud are working.