SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Just a few weeks after the Employment Development Department shut down to try to upgrade its systems and decrease the backlog, the EDD is announcing new updates, the biggest one being the call center.
The EDD announced that the call center is moving to a more modernized system starting on October 23. People will now be redirected based on what the claimants are calling about and there will also be self-service options for people looking for payment history, tax form information or to certify benefits. A new telework system is also being incorporated to transfer callers to more available representatives more efficiently.
The EDD says that these changes will "increase the EDD’s ability to serve Californians during this unprecedented pandemic, as the department continues to also bring new staff online after training."
The backlog has also decreased significantly in new claims and existing claims since the reset period started on September 19. The EDD says the Initial Claims backlog decreased by 44% and the Continuing Claims backlog decreased by 26%. While the percentages are significant, there are still hundreds of thousands of claims in the backlogs for both of these sets of claims.
As for the anti-fraud efforts the EDD is working on, the department is working with investigators, law enforcement and Bank of America to fight fraud and shut down identity theft as quickly as possible. So far around 350,000 EDD debit cards have been frozen due to fraudulent activity.
The EDD has already completed over 15 million claims and paid over $105 billion in claims.
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