SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the coronavirus pandemic pushed California's unemployment rate above 16%, millions of people turned to the state Employment Development Department [EDD] for unemployment insurance benefits. We've heard from many people who have struggled to get payments or get in contact the office.
Now, EDD is sharing with ABC10 the top mistakes they’re seeing that may be delaying people from getting their unemployment insurance benefits.
Loree Levy, EDD spokesperson, says some people inaccurately answer the first two questions.
The first question asks, “Were you too sick to work during this time period?” Levy says if you answer “yes” then you are disqualified from getting benefits from that week.
In addition, some people are getting themselves disqualified by answering “no” to the question of “are you available to work?”
“You want to make sure to look at your situation and answer those questions accordingly,” Levy said. “It’s really what applies to you.”
According to EDD, when filing for unemployment insurance benefits, you must be totally or partially unemployed, unemployed through no fault of your own, physically able to work, available for work, and ready and willing to accept work immediately.
The EDD is also seeing people send documents to the wrong address since it has offices across the state. It can take a while for EDD to track down the documents to verify someone’s identity.
They’ve also heard from self-employed people who filed too early.
“We had no way of being able to take self-employed income prior to the launch of the pandemic unemployment assistance program at the end of April so I informed those individuals if you’re truly self-employed and you try to filed before April 28 you need to get back in and file now,” Levy said.
Levy said they’re continuing to update their frequently asked questions page so people can get answers without calling in.
Got a personal or business finance question that needs an answer? Let the Dollars and Sense team know by texting us at 916-321-3310.
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