SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California's Employment Development Department has been busy since March. The state's unemployment department has processed 3.2 million unemployment claims because of the coronavirus, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Monday in his daily press briefing.
The department has also paid out $4.4 billion in unemployment claims since March 15 an unprecedented number related to the coronavirus pandemic, the Governor said.
However, those who have filed have are reporting hiccups in processing like needing to refile applications and receiving payments after several weeks.
"People then rightly commented they’re having a hard time getting, because of the call volume, getting a human being to answer and have expressed frustration," Newsom said. "We have acknowledged that frustration on multiple occasions and we've leaned in."
Some viewers have reached out to ABC10 for answers to questions regarding unemployment.
Two of the top unemployment questions are: When will I receive my payment? When should I receive my debit card?
It takes at least three weeks for an unemployment claim to be filed and for benefits to be paid for most eligible workers, according to the EDD.
If you opt to receive your benefits through the Bank of America debit card, the EDD says it'll be mailed to you once your benefits are available.
"Due to the high volume of claims being processed, it may take a few extra days to receive your EDD Debit Card in the mail," the EDD wrote.
California is working to make sure claims are processed in a timely manner and to make sure questions are answered, Newsom said.
The state has hired hundreds of new workers to answer questions for the state's call center, which received 15 million calls last week.
Follow the conversation on Facebook with Giacomo Luca.
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