California EDD Now Requiring Proof of Job Search To Acquire Unemployment Advantages – CBS San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF / AP) – After more than a year of a COVID-19 hiatus, California officials again began demanding job-search evidence from citizens in order to receive their unemployment benefits.

The job search obligation had been suspended during the months of the pandemic.

CONTINUE READING: UPDATE: State Requiring Proof of Job Seeker for Unemployment Benefit; How will EDD enforce it?

“If you receive regular unemployment benefits, the job-search obligation will be reintroduced for most applicants from July 11th in order to maintain entitlement to benefits,” Labor Department officials wrote on their website. “The requirement applies to the search for a suitable job that is safe for re-entry and which is comparable to your skills, experience, your usual job, your age and your state of health.”

To help with the search, EDD officials have published resources for unemployed applicants.

Here’s what state officials say is appropriate for “reasonable efforts in finding suitable work.”

• Set up an account with CalJOBS, take part in re-employment services, publish a profile on various job search or network sites.
• Let friends, previous employers, or community members know that you’re looking for work. Take part in networking, job fairs or clubs.
• Apply for positions with employers who are reasonably expected to have suitable vacancies with appropriate skills and experience, including government agencies and exams.
• Participate in approved education and training opportunities that facilitate access to employment and do not interfere with taking up decent full-time employment.

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The state created 104,500 jobs in May – the fourth month in a row with six-digit job growth, after 102,000 jobs created in April, 132,400 jobs created in March and 156,100 new jobs in February:

“California continues to lead the country’s economic recovery, adding 104,500 jobs in May, the fourth straight month in six-figure jobs,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “Our health-centric approach has saved lives and resulted in one of the lowest case numbers and the most vaccinations in the country – now we are the nationwide leader in health and economic outcomes. We’ve reclaimed more than half the jobs we lost last year, but there’s still a long way to go – that’s why we’re investing in historic tax cuts and grants for small businesses, tax breaks for two-thirds of California families, and rental breaks for those who those most affected by the pandemic. “

Since the pandemic began, California – the nation’s most populous state with nearly 40 million residents – has processed more than 20 million jobless claims and paid out more than $ 128 billion in benefits.

Full coverage of EDD payment system fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic

Typically, the highest money anyone can get from unemployment benefits in California is $ 450 a week. But Congress added an extra $ 300 a week because of the pandemic. This additional money does not expire until September.

However, as coronavirus cases have declined while more people are being vaccinated, employers have indicated they are having a hard time finding work, especially in the service industry.

Kyle Conner, who owns the Alameda Cinema Grill, Alameda Theater, and Cineplex, is one of those small businesses struggling to reopen fully.

“I started closing on Mondays,” he told KPIX 5. “I was always out seven days a week.”

The staff shortage also forced him to shorten his business hours. He has a dozen vacancies.

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“I work with two chefs,” he said. “Before the pandemic, we had five or six. I’m looking for a head chief, two or three line cooks, probably three waiters, bussers, dishwashers, bartenders. Everything.”

Labor experts blamed the labor shortage in part on adding extra money from unemployment benefits to incentivizing people to stay home. And not only the gastronomy, the entire service industry is facing the same challenge.

“We were open seven days a week before the pandemic,” said Julie Pruitt, owner of Acne Specialists of Oakland. “And now we’re only five open because I don’t have enough staff.”

Robert La Come is quite a gamer. At the age of 71, he bought City Forest Catering in San Francisco in the middle of a pandemic when there were no catering events. Now that the customers are finally back, he says the workers are not.

“The problem for me is that people get paid not to work,” he said. “They get this unemployment and that’s what they tell me, ‘Oh, I’m getting unemployment, I can’t work.’ Or: ‘When it’s over, I can work for you.’ “

“Now, starting this week, those who are regularly unemployed and receive the state extension allowance should look for work,” said EDD spokeswoman Loree Levy. “So if you go to certification this week on Sunday, you can say, yes, I was looking for a job.”

Levy said that people who confirm they have looked for work do so under penalty of perjury and that they should keep a record of their efforts in case EDD asks them to provide evidence. However, former EDD director Michael Bernick says people don’t have to prove they are looking for work and he doubts that this will actually be enforced. He says that as long as other factors exist that give people more reasons to stay home, employers might have difficulty hiring.

“I think things won’t really change until September, when the (federal) unemployment benefit subsidy ends,” said Bernick, “and when schools finally reopen and childcare increases and people’s real and imagined health problems decrease. Only when these elements come into play will we see a real return to work. “

Bernick says the pandemic hiatus has given people a chance to rethink whether they want to go back to work and at what price.

That could be a problem for La Come, who said he could hire up to 10 more employees. Heading into the busy holiday catering season, he hopes his kitchen will be full of workers making paychecks again and helping make the big bet he placed on the business pay off.

“I think everyone should pay their way, you know?” He said. “I had to do it. Why shouldn’t you?”

John Ramos contributed to this report.

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