Report 2014-101 Recommendation 9 Responses

Report 2014-101: Employment Development Department: It Should Improve Its Efforts to Minimize Avoidable Appeals of Its Eligibility Determinations for Unemployment Insurance Benefits (Release Date: August 2014)

Recommendation #9 To: Employment Development Department

To identify and correct any policies, procedures, or practices that may be contributing to avoidable appeals filed by claimants and employers and thereby provide eligible claimants with unemployment benefits in a timelier manner, EDD should do the following: EDD should use the semiannual data that the appeals board provides to determine whether changes it makes to its process result in reductions in the percentage of its determinations that are overturned on appeal. EDD should also review these data to determine whether it needs to conduct additional reviews of its determinations and the appeals board's decisions to identify additional opportunities for improvement. EDD should report these results to the Legislature annually.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2017

Beginning with SFY 2013-14 data and continuing through SFY 2016-17, EDD has used the Appeals Board's semiannual data to determine whether changes it has made to its processes (including policies, practices, and training) have resulted in reductions in the percentage of its determinations overturned on appeal. Since SFY 2013-14, there has been an overall decrease in the percentage of determinations that are overturned. To identify additional opportunities for improvement, EDD will continue to review Appeals Board data annually to determine whether it needs to conduct additional reviews of its determinations and corresponding Appeals Board decisions.

Finally, EDD will report applicable findings and opportunities for improvement to the Legislature using the budgetary process or other informational updates as the reporting vehicle.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

We received EDD's report regarding its effort to use the appeals board's data to identify the legal issues where its determinations are most frequently overturned and to identify trends in the reasons the appeals board overturned the determinations. EDD reported that compared to fiscal year 2013/14, it has reduced the overturn rate for each of the three frequently overturned legal issues. Total appeals has also decreased. EDD should ensure it continues to report the results of its reviews to the Legislature.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2016

Once Recommendation 8 is implemented, the appeals project team will analyze the CUIAB's data to determine whether the EDD's process changes resulted in an overturned determination percentage reduction. The EDD will also review this data to determine whether additional reviews of determinations are needed, and will review the CUIAB's decisions to identify additional opportunities for improvement. The EDD will report applicable findings and opportunities for improvement to the Legislature using the budgetary process or other informational updates to the Legislature as the reporting vehicle.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented

1-Year Agency Response

As stated in our six-month response, we will build on the available California UI Appeals Board data and the information gathered with the implementation of Recommendations 5 and 6, selecting the elements crucial to perform an in-depth analysis for this recommendation. Our objective remains the same, to determine whether the changes we made to our processes resulted in a decreased number of determinations overturned on appeal. Due to the slight delays with Recommendation 5, we will report applicable findings and opportunities for improvement to the Legislature using the budgetary process or other informational updates to the Legislature as the reporting vehicle by an estimated completion date in late 2016.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

6-Month Agency Response

As stated in our 60-day response, we will use the limited data provided by the California UI Appeals Board to the degree possible. To implement Recommendations 5 and 6, we are using the limited data to help determine our initial focus of those efforts. As time progresses, we will build on that data and collect the elements necessary to do a more in-depth analysis that will help us determine whether the changes we have made to our processes have resulted in a reduction in the number of determinations that are overturned on appeal. As applicable, we will report our findings and opportunities for improvement to the Legislature using the budgetary process or other informational updates to the Legislature as the reporting vehicle. The estimated completion date is December of 2015.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

We believe that the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board has provided EDD useful data in a usable format.

60-Day Agency Response

The EDD has just begun to implement the recommended changes. As time progresses, we will use the limited data provided by the California UI Appeals Board to the degree possible to determine whether the changes we have made to our processes result in reductions in the number of determinations that are overturned on appeal. As previously shared, we will be glad to report our findings and opportunities for improvement to the Legislature using the budgetary process as the reporting vehicle, or with any other legislative committee.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

We believe that the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board has provided EDD with useful data in a usable format.

All Recommendations in 2014-101

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.