Actions Completed for Emergency Preparedness:

During the flood of January 1997, the Employment Development Department (EDD) Job Service field offices collected information on clean-up services, food banks, shelter and other local services available to displaced victims, which was distributed locally by EDD staff.

Actions Taken to Prepare for El Niño:

The EDD Information Security Office (ISO) is the primary liaison with the Office of Emergency Services (OES), securing and disseminating information for EDD related to the emergency. ISO will be available to coordinate as a sister agency to the Department of Social Services on the staffing of Regional Emergency Operational Centers which provide care and shelter during an emergency during to people who have been displaced from their homes, and ISO helps mobilize cleanup crews to specific sites through the Job Service casual labor programs.

EDD administers the federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) program in California. The automated DUA program will provide financial assistance and employment services to the self-employed and other jobless workers not eligible for regular unemployment insurance (UI) when they are unemployed as a direct result of a major natural disaster. There is no waiting period for DUA as there is for regular UI claims. EDD forwards a Governor Action Request to waive the waiting period for regular UI as a direct result of a disaster.

If the Governor declares a state of emergency, the Department may extend the time requirements for filing employer tax returns or reports and the payment of employer and worker. The extension may be granted to employers affected by a disaster in a state of emergency. This extension has been generally granted to requesting employers.

EDD will work closely with FEMA and the Office of Emergency Services to respond to disasters with Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) funding from the Department of Labor to administer disaster recovery projects which feature temporary job creation. Work conducted may include assisting in clean-up, repair and reconstruction of public and private non-profit property; prevention, education and public safety awareness efforts; and supplementing existing staff whose workloads and caseloads have increased as the result of the disaster.

Public Information Contact:

Suzanne Schroeder
916/654-9029