The Employment Development Department (EDD) administers the state Unemployment Insurance and Disability Insurance Programs. Existing law establishes the State Disability Insurance (SDI) program as a partial wage-replacement plan funded through employee payroll deductions. Existing law also establishes the Paid Family Leave (PFL) program, which provides up to eight (8) weeks of wage replacement for workers caring for a seriously ill family member and for other purposes.
Currently, applicants for SDI and PFL must file a claim for benefits within 41 days of the first compensable day of unemployment and disability. Existing law requires that the EDD issue the initial payment for SDI and PFL benefits to an eligible claimant within 14 days of receipt of their claim.
Senate Bill 1090 (SB 1090) allows individuals to file a claim for SDI or PFL benefits up to 30 days before the anticipated first day they will need benefits, instead of filing within 41 days after the first compensable day. SB 1090 also requires the EDD to issue payments for SDI or PFL benefits to eligible claimant within 14 days of receipt of the properly completed claim or as soon as eligibility begins for the claimant, whichever is later.
These changes will become operative when they are incorporated in the EDD’s integrated claims management system as part of the EDD Next Project. The EDD has not yet announced a projected completion date for the EDD Next Project.
(SB 1090 repeals sections 2701.5, 2706.1, 3301, and 3304 of the Unemployment Insurance Code and adds sections 2701.5.5, 2706.1.6, 3301.5, and 3304.5 to the Unemployment Insurance Code)