Making Government Work Better for Californians

Published: August 28, 2026

At the California Government Technology Summit on August 25 in Sacramento, EDD was honored with two Best of California Awards for improving how customers interact with government services.

Best Application Serving the Public

Our Unemployment Insurance (UI) Online application, within myEDD, received the Best Application Serving the Public award. This is recognition of our work to make it easier for Californians to apply for unemployment benefits and manage their claims.

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Customers told us the unemployment application could be difficult to understand. It was lengthy, used complicated language, and asked questions that were not always clear.

We listened, and redesigned the experience around the customer including:

Simplified technical terms and instructions.
Clarified confusing questions.
Reorganized the application to make it easier to navigate.
Removed unnecessary questions.
Replaced many open-ended questions with simpler drop-down options.

But improving the application was just the beginning. We’re continuing to make unemployment services faster, easier to access and more convenient. That way Californians can get help without unnecessary waiting or confusion.

Today, customers can access:

24/7 online services from any device.
Eight languages in UI Online.
Frictionless identity verification.
Chatbot and live chat support.
Direct deposit.
Self-service options through our call centers.
A public unemployment data dashboard.

And we’re seeing results:

80.4% of claims are paid within one week of the first certification.
Our chatbot has an 84% success rate.
Within myEDD, UI Online is available 24/7 in English, Armenian, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.

These improvements are about more than technology. They’re about meeting Californians where they are, giving them clearer choices, and making it easier to get the help they need. This is the result of EDD working toward one goal, which is a better experience for the people we serve.

Best IT Collaboration Among Organizations

EDD also received the Best IT Collaboration Among Organizations Award for the Enterprise Time Reporting (ETR) system. This system is used by EDD, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the California Workforce Development Board and the Employment Training Panel.

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Before this application, employees relied on Excel timesheets that were printed, emailed or routed by hand before being entered into the State Controller’s Office system. ETR replaced that manual process with one shared, online system while allowing each organization to maintain its own users, roles and security.

Today, the system serves 9,200 active users, has processed more than 1.5 million leave requests and sent more than 357,000 timesheets to the State Controller’s Office.

The results are significant:

40% fewer reconciliation issues.
50% less time spent on reporting.
Paper timesheets are no longer needed.

This new system shows what is possible when California organizations work together to solve a common problem: one shared system, less duplication and a simpler process for employees.

Stay Updated with Our Improvements

These are just a few examples of how EDD is continuing to modernize services around the people who use them. We’re working to make government services simpler, more accessible and easier to navigate.

Want to stay up to date on new services, improvements and helpful resources? Sign up for our Benefiting Californians newsletter to stay in the know of all things EDD!

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