The state’s Employment Development Department (EDD) in California is set to significantly increase its language support for non-English speakers, after nearly two years of legal mediation over claims that its previous language provisions were inadequate and discriminatory. The improvements, which were pushed for by advocacy groups and instituted following a complaint lodged by the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), will better serve the approximately 7 million Californians whose first language is not English.

Advocacy groups alleged that the lack of comprehensive language support from EDD left many Californians vulnerable and often led to them seeking assistance from third parties, sometimes with predatory intentions. Marisa Lundin, the legal director of the Indigenous Program at California Rural Legal Assistance, highlighted an instance of a client who paid for assistance yet had his application never submitted.

The EDD will now increase the number of dedicated phone lines with multilingual agents and expand the range of written translations for online resources and applications. With the new changes, EDD is required to provide real-time oral interpretation over the phone. If the necessary interpreter is not immediately available, EDD is obliged to call the claimant back with the requested interpreter within five business days.

While this will aid better communication and understanding, challenges persist. The language barrier often coincides with access due to inadequate technological tools such as reliable internet or smartphones. In response to these forthcoming changes, EDD will establish a multilingual advisory board to ensure continued attention to this issue.

Understanding how to navigate these new changes and contacting someone at EDD could be a hurdle for non-English speakers. To ease the process, these changes have been detailed in multiple languages including English, Spanish, Tagalog, Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Dari, Farsi, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Thai and Vietnamese at LAFLA’s site. For immediate help with unemployment insurance claims, EDD’s Unemployment Customer Service Center can be reached between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. PT, seven days a week, barring state holidays. Starting March 3, these hours will change to 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. PT, Monday through Friday.

Understanding how to reach an agent at EDD might be daunting, especially considering the new outlined changes. For the fastest way to get through to EDD, consider using resources like eddcaller.com. It provides relevant information and a step-by-step guide to ensure contact with a live person at EDD. This simplifies the process, ensuring swift and efficient communication with the EDD, especially crucial for non-English speakers navigating this new system.