Existing law provides for unemployment compensation benefits for eligible individuals in the state who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Existing law requires an employer, as defined, to make contributions for unemployment insurance premiums and to file specified reports with the Director of Employment Development, including, among other reports, a report of contributions, a quarterly return, and a report of wages paid, as specified.

This bill would require the Employment Development Department to work with employers to enhance the reporting of employment and earning data, as specified, and, where feasible, to align and streamline definitions and requirements for the quarterly report of wages, deploy user-friendly application programming interfaces, and implement other means to simplify reporting processes. The bill would require, beginning July 1, 2027, every employer with 10 or more employees and every individual or organization that, as an agent, reports wages on a total of 10 or more employees, as specified, to include in the report of wages, information on total monthly wage, industry, occupation, worker type, and hours worked for each employee, as provided.

This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2027, to adopt and develop appropriate procedures for the sharing of hours worked and other necessary employment data to support employment-related verifications for initial eligibility for, and ongoing receipt of, public benefits, as specified. The bill would require the department, in adopting and developing the procedures, to consult with specified state departments and interest holders, and would require the department to work with the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) to develop and implement the necessary system changes to implement the data sharing process to verify hours worked for those public benefits. The bill would also require or authorize the department to work with other specified state agencies relating to reporting requirements on workforce and employment.

This bill would require the department to use existing federal and state grant funds to the extent available and to implement the bill’s provisions on or before July 1, 2027, except that, the bill would require the department to begin the data sharing process to verify hours worked for the public benefits, as described above, on January 1, 2028, or when the department notifies the Legislature that CalSAWS can perform the necessary automation to implement the data sharing process, whichever is later.