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Board reports appeal processing improving; average case age nears federal target
Summary
Agency leaders reported improved throughput in August, with average field-case age around 31 days and second-level case-aging at about 36.6 days, noting steady progress toward U.S. Department of Labor targets even as the board acknowledged continued ALJ attrition and retirements.
SACRAMENTO — The California Unemployment Insurance Board heard reports showing steady improvement in appeals processing but that benchmarks set by the U.S. Department of Labor have not yet been fully met at the field level.
Chief ALJ and Executive Director Michael Koutre reported that in August the field offices issued about "18 and a half thousand decisions," that daily appeal intake from EDD has been steady and "we did close out 1,134 cases, and all of those were in CAMS except 1." Koutre said average case age for field offices stayed at about 31 days and that the U.S. Department of Labor requires states to close 60% of first-level appeals within 30 days; in August the field closed 38% within 30 days.
Koutre noted the Department of Labor requires 80% of first-level appeals to be closed within 45 days; the field reached 66% in August. He added the agency is "inch(ing) very, very close to the U.S. Department of Labor requirement of 30 days" for average case age and credited CAMS and field work for efficiency gains. He also reported substantial ALJ attrition this year.
Judge Bach, supervising administrative law judge for appellate operations, reported second-level figures for August: the office closed 45.5% of its appeals within 45 days and 97.1% within 75 days, with an average case age of 36.6 days—under the Department of Labor's target of 40 days.
Board members asked technical questions about how higher inventories can coexist with meeting federal timeliness guidelines; staff explained that CAMS accelerated registration and routing of younger cases from field offices, which can increase inventories while improving timeliness metrics. The board also recognized the retirement of supervising judge Steven Tyler; Chief Koutre described Tyler's 23 years of service and leadership.
No formal action was taken; board members directed staff to continue reporting monthly on timeliness, case-aging figures and the OTP migration that may affect appellate workloads.
The U.S. Department of Labor performance metrics remain the benchmark staff is using to measure progress.
