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California Unemployment Appeals Board reports faster processing, meets federal case‑timeliness targets
Summary
Board chair Michael Allen, agency leaders and judges told the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board on March 19 that the agency's new case management system and other changes cut inventories and case age and helped the board meet Department of Labor timeliness benchmarks; the board approved minutes from its Feb. 19 meeting unanimously.
The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board reported improved case processing and progress toward federal timeliness targets at its March 19 meeting, agency leaders said.
Board Chair Michael Allen opened the session by thanking Governor Gavin Newsom and the Senate Rules Committee for his confirmation and praised board staff for their work during modernization efforts. “I just wanna commend the board because, you're you're all very diligent. You you take the work very seriously,” he said.
The agency’s chief administrative law judge and chief executive officer, Michael Koutre, told the board that incoming appeal work stabilized in February after a December–January uptick and that field offices issued “just over 24,000 decisions,” about 600 more than in January. He said the agency reduced overall inventory by about 2,500 cases and cut average case age by three days to 50 days, moving “800 cases for hearings last month.” Koutre added that fewer than 250 appellants were in the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program tied to recent Los Angeles fires and that EDD (Employment Development Department) data will clarify any related spike in unemployment insurance claims when February data are released later in the month. “Of course, any impacts on our appeal workload could still be months away, so we'll follow that closely and report back,” he said.
Judge Rebecca Bach, chief of appellate operations, reported the appeals office met multiple Department of Labor benchmarks for February. The office closed 28.5% of cases within 45 days in February (bringing the Department of Labor year total to 66%) and closed 85.7% of cases within 75 days for the month (93.5% year to date). She said average appellate case age was 38.4 days, below the Department of Labor guideline of 40 days, and said she expected strong year‑end numbers at the next meeting. “We have met all 3 numbers the Department of Labor tracks, this month,” Bach said.
Acting Chief Information Officer Mark Smith described ongoing IT work tied to the CAMS case management system and language access. Smith said CAMS document output is already available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese and that Chinese, Tagalog and Korean are next in the rollout; the agency uses contracted translators for non‑English languages. He also said staff are treating video recordings cautiously: while the agency can support video for sign‑language interpreted hearings, video would increase storage needs and raise redaction and privacy concerns because recordings are public documents. “When you introduce video, you have the risk that something can be seen on paper or on a screen that otherwise would not be verbalized,” Smith said, adding the decision to expand video is operational rather than purely technical.
Koutre also gave a brief staffing update: one office technician hire was completed and 16 support hires remain pending across eight offices and five classifications. He said the agency is “planning some contingencies” ahead of a July 1 effective date tied to state direction on in‑person work and expected to report more in April or May.
The board approved the minutes of its Feb. 19, 2025, meeting by unanimous vote (5–0). Chair Allen then adjourned the meeting.
Why it matters: The board’s reported reductions in inventory and case age, and its meeting of Department of Labor timeliness metrics at the appellate level, affect employers and claimants who rely on faster appeals processing. The board flagged several operational dependencies — continued staffing, EDD claim data, and policy decisions about video records — that could affect future workloads and access.
Votes at a glance
• Approval of minutes from Feb. 19, 2025 — Approved, 5 ayes, 0 noes. Motion: “Approval of the board minutes of 02/19/2025.” Vote recorded for: Michael Allen (aye), Laura Kent Monning (aye), Mike King (aye), Robert Werkowski (aye), Richard Roth (aye).
Ending: The board said it will return with a five‑year retrospective report on pandemic and post‑pandemic workload and modernization accomplishments at the April meeting and continue monitoring DUA and EDD data for any future workload impact.
