The Employment Development Department’s automated reapplication process for claimants who did not earn enough wages in the last 18 months to potentially start a new claim will start June 5.

This automated reapplication process means fewer claimants must manually reapply for benefits when their initial claim expires.

Many claimants have contacted the Employment Development Department, or EDD, with questions about reapplying for unemployment benefits after the benefit year ends on their initial claim.

In response and to improve customer service and automate workload wherever possible, EDD has streamlined the application process.

Starting on June 5, claimants who did not earn enough wages in the last 18 months will no longer have to reapply for benefits.

Instead, EDD will automatically process benefits on their behalf and add a federal extension to the expired claim, or continue the existing extension.

This automation will occur regardless of the type of claim — such as a regular claim, federal extension, or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Claimants will continue to certify for benefits, and EDD will notify them when the additional benefit weeks are processed.

Claimants who earned enough wages in the past 18 months to potentially establish a new claim will still have to reapply for benefits — even if they are currently on an extension. EDD will then establish a new regular claim or deliver extended federal benefits on their behalf.

All claimants will continue to be notified by email, text message and UI Online if they need to reapply.

Claimants can determine if they have enough earnings (as reported by employers to EDD) to require a new application by logging into UI Online and attempting to file a new claim. The new application process will only proceed if a new application is necessary.

Claimants can also review the online Unemployment Insurance Benefit Calculator for information about the amount of wages required to establish a claim or to see how benefits are computed.

EDD will continue to notify claimants in their UI Online account if they need to reapply.

Resources for Californians returning to work

As California's economy continues to reopen, EDD has useful resources to help people find safe and suitable careers and get training leading to quality jobs in California's demand industries.

EDD's job search tool-box can help California job seekers find work, explore careers, and get job training.

The Path To Your Next Job video gives job seekers 10 steps to employment, including how to register with CalJOBS, a no-cost virtual job center with hundreds of thousands of open job postings and tools to help people find work.

CalJOBS is one of the state’s largest job boards and an excellent resource where employers can post job openings and find qualified job seekers to fill their positions.

CalJOBS includes job listings from dozens of private job boards and recruitment sites, Fortune 1,000 companies, educational institutions, thousands of local, state and federal agencies, hundreds of healthcare organizations and many more public, private and nonprofit employers. More than one million job openings from over 35,000 employers were posted on CalJOBS in the past 90 days.

America’s Job Center of California provides no-cost services, tools, and resources for job seekers. Staff assess skills, develop individual employment plans, connect people to job training, and more.

Job search workshops and activities include developing résumés and cover letters, searching and applying for job openings, interview techniques, and more. Workers can visit the Jobs Center finder to locate America's Job Center of California services in their local community.