Lanier takes charge more than three months after the meltdown of the computers of the Employment Development Department.

CalWatchDog.com reported on those problems earlier this month. The problems are supposed to be fixed by Dec. 31. The fix already has cost California taxpayers $100 million.

In September, following the computer update, 150,000 jobless Californians were cut from unemployment benefits. The EDD blamed a computer glitch and said it would take weeks to fix. But according to claimants CalWatchDog.com spoke with, unpaid claims continue.

Research

Over the past month, extensive research on the Internet, on NexisLexis and from interviews, uncovered scant information about Lanier beyond his official biography and the governor’s press release. From 1993 until his first Brown appointment in 2011, he has been a professional staffer in the Legislature:

“[He worked] as special advisor to the Speaker at the California State Assembly Speaker’s Office of Member Services from 1999 to 2011. Lanier was chief of staff for California State Assemblymember Grace Napolitano from 1997 to 1998, consultant for the Joint Legislative Government Oversight Task Force from 1996 to 1997 and legislative director for California State Assemblymember Carole Migden from 1995 to 1996. He began working in the capitol as a legislative aide in 1993.”

Two Sacramento Bee stories from 2012 with information about Lanier have disappeared from the Bee’s website. CalWatchDog.com asked Bee columnist and editorial page editor Dan Morain to send me a copy of a story he wrote, but did not hear receive a response.

The Bee stories,still offline, were about legislative staff members who own and run side political consulting businesses. Lanier was named in both of the stories.

“David Lanier, a former Assembly consultant who now works for Gov. Jerry Brown, disclosed in 2010 his role as owner and partner of Priority Political,” the Sacramento Bee reported Nov. 7, 2012. “The firm earned between $10,001 and $100,000 that year, according to his statement of economic interest.”

The second story, “California legislative staffers moonlight in campaign jobs,” still has a link on the Internet, and is listed on the Sacramento Bee’s blog, but the link is no longer any good.

AllGov.com, which usually has good information, merely repeated the official bio and included a tiny, low resolution picture of Lanier.

FPPC

CalWatchDog.com also requested the Fair Political Practice Commission Form 700 Statement of Economic Interests for Lanier, going all the way back to his legislative staffer days when he worked for Democratic Assemblywoman Grace Napolitano and Democratic Sen. Carole Migden in the mid-1990’s.

The FPPC is typically very good about responding to these requests. But this time, CalWatchDog.com has not received a response after more than a week.

CalWatchDog.com contacted Kurt Schuparra, assistant secretary for research and policy development at the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Schuparra was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2012. CalWatchDog.com told Schuparra it was concerned about the lack of information about California’s newest labor secretary, asking if there was more about background. “Should anything happen to Jerry Brown, he’s not taking over for the Governor,” Schuparra said.

“He decided to do the same thing his predecessor did, with a brief bio online, and no picture,” Schuparra added.

Specifically, CalWatchDog.com asked Schuparra what Lanier’s job entailed as “Special Advisor” to assembly speakers. He said he would reply though email, after speaking with Lanier about my request. Schuparra has yet to respond.

California Labor and Workforce agency

The labor secretary heads up all of the state’s labor agencies. Lanier replaced Marty Morgenstern, 78, a longtime Brown aide who will become a senior adviser to Brown, who is 75. Morgenstern was Brown’s labor negotiator during the governor’s first stint in the office in the 1970s. Lanier is 46, indicating a changing of the generational guard.

The California Labor and Workforce agency was created in 2002 by former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, who was recalled by voters in 2003.

The Labor agency has an annual Budget of $14.8 billion, and has 12,859 employees, according to AllGov.com.

The cabinet-level agency is the parent agency for eight state agencies:

Agricultural Labor Relations Board

California Employment Development Department

California Public Employment Relations Board

California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board

California Workforce Investment Board

Department of Industrial Relations/ Labor Commissioner

Employment Training Panel

I’ve received calls from EDD employees with tales of lazy coworkers and strange office work conditions one would usually only find in Hollywood sitcoms.

“The Office” has nothing on the EDD, according to EDD employees I spoke with. But even with the lazy, napping, snoring, or movie-watching co-workers, EDD workers say there is no shortage of employees to process unemployment claims.

No shortage of EDD employees

Several EDD employees told me they believe the upper management at the EDD is allowing the massive unpaid claims debacle to continue in order to show the Legislature and governor that the agency needs more funding, and more personnel hired.

But  several of the workers I spoke with, some of who have been with the EDD for more than 10 and 20 years, say the problem is a lack of leadership within the agency.

Why else would EDD employees be allowed to watch movies on their iPads all day? Or snore loudly while they nap? Or make personal phone calls — for hours? EDD employees reported that coworkers really do this.

The tales I heard did not sound as if they were coming from disgruntled employees either. I was a Human Resources Director for 20 years. I am relatively adept at identifying real workplace complaints, or employees who feel unappreciated.

EDD employees turn phones off?

One EDD employee told me most of her co-workers shuffle papers all day, killing time. She said many of the workers turn the EDD desk phones off, and refuse to take phone calls from claimants. Instead, so they don’t have to take phone calls, they fight over the mail. “They should be answering phone calls, but they don’t,” she said.

Another EDD employee told me about a co-worker who watches movies all day long on his iPad. She said his desk is right next to the supervisor’s office.

Another EDD employee said one of his coworkers snores loudly when she naps at her desk. He said supervisors walk by the napping employees and movie watchers, but never correct the behavior.

Of the EDD employees who contacted me, all said supervisors are either busy socializing with coworkers, or never come out of their offices.

“People turn off the phones,” one EDD employee said. “They don’t even answer the calls. The lack of work ethic these people have comes form the very top,” she added. “Nobody is accountable for anything.”

Holiday parties

One EDD employee who said she’s been with the agency 22 years, said staff are spending entire work days decorating the offices for the holidays, and planning holiday parties. “They are bored,” she said. “I am amazed at how much time they spend planning parties, and they are pulling in overtime wages.”

In her office, she also said EDD employees watch television shows on their iPads, right in front of supervisors.  “Some are sleeping at their desks. This is insane!” she added.

“There is no shortage of manpower,” she said. “The EDD did that massive hiring with the funding from the Obama administration. There’s no lack of staff.”

“I called that dude Henry Perea,” she said, referring to Assemblyman Henry Perea, D-Fresno. Perea is chairman of the Assembly Insurance Committee, and held a hearing in November about the EDD computer failures, which left tens of thousands of claimants without their anticipated unemployment checks.

“I left him a message telling him about what goes on in my office,” she added. “I’ve been with the EDD 22 years, and it’s never been like this… this bad.”

“And the good employees, we’re watched like hawks,” another EDD employee told me. “If we’re productive, they deliberately slow our work down,” he said.

“It’s no wonder in the annual survey of best and worse run state governments, we’re always ranked the worst managed state,” he said. “And EDD is the worst of the worst.”

Links for my Three-Part Series: Part 1, an interview with EDD Spokesman Dan Stephens, is here. Part 2, “EDD computers must be fixed by Dec. 31,” is here. Part 3, “Employment Development Computer system not yet fixed,” is here.

Three months after a California Employment Development Department computer crash cut off tens of thousands of Californians from their unemployment benefits, the EDD’s system does not function properly.

EDD by phone

The EDD offices officially are now only open four hours a day, from 8:00 am to noon, according to their website.

I called the EDD hotline, 1-866-333-4606. It’s an information-only recorded message, which eventually tells the caller to file for unemployment benefits on the EDD website; or call 800-300-5616, the designated phone line for filing for unemployment benefits. I called that second number. The recorded message says, “We are currently experiencing more calls than we can answer.” It refers the caller back to the information-only recorded message phone line.

Ironically, the recorded message on the EDD phone line for filing for unemployment claims recommends claimants only call after 5:00 pm, before 8:00 am, or on Saturday or Sunday – that is, after hours and on weekends.

The recorded message tells callers the fastest way to file an unemployment insurance claim is through the EDD website, and tells callers to allow 10 days for processing online, or by phone.

Then the message abruptly says, “Goodbye,” and the call is terminated. There is no opportunity to file an unemployment claim on the phone.

The recorded phone messages provide a smorgasbord of general information, most of which I found unreliable as they just refer to phone messages that disconnect, or to the website which also is largely a dead end.

Software contracts

Updated software was designed and installed by EDD Contractor Deloitte Consulting to create more online access for existing claims. EDD representatives said at a November 6 Assembly hearing that a computer “glitch” delayed the payments for tens of thousands of Californians. According to News 10, Deloitte “has already been paid at least $46 million” for the project.

Deloitte Consulting also was awarded a contract for another malfunctioning government computer project. The IRS gave the firm $12.9 million to “deliver world class implementation” of the Affordable Care Act, usually called Obamacare.

The Deloitte contract was awarded two months after the Government Accountability Office found serious fault with the way the IRS was handling the implementation of the ACA, when the IRS could not account for “$67 million that was set aside in a slush fund to help pay for Obamacare,” Forbes Magazine reported. The GAO link no longer works, but the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration addressed the IRS mishandling in a September report.

Permanent fix

Jason Salzetti, Deloitte’s company’s California principal, told the Los Angeles Times the company hoped for a permanent fix in “the next few weeks.” But that was a month ago and there’s still no permanent fix.

The emails obtained by the News 10 exposé show it was two weeks before managers at EDD even realized there were problems with their software upgrade, according to testimony at the November oversight hearing.

When the newly updated taxpayer-funded system was released, it created a massive backlog of unpaid unemployment payments. When EDD tried to catch up on the payments, the U.S. Department of Labor even blamed EDD for boosting the national unemployment rate, labor Recruiter.com reported.

I contacted News 10 reporter Thom Jensen by email, and asked if the EDD had ever responded to the News 10 Public Records Request. But I did not hear back from Jensen.

EDD website

On its website, the EDD claims: “The EDD promotes California’s economic health by providing information to help people understand California’s economy and make informed labor market choices.”

On the EDD Facebook page, some frustrated claimants said they have contacted their Assembly representatives and have had some success getting through to the EDD with the legislative help. However, even that can take weeks or months.

One EDD claimant told me she contacted Gov. Jerry Brown’s office out of frustration when her repeated requests for help from EDD for ongoing claims went unanswered. She said a governor’s office representative revealed they are aware of the problem, but told the woman she should not expect a response from the EDD in less than 30 days.

This is Part 2 of a series on the EDD. Part 1, an interview with Spokesman Dan Stephens, is here.

Just after the Labor Day weekend, the California Employment Development Department released a $100 million computer upgrade. It crashed.

Without warning, 150,000 jobless Californians were cut from unemployment benefits. The EDD blamed a computer glitch and said it would take weeks to fix.

November hearings in the Legislature produced promises to fix the system. In response, Henry Perea, D-Fresno, the chairman of the Insurance Committee, sent a letter to EDD Director Hilliard demanding fixes by Dec. 31. Perea identified five improvement areas:

1. “Update the criteria for scheduling determinations due to untimely certifications,” so unemployment claimants are not burdened with ongoing unnecessary work and delays;

2.  “Update the criteria for scheduling determinations due to attending school or job training,” to prevent benefit delays;

3. “Improve communications with claimants.” The EDD has been moving to more of a self-service claims system, but had not provided claimants with the necessary tools;

4. “Translation of documents and websites.” The EDD website has only a few pages in Spanish, and virtually none in other languages. If the goal is a self-service model, the EDD must help those with limited English language abilities access multiple languages on the site.

5. “Call center service improvement.” The call centers historically have been problematic, time consuming “and perhaps the most frustrating and time consuming for ongoing UI claimants.” Even under “normal” conditions, “claimant access to call centers goes from bad to impossible.”

Hearings in the new year will determine how the fixes are doing. But three months after the computer crash, the EDD’s own Facebook page remains clogged with complaints about delays in benefits.

I also called the EDD’s phone line. It refers claimants to the online computer system. Then the computer system directs claimants to call. It’s a computerized Catch-22.

Background: How the problem started

As the countdown to Dec. 31 continues, I compiled some background on what happened.

The post-Labor Day “malfunction” created a huge backlog of claims. California Labor Secretary Marty Morgernstern ordered EDD officials to pay the unemployment claims immediately, and check eligibility later. 

An EDD employee whistleblower, who claimed to work daily on the broken program, warned supervisors and coworkers that the new EDD computer system “was slow, had glitches and was not ready to be released,” Sacramento’s News 10 reported in October. Documents showed that the $100 million “California Unemployment Benefit Services system,” or CUBS, built by EDD and contractor Deloitte Consulting, was never working correctly.

“An EDD employee said managers even took time a few days before CUBS was released to let everyone know how proud they were,” News 10 said. “‘We had parties. We had celebrations. We had contests,’ the employee said. ‘We all knew it wasn’t gonna go live. When it actually did go live we were shocked.’”

In emails released by the EDD in October, News 10 reported EDD Representative Adolfo Jimenez responded to one of those “Congratulations” emails with, “Don’t pat yourselves on the back don’t congratulate yourself nor others. CUBS does not work.”

News 10 reported in a follow up email, Jimenez’s boss Donald Owens wrote, “Mr. Jimenez has been counseled regarding the nature of the email and the proper chain of command.”

Hearing

The initial outcry from unpaid claimants was so big, the Assembly Insurance Committee conducted an oversight hearing on Nov. 6. EDD representatives showed up in force and some apologized for the blunder. (The hearing video is available on The California Channel.)

However, EDD Chief Deputy Director Sharon Hilliard claimed the media reported “inaccuracies” as to what caused the delays. Hillard said the massive backlog was resolved only after EDD staff worked overtime to make manual fixes to the system.

“We underestimated the amount of effort needed to stay on top of that,” said Shell Culp, chief deputy director at the state Office of Systems Integration. Her agency was responsible for managing the computer upgrade project. Culp said the agency knew there were problems with the computer upgrade but failed to predict the backlog of claims the glitch created.

By Nov. 8, the EDD posted information on its website on indicating the problem had been fixed. As of mid-December, the message still says:

“Updated November 8, 2013, 4:30 p.m.

“The EDD is working to complete the transition to a new upgraded payment processing system as quickly as possible. We are supplying continual updates on our progress and are providing recommendations to our claimants, including how they can help us expedite this effort with the submission of their certifications for continuing benefits. For more information and updates on the new payment processing system and how it may affect you, visit the New Upgrades for the UI System page.”

Soon the Legislature will investigate and render its own judgment.

This is Part 1 of a series.

Obamacare’s computers aren’t the only government systems struck by major glitches.

Two months after a California Employment Development Department computer crash cut off tens of thousands of Californians from their unemployment benefits, the EDD remains overwhelmed by overdue unemployment claims from thousands of people looking for jobs.

State Labor Secretary Marty Morgenstern, an appointee of Gov. Jerry Brown, quickly ordered EDD officials to pay the unemployment claims immediately, and check eligibility later. Yet today thousands of jobless Californians remain frustrated.

I contacted EDD spokesman Dan Stephens with questions about the computer problems and how claimants can get through.

Q: Is the scope of the computer problem larger than originally anticipated?

Stephens: “As with any large IT infrastructure upgrade, standard procedures were followed: defects were identified in a system, tested, the programming modified, and then tested again. All major indicators prior to going live with our new system indicated all was clear to launch. All major issues stemming from the conversion of old claim data and some delayed certification forms have been resolved since the launch of our new payment processing system over Labor Day weekend.”

Q: How do claimants get through to a real person at EDD? It’s not clear on the website what to do with problem claims. Is there a phone line or online link for unusual claim problems?

Stephens: “EDD’s administrative costs are federally funded. Unfortunately, EDD currently is understaffed due to federal funding reductions despite the demand that remains more than twice what it was before the recent recession. We simply cannot continue to support all channels of service, and customers do have alternatives to the phone. Our staff focus instead is on processing claims and payments and getting through this transition to our new system. The more we can get our customers using the self-service tools we have made available, the more our limited staff can be available to take care of claims with more complex needs.”

Q: What is the EDD’s policy for ongoing claimants who are not receiving payments?

Stephens: “The UI [unemployment insurance] program is an eligibility-based system where regular unemployment benefits are paid by employers. Once a claimant is found eligible to receive benefits, they are required to submit a continued claim form every two weeks verifying that they remain eligible for each week to receive continued benefits. Our new payment processing system automatically reviews these ongoing certifications for eligibility and forwards eligible ones for payment without the need for staff intervention. Certifications that are straightforward and absent of errors can be processed and paid within a matter of days. Those that contain errors or more complex eligibility issues, such as not being able to work due to an injury or illness, are forwarded to staff for review and possibly further clarification from the claimant.

“If someone still believes they are due payment dating back to the launch of our new system, they are likely either ineligible for unemployment benefits, or their case is pending due to more complex issues that have always existed in the UI program.  These include such issues as:

“* the individual has yet to have their initial claim established due to more complex issues involving severance pay;

” * missing wage information;

“* an employer protest of the claim;

“* a military claim, which can take up to 60 days to finalize wage information;

“* an identity alert issue; or

“* other more complex eligibility issues.”

Since launch of new payment processing system, EDD has paid more than $2 billion in total unemployment benefits and processed more than 5.5 million certifications for continued benefits through our system. Our system is currently processing more than 80% of all certifications on the same day they are received. The remaining 20% are forwarded to staff for typical eligibility review to ensure the claimant has met all requirements for ongoing benefits, including being physically able, available, and looking for work.  Eligibility reviews have always been a required part of the UI program.

Q: Was the EDD available over the Thanksgiving weekend? 

Stephens: “Our automated online and phone services were available to customers, as they are every day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Individuals are able to file or reopen a UI claim online by accessing eApply4UI, the secure, reliable, and fastest way to file or reopen a UI claim. After applying for benefits and establishing a claim, customers can also submit their required bi-weekly UI Continued Claim forms online instead of sending in the paper claim form through EDD’s Web-Cert service.  For those who want to use the phone, our automated Tele-Cert system is also available.  These options allow claimants to certify for UI benefits 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our customer service centers were closed in observance of the State Legal Holiday.”

Q: What is the future plan for clearing up the claim backlog?

Stephens: “Dating back to EDD’s system launch, we have paid all individuals who were eligible to be paid through either regular processing or through the expedited processing method applied in late September to help us eliminate the certification backlog.”

Q: Were any EDD employees laid off or terminated under federal sequestration? 

Stephens: “No, but the combination of sequestration cuts and existing federal UI administrative underfunding has adversely impacted EDD’s staffing levels, which continue to decrease due to attrition. Our hiring has been restricted to filling only critical needs within the Department. And when hiring is done, it’s only from within our existing workforce.”