Hundreds of thousands of Californians who received unemployment funds from the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program are on the clock to show proof of prior employment or risk of having to pay back benefits to the state.
The state’s Employment Development Department (EDD) sent notices to about 900,000 PUA claimants in mid-November, which account for roughly 30% of total claimants. These notices informed PUA claimants that under federal requirements, they must submit documentation proving they were or planned to be employed at some point during the calendar year leading up to the start of their unemployment claim.
If the claimant does not submit documentation or cannot prove prior work history as required under federal law, they could be required to pay the EDD back for overpaid benefits.
“If a person fails to provide work history information, they will be found ineligible for the federal benefits they received,” the EDD said in an email to The Center Square.