The Employment Development Department (EDD) in California recently made its online services available in Korean and Tagalog.
According to KEYT, the EDD announced Tuesday that it added those two languages in addition to Armenian. The online services are also provided in English, Spanish, simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Vietnamese, Sierra Sun reports.
“Through EDDNext we continue improving the customer experience, including better service for California’s diverse communities,” said EDD Director Nancy Farias per KEYT. “This major boost to customer service will help millions of Californians in the top eight most frequently spoken languages.”
Those seeking help from the EDD will also be able to call a hotline offering services in those languages. Chinese will be offered in Cantonese or Mandarin.
The pandemic highlighted the need for more in-language employment services. According to LAist, the Legal Aid Foundation in Los Angeles and other non-profit organizations filed a complaint against the EDD, claiming the agency had violated language access policies under state and federal law.
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The EDD agreed to a settlement in 2022, promising to expand language services.
“Ultimately, we want to see that every individual regardless of language, access all of those credit critical benefits beyond unemployment insurance,” Joann Lee, special counsel for the Legal Aid Foundation told LAist.
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