SACRAMENTO — Already frustrated jobless Californians may have a tougher time getting unemployment insurance benefits of up to $450 a week as of Friday when most state workers start taking off two days a month without pay.
Over the objections of the federal government, workers handling jobless assistance claims and appeals have been ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to go on furlough -- even though nearly all their salaries are paid by the U.S. Labor Department, and their days off will save the state very little or no money.
In a letter late last month, the department warned that furloughs could worsen the state's current "below standard performance" in meeting criteria for the timely handling of unemployment claims and appeals.
Failure to comply with the department's demands could violate Social Security laws, said the letter's author, Richard C. Trigg, regional administrator in San Francisco of the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration.
The governor's office said it was unmoved by the federal concerns.
The Schwarzenegger administration, which needs to fill a $42-billion budget deficit, says it has no choice but to furlough every worker it can without endangering public safety, including staff at the Employment Development Department and the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.
"Just like every family and business in California is doing, state government needs to tighten its belt in every way it can," said Aaron McLear, the governor's press secretary. "Savings from every part of state government will help to manage cash flow to get the state through this fiscal crisis."
Schwarzenegger administration spokeswoman Camille Anderson contended that requiring staff to take pay cuts of about 10% -- by working on unpaid days and then taking compensatory days off either later that same month or sometime before the middle of 2010 -- would not hinder claims processing or appeals.
The Employment Development Department and the appeals board have been permitted to "self-direct" their staff furloughs to avoid having to shut down all operations on the first and third Fridays of each month, when Schwarzenegger has ordered most state agencies to close, she said.
The Labor Department strongly disagrees. Furloughs of people working on federally financed programs "will diminish assistance to the unemployed without saving any state dollars," said spokeswoman Jennifer Kaplan in Washington.
