Recipients of California unemployment benefits experience issues logging in to new EDD website

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Some people who receive unemployment, disability and paid family leave benefits through California's Employment Development Department are banking on getting the funds they need.

But some benefit recipients are struggling to log into EDD's new myEDD website since it launched on Monday.

"This is really a let down to a lot of unemployed Californians right now," EDD recipient Sydney Nicole Sweeney said.

"It is really important that people are able to get these benefits in a timely manner because we all have our lives to live and our bills to pay," she said. "The quicker you certify for benefits, the quicker you're able to get your benefits, and people are depending on this money so it has been frustrating."

The new site replaces Benefit Programs Online, or BPO, and helps fight fraud by requiring users to verify their identities using a verification code.

On social media, many site users like Raymundo Berrelleza said the website won't load or they can't access their accounts.

"I need a way to pay my bills," Berrelleza said. "I have to pay for rent. I have to pay a bunch of other stuff like car, insurance and a bunch of other things."

"I tried changing my password. I tried everything," Berrelleza said. "I have a background in IT and tried everything. I tried a bunch of different browsers. Nothing worked."

EDD apologized for the inconvenience on Facebook.

The department said it's experiencing a higher volume than usual logging into myEDD and encourage people to try again later.

"We know that, while some customers were able to access the system, others did experience issues Monday morning," a statement from EDD Media Services said.

"As of Monday afternoon, the portal is functioning properly. We are catching up with some customers who experienced in interruption in their registration process when we first launched to ensure those efforts are completed," the statement added.

It's time Sweeney said some people who are actively looking for jobs don't have.

"If someone has other responsibilities in their life they might not be able to do that as quickly or as in timely of a manner, and with the lag on the EDD site there's a pretty good chance that a lot of us aren't going to be able to transfer that money before the weekend," she said.