04.14.20 COVID-19 Briefing Live Stream Transcript

The County of Santa Clara
April 14, 2020
Live Stream - Live with the County of Santa Clara
10am PT

Betty Duong: I am removing my face covering to make sure that our ASL interpreters are able to see my messaging clearly.

My name is Betty Duong, I oversee the County of Santa Clara Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. Thank you for joining us today. Today on this Facebook live briefing, we're going to be talking about resources for workers financially impacted by the effects of COVID19.

In the past month, far too many people have been laid off, work furloughed, or had their hours drastically reduced due to COVID19. We understand that this may be frustrating, that this is probably very new to a lot of people. We know that a lot of people are experiencing this level of unemployment or underemployment for the first time in their lives and we want to be responsive.

So, the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement whose mission is to advance labor standards for all workers and businesses across the county in partnership with the Fair Workplace Collaborative has launched two resources to serve you.

And I have with me here today, Jessica Vollmer, Director of the Fair Workplace Collaborative, our community partners, to tell us about these resources. Hi Jessica.

Jessica Vollmer: Hi Betty, thank you so much. As we know, so many communities have been so deeply impacted by the crisis. And so, we have two hotlines available to help folks get connected to the resources they need in this moment to keep their families safe, healthy, and secure.

So, the two resources that we have is one is our newly launched Santa Clara County COVID assistance navigation hotline which will connect folks to the various social safety net resources they may need, help people apply for unemployment insurance, and can also connect folks directly to lawyers. The hotline phone number for that is (408) 809 – 2124. And people, when you call we have services available in English, Vietnamese, in Spanish, right now with other languages coming very soon. You'll be asked to leave a message and one of our navigators will call you back within 24 hours.

The second resource is our fair workplace collaborative legal advice line which is staffed by employment law attorneys who speak English, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Spanish, and Tagalog. And they can provide advice on workplace issues including discrimination, harassment, wage theft, unemployment, paid family leave, and other benefits. The phone number for that line is 1 (866) 870 – 7725 and I'd like to just note that both of these resources are free to the community. So, if people have questions about what's available to them right now please don't hesitate to call either of those lines.

Duong: Thank You Jessica and we are so grateful here at the county for this partnership with the Fair Workplace Collaborative to ensure resources are connected to our residents of the county.  I want to also add that, or reiterate, that the hotline is a voicemail hotline. Please leave a message and your call will be returned within 24 hours. Navigation managers are trained to, you know, help determine eligibility because there are other programs beyond unemployment. So, thank you for that.

At this time, I want to also share some developments, and unemployment benefits, and benefits provided by the EDD. So, unemployment benefits have been extended by the state to 39 weeks, up from their usual 26 weeks, through July 31st. If you are receiving unemployment benefits, you will get an additional $600 per week in addition to your regular benefit amount. For the first time, contractors and gig workers are eligible for unemployment benefits if they have lost work due to the pandemic. California's EDD has also waived the usual one week waiting period for benefits. This means that you are able to start collecting benefits on the first day you're out of work, or furloughed, or you know, the first day that your hours are reduced. However, given the volume of claims, it will take a few weeks before you receive your EDD debit card to access the funds but we still encourage you to call. Please call the hotline. Please call the advice line.  We will help you connect to resources.

For those who are not able to call, you can also visit our www.sccfairworkplace.org or email the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement directly at [email protected] and we will be sure to connect you to the resources. There is no wrong door here.

Thank you so much for listening to us today and checking in with us. We hope to bring you more useful information in the future. Jessica which like to say bye to our audience today?

Vollmer: Yeah, thank you so much and again don't hesitate to call our advice lines to get connected to those resources. Take care and stay healthy.

Duong: Take care and stay healthy. And if you stay tuned in a few minutes we will also have an additional Facebook live briefing with the County of Santa Clara Public Health Officer, Dr. Sara Cody
with an important message for our residents. Thank you! Be well, be healthy, stay sheltered in place.