Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board reports case backlog progress, timeliness metrics and staff change
December 11, 2025 | Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, Agencies under Office of the Governor, Executive, California
This article was created by AI summarizing key points discussed. AI makes mistakes, so for full details and context, please refer to the video of the full meeting. Please report any errors so we can fix them. Report an error »
The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board on Dec. 10 in Sacramento said the agency has made progress on pandemic-era caseloads, while some timeliness measures remain short of targets.
Chair Michael Allen opened the meeting by reporting that the agency had 603 closed cases processed through its case-management system for the month and that there were no legacy cases. "I'm pleased to tell you that we have 603 closed cases that were done with our case management system, and there were no legacy cases this month," Allen said.
Chief executive director and chief judge Michael Koutre gave field-office workload details, saying daily appeal intake in November fell to 15,031 cases compared with a typical range he described as "approximately 18 to 20,000," and that overall inventory decreased by about 2,000 cases. Koutre said the field narrowly missed a case-aging metric at 30.8 days in November but that timeliness measures within 45 days improved: "The field closed 82% of cases within 45 days," he said. Koutre added 650 cases were moved among offices in November for expedited hearings and predicted production will resume normal levels in January.
The board also heard supervising administrative law judge Rebecca Bach report appellate-operation metrics. Bach said the board closed 52.2% of appellate cases within 45 days for November (year-to-date 46.4%). For the 75-day benchmark, November closures were 69.7% while the year-to-date figure was 90.5%; Bach reported a November case-aging average of 39.7 days against an annual target of 40 days or less.
Koutre announced a personnel change: Inglewood supervising judge Felicita Ngo will retire at the end of the year after serving with the agency since 2009 and managing the Inglewood office since 2018. Board members offered congratulations.
The board unanimously approved the Nov. 19 minutes earlier in the meeting and there were no public comments. The meeting adjourned after brief final remarks from Chair Allen.
Chair Michael Allen opened the meeting by reporting that the agency had 603 closed cases processed through its case-management system for the month and that there were no legacy cases. "I'm pleased to tell you that we have 603 closed cases that were done with our case management system, and there were no legacy cases this month," Allen said.
Chief executive director and chief judge Michael Koutre gave field-office workload details, saying daily appeal intake in November fell to 15,031 cases compared with a typical range he described as "approximately 18 to 20,000," and that overall inventory decreased by about 2,000 cases. Koutre said the field narrowly missed a case-aging metric at 30.8 days in November but that timeliness measures within 45 days improved: "The field closed 82% of cases within 45 days," he said. Koutre added 650 cases were moved among offices in November for expedited hearings and predicted production will resume normal levels in January.
The board also heard supervising administrative law judge Rebecca Bach report appellate-operation metrics. Bach said the board closed 52.2% of appellate cases within 45 days for November (year-to-date 46.4%). For the 75-day benchmark, November closures were 69.7% while the year-to-date figure was 90.5%; Bach reported a November case-aging average of 39.7 days against an annual target of 40 days or less.
Koutre announced a personnel change: Inglewood supervising judge Felicita Ngo will retire at the end of the year after serving with the agency since 2009 and managing the Inglewood office since 2018. Board members offered congratulations.
The board unanimously approved the Nov. 19 minutes earlier in the meeting and there were no public comments. The meeting adjourned after brief final remarks from Chair Allen.
View the Full Meeting & All Its Details
This article offers just a summary. Unlock complete video, transcripts, and insights as a Founder Member.
✓
Watch full, unedited meeting videos
✓
Search every word spoken in unlimited transcripts
✓
AI summaries & real-time alerts (all government levels)
✓
Permanent access to expanding government content
30-day money-back guarantee
