Unemployment benefits in South Carolina

Can I get benefits?

In your base period you must have worked in at least two quarters, earned at least $1,092 in your highest quarter and at least $4,455 in total, and your total wages must be at least 1.5 times your highest quarter.

Law: S.C. Code sec. 41-27-310

If you quit

If you left your most recent work voluntarily without good cause, you are ineligible until you work again and earn at least 8 times your weekly benefit amount.

If you were fired

If you were fired for misconduct connected with your most recent work, you are ineligible for 20 weeks plus the waiting week, and your total benefits are cut by 20 times your weekly benefit.

Law: S.C. Code secs. 41-35-120, 41-35-125

Quit, fired, refused work and the federal rules →

The wage test, the amount and your estimate →

How much and how long?

Weekly benefit

$42–$350

Weeks

Up to 20 weeks

Waiting week

A waiting week

How it is figured, the full rules and the estimate tool →

How to file in South Carolina

File online through the MyBenefits portal, available 24 hours a day. You will verify your identity with ID.me.

File as soon as you are out of work.

What to have ready

• Your Social Security number and identity information for ID.me verification
• Names, addresses and phone numbers of your employers and your work dates for the last 18 months
• Military service in the past 18 months: DD-214 (Member 4 copy)

Certify (claim your weeks)

Weekly. File a weekly certification in the MyBenefits portal every week (Sunday to Saturday weeks), starting the week after you file.

Everything about filing →

Appeal a denial

• Request for reconsideration of a determination — 10 calendar days from the date the determination was mailed
• Appeal to the Appeal Tribunal — 10 calendar days from the mailing date listed on the determination
• Appeal to the Appellate Panel — 10 calendar days from the mailing date listed on the Appeal Tribunal decision
• Petition for review in the South Carolina Administrative Law Court — 30 calendar days

Deadline calculator, appeal letter and hearing checklist: Appeal details →

The hearing

Format

Most hearings are by telephone; a few are held in person at a DEW office or SC Works center.

Notice before the hearing

7 days

Overpayments and waivers

An overpayment means you got benefits you were not entitled to.

Appeal within

10 days from the mailing date on the determination that created the overpayment

Fraud penalty

33% added when the overpayment is fraud

Waiver

The state can waive some overpayments.

Law: S.C. Code sec. 41-41-40(A)

Waiver details and the hearing checklist →

Someone filed a claim in your name

If you think someone filed a claim in your name (for example, you got a 1099 for benefits you never claimed), report it to DEW online and also to your employer, the IRS, your local police, the National Center for Disaster Fraud and the FTC. If DEW finds you were a victim of impostor fraud, you do not have to repay the money, and you can still file your own claim.

Source: Form 14039

• Report it online
• Phone: 1-866-831-1724

National steps

1. Report it to the state where the claim was filed and follow its instructions. Some states ask for a police report or a sworn statement.
2. If you got a 1099-G for benefits you did not receive, the state will send a corrected 1099-G. When you file taxes, report only the income you actually received; do not wait for the corrected form.
3. Check your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322-8228. Report other identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov.
4. You can also report unemployment identity fraud that happened after March 2020 to the U.S. Department of Justice National Center for Disaster Fraud. You must still report it to the state.

U.S. Department of Labor: report unemployment identity fraud

Good to know in South Carolina

• South Carolina has some of the shortest appeal deadlines: 10 calendar days from the mailing date, for both the Appeal Tribunal and the Appellate Panel.

  Law: S.C. Code secs. 41-35-660, 41-35-680

• Benefits last at most 20 weeks, and you must do 2 work searches a week in SC Works Online Services (S.C. Code sec. 41-35-50; DEW).
• Fraud overpayments carry a 33% penalty.

  Source: DEW Claimant Handbook

Changes in 2024–2026

DEW's published maximum weekly benefit is $350 (its January 2025 handbook already listed $350; U.S. DOL tables showed $326 in 2024). No changes found in 2024-2026 to the $42 minimum, the 20-week limit, the waiting week or the 10-day appeal deadlines. A 2022 law (Act No. 229) confirmed that DEW sets the weekly maximum and must publish it on its website.

Questions about unemployment in South Carolina