Appeal an unemployment denial in South Carolina
An appeal has short deadlines. Find your deadline, then use the letter and checklist to get ready.
All about unemployment in South Carolina
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Levels of appeal and deadlines
Request for reconsideration of a determination
DEW
- Deadline
10 calendar days from the date the determination was mailed
- How to file
- You may ask DEW to reconsider an initial determination for good cause. Reconsideration is the only way to dispute how your weekly benefit amount was figured. If wages are missing from your monetary determination, contact a claims representative at 1-866-831-1724 or dispute it in the portal.
- Where to send it
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: S.C. Code secs. 41-35-40(C), 41-35-640
Official source: Source page
Appeal to the Appeal Tribunal
DEW Appeal Tribunal (administrative hearing officer)
- Deadline
10 calendar days from the mailing date listed on the determination
- Weekends and holidays
- If the 10th day falls on a weekend or recognized holiday, the appeal period extends to the next business day.
- How to file
- Use the "Request Appeal" button in the MyBenefits portal (Claims tab, View under Non-Monetary Determination), or mail or fax a signed Notice of Appeal to the Appeal Tribunal or a signed appeal letter. Do not upload an appeal letter to the portal as a document; it is not accepted as an appeal.
- Where to send it
S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce, Appeal Tribunal, P.O. Box 995, Columbia, SC 29202
Fax: 803-737-0287
- It must include
- Your name
- Your Claimant ID or Social Security number
- The date of the determination you are appealing
- Why you disagree with the determination
- Your handwritten signature
- If it is late
- If your appeal is late, neither the Appeal Tribunal nor the Appellate Panel has authority to consider it, and it will be dismissed.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: S.C. Code sec. 41-35-660
Official source: Source page
Appeal to the Appellate Panel
DEW Appellate Panel
- Deadline
10 calendar days from the mailing date listed on the Appeal Tribunal decision
- Weekends and holidays
- If the 10th day falls on a weekend or recognized holiday, the appeal period extends to the next business day.
- How to file
- Mail or fax a signed Notice of Appeal to the Appellate Panel or a signed appeal letter. The Panel decides on the record from the hearing and cannot take new evidence or testimony.
- Where to send it
S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce, Appellate Panel, P.O. Box 1752, Columbia, SC 29202
Fax: 803-737-3166
- It must include
- Your name
- Your Claimant ID or Social Security number
- The date of the Appeal Tribunal decision you are appealing
- Why you disagree
- Your handwritten signature
- If it is late
- A late appeal is dismissed; the Appellate Panel has no authority to consider it.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: S.C. Code secs. 41-35-680, 41-35-710
Official source: Source page
Petition for review in the South Carolina Administrative Law Court
- Deadline
30 calendar days from the date the Appellate Panel's decision was mailed
- What to know
- If you disagree with the Appellate Panel, you can file an action in the Administrative Law Court within 30 days. The petition must state why you want review and be served on DEW within that time. The court reviews only questions of law; DEW's findings of fact are final if supported by evidence. No bond is required.
Law: S.C. Code secs. 41-35-740, 41-35-750
Every state must give a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal to anyone whose claim is denied.
Law: 42 U.S.C. 503(a)(3) (Social Security Act sec. 303(a)(3))
Appeal deadline calculator
Pick the appeal and enter the date it runs from. We add the days from the state's rule to that date.
Appeal request letter
Fill in the boxes and get a letter you can print or send. You write the reasons in your own words. The letter is in English because the agency works in English.
Hearing preparation checklist
Logistics and rights from your state's hearing information, plus your own list of witnesses and documents.
The hearing
- Format
- Most hearings are by telephone; a few are held in person at a DEW office or SC Works center. The hearing notice gives the date, time and issues. Make sure DEW has your current phone number; you can register or update it online for your appeal number.
- Notice before the hearing
- 7 days
- Documents and witnesses
- Send any evidence to DEW and to the other party at least 24 hours before the hearing. If you do not, the hearing officer may not consider it. Instructions come with the hearing notice. Witnesses with firsthand knowledge are best.
- Subpoena
- Ask with an Application for Issuance of Witness Subpoena, available at a Connection Point or on DEW's Appeals page. Give the name, address and phone number of the witness or person holding the document and the specific reason you need them. Subpoenas cannot be served at addresses outside South Carolina. A senior hearing officer decides whether to issue one.
- Interpreter
- Free language help is available; call 1-866-831-1724.
- If you miss it
- If you filed the appeal and do not take part, your appeal may be dismissed. If you cannot attend, call the Appeal Tribunal at 803-737-2520 as soon as possible; it may postpone the hearing if you fax proof of a scheduling conflict.
Law: S.C. Code sec. 41-35-680
Overpayments and waivers
An overpayment means you got benefits you were not entitled to. DEW sends a Notice of Overpayment of Benefits by mail and in your MyBenefits portal with the amount, the reason, how to set up a payment plan, and your rights to appeal or ask for a waiver. Non-fraud overpayments must still be repaid. If DEW finds fraud, you must repay with a 33% penalty and can be disqualified for 10 to 52 weeks.
- 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.
- The standard
- DEW may waive repayment if the overpayment was not caused by fraud, misrepresentation or willful nondisclosure, you were not at fault, and repaying would be against equity and good conscience. DEW says this means repaying would cause extraordinary financial hardship: you would lose or be unable to get basic needs such as food, medicine, shelter and transportation for a long time.
- How to ask
- Fill out the Application for Waiver of No Fault Overpayment truthfully and send it with supporting documents by mail or fax within 10 calendar days of the mail date on your Notice of Overpayment of Benefits. A denial can be appealed.
- How the state collects
- You can repay in full or set up a monthly payment plan. If you do not pay, DEW can take the debt from future benefits, withhold your wages, take your state tax refund and, only for overpayments caused by fraud or unreported earnings, your federal tax refund (after notice; you have 60 days to pay in full, set up a plan or give bankruptcy information before referral to the federal Treasury Offset Program), take other money the state owes you, and offset lottery winnings. Collection must start within 5 years of the final determination (8 years for fraud).
Law: S.C. Code sec. 41-41-40(A); S.C. Code sec. 41-41-40(B)
What federal law adds on overpayments
- Whether an overpayment can be waived, and how to ask, depends on your state's law. See your state's page.
- Your federal tax refund can be taken to pay a past-due state unemployment overpayment caused by fraud or by not reporting your earnings, once it is final under state law. Before this happens, the state must notify you and give you at least 60 days to show that the debt is not owed or not legally enforceable.
Law: 26 U.S.C. 6402(f)
- For fraud overpayments, the state must add a penalty of at least 15 percent.
Law: 42 U.S.C. 503(a)(11)
Free help
Call 1-866-831-1724. Legal aid and other free help in South Carolina → Official sources →
More questions about unemployment in South Carolina
Where can I get free help with an unemployment claim in South Carolina?
South Carolina Legal Services (free civil legal aid for low-income South Carolinians) and SC Works centers (free help with claims and job search).