SC servers can get 6 weeks of unemployment pay if their employers apply for this program
by Anjali Patel
As local restaurant owners fire their employees so they could get financial help, the unemployment benefits portal is being overloaded with people.
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WPDE) — Many in the service industry across South Carolina are out of work following Gov. Henry McMaster’s order to shut down dine-in service amid the coronavirus outbreak.
But, servers and others impacted by the layoffs aren’t necessarily out of luck.
The South Carolina Dept. of Unemployment and Workforce (DEW) has a program in which restaurant workers and others who are temporarily out of work because of the coronavirus can receive six weeks of unemployment pay from the state without having to search for another job.
But, their employer has to apply for it.
To file for their employees, employers must contact DEW’s Unemployment Insurance department and sign an agreement letter in order to become authorized to file their employees’ claims.
They are required to report any earnings the employee may have received from you or any other employer during the particular week filed. They also must submit an electronic file to the department each week they wish to file. The claim must be submitted after the week of layoff is over but within 14 days of the claim week ending date. Click here for a tutorial.
It’s a different program from standard unemployment insurance. People who receive that are required to actively search for another job while receiving standard unemployment benefits. Workers covered by this particular program are not required to search for a job while receiving the benefits.
The payout is the same, whether you apply for unemployment yourself or if your employer does it on your behalf.
The maximum payout is $326 per week, and a representative with the DEW said the average payout is $236.
However, after the six weeks are up, if employees then want to continue to receive benefits, they must handle it themselves. Once that 6-week period is over, they also must actively start searching for a job. The maximum amount of time you can receive unemployment benefits is 20 weeks.
The DEW has always offered this program, but it’s usually only granted for special scenarios, like after a catastrophic flood.
Layoffs from the coronavirus are already driving many people to the South Carolina DEW.
The South Carolina DEW tweeted on Thursday that they have experienced a 400% increase in the number of claims filed this week over last. They added, more than 4,000 calls were answered on March 18.
