How do you file your weekly certification in South Carolina?

DEW pays a claim one week at a time, and only for the weeks you certify in MyBenefits, the claimant portal where you filed. If your employer filed the claim for you, the handbook says you skip the weekly certification and the work searches until the employer stops filing, and an employer can file only 6 weeks for you before you must file your own claim to keep receiving benefits.

How to file your weekly certification in MyBenefits

A South Carolina claim week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday. You certify for a week after it ends: the handbook says Sunday is the first day you can certify for the week just finished. If you file your claim in Week 1, your first weekly certification comes in Week 2, and it covers Week 1.

The certification asks whether you worked, whether you earned any income, and whether you were able, available, and looking for work. The state's claims regulation adds that each week you confirm you reported all work and wages, refused no work, and are able, available, and looking for full-time work. The handbook says to look for full-time work every week unless DEW tells you otherwise.

You can certify in these places:

• Online in MyBenefits, following DEW's step-by-step weekly certification guide.
• In DEW's free claimant app for Android and iPhone, which counts down to the next day you can certify.
• On a computer at one of the many service locations across the state, if you have no computer of your own.

Certify within 14 days after the claim week ends. DEW's weekly benefits page and the handbook both say a week you certify late, or never, is not paid; the handbook counts the 14 calendar days from the Saturday that ends the week. The state's claims regulation is softer: a claims representative may accept a late weekly claim for good cause. Plan on DEW's deadline. If a week has already slipped past it for a reason outside your control, call DEW at 1-866-831-1724 and ask a claims specialist whether good cause applies.

Once you reach the completion page, MyBenefits will not let you change your answers. To correct an honest mistake, call 1-866-831-1724 and speak to a claims specialist. The Dashboard tab shows your claim and payment status at any hour, and the Documents tab holds DEW's latest letters; send anything DEW requests quickly, since a slow reply delays payment.

The unpaid waiting week

The first week of a South Carolina claim is the waiting week, and DEW pays nothing for it. You still have to be unemployed that week, meet the law's eligibility rules, and complete its work search. The Employment Security Law counts a week toward the waiting period only if it falls in the same benefit year, no benefit was paid for it, and you were otherwise eligible. DEW waived the waiting week in 2020 for the pandemic and brought it back starting with the claim week ending June 19, 2021.

When payment arrives: direct deposit or debit card

DEW's weekly benefits page says that once you certify and are eligible, a payment can take up to 3 business days to process. The handbook describes the next step: after DEW issues the payment on your MyBenefits homepage, it takes about 2 to 3 business days to clear your bank account, depending on your bank. DEW's system releases a week's payment once you have certified it and done both work searches, and holidays and bank closures can push back when you can use the money.

You choose how to be paid when you file your initial claim.

• Direct deposit pays faster, saves a trip to the bank, and avoids mail delays. You need your bank's routing number and your account number, and your bank must accept electronic transfers. If you do not have them when you file, you can add them later.
• Prepaid debit card. The How UI Works page calls the card DEW's main payment method. The card arrives in the mail 7 to 10 days after eligibility certification, and you activate it in the Money Network app or at 1-866-892-2835. Getting the card and buying from a merchant cost nothing, but fees may apply to cash from ATMs and bank tellers.

The Claimant Handbook names FISERV as the card provider, while DEW's debit card page tells you to activate through Money Network. Follow the debit card page, since it is the page DEW keeps for the card. DEW does not withhold income tax unless you ask; the taxes page covers that choice.

The 2 weekly work searches in SC Works Online Services

A South Carolina work search is done in SC Works Online Services (SCWOS), the state job bank at jobs.scworks.org. You register there, and the state's work search regulation requires at least 2 job searches in SCWOS each week unless you have good cause. DEW counts a search as reading a job post while logged into your own SCWOS account, so reading 2 posts in a week meets the rule. DEW has required the 2 weekly searches since April 18, 2021.

• Timing. You have from Sunday to Saturday each week to do both searches. Certifying without them can stop your payments, and the waiting week needs them too.
• Checking they counted. 24 hours after you search, open the Confirmation History tab in MyBenefits. A "Y" under SC Work Search Confirmation means your searches were recorded. An "N" may mean your SCWOS and MyBenefits accounts are not connected.
• On your phone. The SCWOS app is free in the Android and Apple app stores, and DEW's job search tutorial walks through a search.
• Exceptions. You skip the weekly searches while in UI-approved training, such as WIOA, or in the short-term courses for high-demand jobs that DEW and the State Technical College System approve. DEW may also waive the 2-search rule for good cause, such as a verifiable lack of electronic access or a language barrier, deciding each case on its own.

Jury duty does not excuse the searches. If DEW refers you to a job, contact the employer and accept any suitable offer, or you may be disqualified and have your benefits turned off. Report any job offer you turn down. The job search page covers SCWOS and the SC Works Centers in more depth.

RESEA and WRAP reemployment appointments

DEW can call you to a reemployment appointment. The Employment Security Law says a claimant whom DEW's profiling system flags as likely to run out of benefits and to need help finding work must take part in reemployment services, such as job search assistance. The exceptions are a claimant who has already completed those services or has justifiable cause for missing them. The state's claims regulation separately requires you to report to any appointment DEW schedules, and DEW's How UI Works page lists reporting to your local comprehensive SC Works center as required among its general guidelines for staying eligible.

The in-person appointments are the Reemployment Services Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) and the Workforce Reemployment Assistance Program (WRAP). DEW's list of Employment Service Offices shows where they are held, so find the one nearest you there.

Reporting earnings, severance, and a new job

Report your gross earnings for any week you physically worked, meaning pay before taxes and other deductions, even if you have not been paid yet. The handbook says to report money when you earn it, not when it is paid, and to include full-time and part-time work, temporary and odd jobs, self-employment, bonuses, commissions, and tips. The handbook's example: 10 hours in a week at $20 an hour, with no other earnings, means you report $200 in gross earnings.

A week in which you earn more than your weekly benefit amount pays nothing. In a week you earn less, you keep earnings up to 25 percent of your weekly benefit amount, and DEW deducts everything above that. The amounts page works through that math, and DEW's earnings worksheet helps you add up a week. If your hours were cut below full time (30 hours a week) and you earn less than your weekly benefit amount, DEW still counts you as unemployed, as long as you report all the work and wages.

Report any separation pay, such as severance, on your weekly certification; DEW may contact you for details and decides whether it is deductible. The Claimant Handbook also has you tell DEW about any retirement plan payment you receive or apply for, because retirement income may affect your weekly benefit amount.

When you go back to work, you stop certifying. DEW's fraud page says to stop filing as soon as you start working, without waiting for your first paycheck. The handbook adds that you do not need to notify DEW about a new full-time job, but if it starts in the middle of a claim week, you certify that week and report its earnings. Part-time work that pays less than your weekly benefit amount may still leave you eligible for partial benefits, so keep certifying and report those wages each week.