Who is and isn’t eligible for SC unemployment benefits? Coronavirus makes it complicated
After Gov. Henry McMaster barred non-essential businesses from operating during coronavirus last week, Dennis Stokely, a self-employed hair stylist who lives in Bluffton, found himself in limbo.
He’s not allowed to style hair or to travel to teach the cosmetology classes he had booked. To compound his situation, he was deemed ineligible for standard South Carolina unemployment benefits because he works as a freelancer.
While help is coming for workers like Stokely in the form of the CARES Act, recently passed by Congress, which allows gig economy workers and freelancers to be included in what’s called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the question is how soon that help will come.
For unemployed workers like Stokely, time is of the essence.
The U.S. Department of Labor has not yet told the state when that program begins. The state is also awaiting the arrival of federal funding, according to S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce. The state expects to receive almost $2 billion, according to the Post and Courier.
“I’ve floated most of my creditors for the month of April. My concern is will everything be ready in South Carolina and I’ll have unemployment dollars in my hand so I can pay them back?” said Stokely.
SCDEW recommends filing as early as possible even though the funding has not arrived. That allows retroactive payments to be made once it does.
“Everyone can be assured, even if it’s retroactively, they will receive the employment benefits that they’re entitled to,” McMaster said at a press conference Friday.
The question of who is — and who is not — eligible for unemployment benefits is frustrating many South Carolinians, who have been flooding the SCDEW with applications for assistance. The agency said it distributed $10 million just between March 29 and April 2.
If I was laid off or furloughed because of coronavirus, do I qualify for unemployment benefits?
Yes. Sort of.
SCDEW urges workers to apply for benefits if they are unemployed. Generally speaking, if you have been directly laid off or furloughed by your employer, you are eligible.
The catch is that applicants still have to fit the traditional criteria of unemployment. That includes being able and available to work.
Among other things, the able and available categories excludes those forced to quarantine at home or those stuck taking care of their children after schools closed.
The criteria also require that applicants earned at least $4,455 in the last year of employment.
Will I be able to get benefits if I’m ‘un-traditionally’ unemployed?
The CARES Act makes more workers than ever eligible for unemployment benefits.
“There are many types of individuals who would not normally qualify for unemployment insurance benefits, such (as) self employed workers, that could be eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance,” said a release from SCDEW.
According to the agency, here are some groups that could be eligible now:
- Self-employed workers
- Church employees
- Non-profit and governmental workers
Independent contractors
Gig economy workers
Those who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits
CARES also tacks on an extra $600 to each weekly check. South Carolina’s maximum weekly benefit is $326, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, so the federal money would be added to that amount through July.
Additionally, eligibility under CARES is tied to a COVID-19 related reason for unemployment. These include, but are not limited to, having to quarantine, a place of employment closing due to coronavirus, or having to care for someone who has contracted the virus.
Again, neither the money or an official start date has arrived from the federal government. The earliest the $600 a week additional benefit could be applied is March 29.
Why can’t I reach anybody at S.C.’s unemployment office?
Some South Carolinians have reported backed up phone lines and other obstacles to filing claims as an unprecedented number of people apply for assistance. Many expressed their frustration on Facebook and in emails to the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Donna Palokat, a contract substitute teacher at Bluffton Elementary School who was laid off after Beaufort County schools closed, said it has been extremely difficult to get a human on the phone at SCDEW.
“You call them on the phone, the line is tied up,” she said. She stresses that “nothing has changed” since her original claim was deemed ineligible.
She said the lost income from substitute teaching, combined with an inability to resolve her unemployment benefit situation, has left her unable to make her car payments.
“My payment was due on the 23rd. But I didn’t have the money, so I couldn’t pay it,” said Palokat.
Beaufort County school district teachers are conducting classes online and being paid. But because Palokat, who lives in Beaufort, was contracted through a national substitute teacher employer and is not working, she is not.
Many Beaufort County residents are sounding off on Facebook about the long call wait times. SCDEW stresses that the agency is working on shortening those times.
“Only some people are able to get through, many are not. The information we have put on Facebook is as accurate ... as we have now and all that we can provide,” said Heather Biance, a public relations specialist for SCDEW.
Another issue centers around problems SCDEW has in verifying a claimant’s Social Security number because the federal mainframe used to check the numbers is overloaded with unemployment claims from across the country.
“Our system here in the state can handle [the traffic]. Other states are having the same problem. I’m confident they’re doing all they can in Washington,” said McMaster at the press conference Friday. “But eventually those numbers will go through.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 7:29 PM.
