However a witness who volunteers to testify can be legally fired. The law says an employer can’t fire a subpoenaed witness. If you have a witness for your side of the case you should subpoena that person to protect their job. There is also at least one other important form called the Application for Issuance of Witness Subpoena. Don’t write a long description of your defense to the firing. For example you could say “I didn’t do what they have accused me of doing” or “I didn’t quit, I was fired”. I recommend that you answer this with few words. Most of the information on the form is basic, but in the middle of the page it says “I appeal and hereby apply for a hearing because I believe it was issued in error for the following reasons:” You have the right to appeal so you do not have to convince DEW of anything to get a hearing. You will fill out the Notice of Appeal to Appeal Tribunal form. To appeal, you go back to the DEW website. In most cases you will be turned down for unemployment, disqualified for 20 weeks and the total benefits you can receive will be greatly reduced. There are no counselors there but they have computers you can use.Īfter you file for unemployment you will get a decision in the mail called an Initial Determination. The website lists the SC Works locations. If you are not good with computers or the Internet, go to a local library for help or find a SC Works office to help you get access to the DEW website. DEW has a nice website (dew.sc.gov) with a “claimants’” section you should visit right away.Īll unemployment claims are made online. The department says the best way for these claimants to have their questions answered is to call 1-86 and speak with the overpayments department.If you have been fired from your job or even if you have quit your job for a good reason, you can file for unemployment benefits through the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW). The agency says they received more initial claims in eight months than total initial claims received in the last five years.ĭEW says it does not have final numbers for overpayment cases for 2020, but in 2019 there were 7,432 overpayment cases including fraud and nonfraud. They say the rate of overpayments last year during the pandemic was lower with an overpayment rate of 2.75% compared to 4% in 2019. She says if the appeal was approved then that could have resulted in an overpayment issue determined months after the initial claim was filed.ĭEW reported in 2020 they had more than $27 million dollars in overpayments and in 2019 there was more than $4 million in overpayments. The attorney says she just had her hearing last week on that appeal. Van der Horst says she has a client that was approved for benefits in April of last year and her client’s employer appealed. The attorney says the approval and appeal processes are slowed down due to spike in claims. What we’re seeing now is that it is taking months and months and months.” While normally it would take maybe three weeks to six weeks for the entire process to be completed including a hearing on the initial determination. “Then usually what has happened is the employer has appealed. “I’m seeing mostly in this case is that individuals were initially approved for unemployment benefits through that initial process and they received benefits,” van der Horst said. South Carolina Legal Services Employment Law Unit Head and staff attorney Stephanie van der Horst says some claimants are finding out that they may not be qualified to receive benefits much later ,after initial approval due, to the high volume of claims the department is handling. If it’s determined at a later date that the information provided to the agency was not accurate, this can cause an overpayment notice. DEW says it provides a determination of eligibility or ineligibility on a claim based on the information provided by the claimant at the time of the initial claim.
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