Benefit Programs Continue to Successfully Roll Out for South Carolinians

Columbia, S.C. – The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) extension program, made available through the Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act, has been implemented and is now active. Eligible claimants, who have exhausted their PEUC weeks under the CARES Act, will be able to receive an additional 11 weeks of benefits. Claimants receiving benefits as part of this extension will also receive the additional $300 FPUC payment for eligible weeks under that program.

“After implementing the FPUC payments and PUA extension program immediately after receiving guidance from USDOL, we are pleased to activate PEUC.” said DEW Executive Director Dan Ellzey. “While the program names and benefit amounts are the same, the technicality of implementing these programs is extremely complex, and the federal government did not pass legislation until after the CARES Act programs expired. Our staff worked diligently and very effectively to activate this new program, and I am proud of our agency’s action and fast turnaround.”

Claimants who previously exhausted their 13 weeks of PEUC in 2020 may need to certify weeks available in their MyBenefits portal in order to determine eligibility and to receive retroactive payments to claim week ending January 2, 2021. The PEUC extension program is authorized through claim week ending March 13, 2021.

Claimants were notified of the extension via communication through the MyBenefits portal, along with their next steps of the process.

DEW will continue to post updates to the COVID Federal Programs page, through social media, and send information and instructions directly to claimants.