COLUMBIA, S.C. — In about a month and a half, more than 450,000 people have filed for unemployment benefits in South Carolina.
Makisha Pickett is one of them.
Pickett was laid off from her job at Goodwill on April 18 and was told her employer would file on the employee's behalf, according to documents she provided.
After getting help finalizing her filing over the phone, Pickett said she then noticed an error.
“I started January 27th and that's the date she put down on my information that I was laid off. That's not right, I was laid off April the 18th,” Pickett said.
Since filing Pickett said she's spent hours on hold each day trying to get the dates fixed. She told WLTX on Thursday morning she had talked to six representatives briefly, only to be put back on hold.
Now, with bills and rent due in mid-May, Pickett said she's starting to panic.
“I'm actually having a panic attack right now. Like my apartment complex wants me to pay my rent, I have light bills coming up on the 13th, that's basically the situation for me right now. I have no income coming in whatsoever. So, it's really been a trying time. I know everybody's going through it right now, but it's really bad,” Pickett said.
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce Chief of Staff Jamie Suber said while calls are decreasing, they're still working to process the thousands of claims that have come in.
“There are also issues in the system where individuals may have issues that need to be resolved, some on our part and some on theirs. So, it's a combination of things that may be delaying payment and we're trying to work as expeditiously as possible to try to get through what the volume is that have not been addressed yet,” Suber said over video call on Thursday.
In the week ending May 2, the Department of Employment and Workforce announced there were 46,747 initial claims filed.
It is a decrease in initial claims for the third week in a row.
“I know that seems favorable and it's trending in the right direction, however we know we still have a lot of individuals who are participants in the program now and they have continued weeks and they need our services still,” Suber said.
In a month and a half, SC DEW has paid out $831 million in benefits between state and federal funds.
Suber said they still have enough funding to keep going.
“So right now in regards to the trust fund I think our balance is around $970 million. And again, not knowing when the end is in sight or how long individuals are going to be unemployed, I know there's a huge push to reopen and industries just aren't opening back up. Without any true date in sight of when that's going to happen, we are continuing to monitor the trust fund and understand how much is needed to continue to pay out benefits,” Suber said.
SC DEW has not requested more money from lawmakers and Suber said they would do whatever they need to ensure benefits if money runs low.
Currently, processing and payment is taking up to 21 business days.
The Department's extended call center hours will continue from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the week with reduced hours on Saturdays.
