Welcome to the tutorial about the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforces new benefits portal for employers and third-party administrators.
You can find the new portal by going: dew.sc.gov
Clicking the “Filing Claims for Workers: Employer Filed Claim” tab.
File Claims – Employer on South Carolina
In the next section, click “Login page for the Employer Self Service Portal”.
This streamlined robust system gives you customization options. Access to all benefits information in one place and real-time tracking of your account.
In this article will walk through how to file a claim for an employee or a group of employees. In order to complete this process, you must have already received communication from dew granting you access to this functionally either in the old system or the new one.
If you have not requested access, please see our tutorial that walks you through the process. You will login:
On the left-hand side of the screen, you will see a selection labeled benefit information. Within that is a link called “File Claim”, click this link please.
Read all of the the information on the next page and click that you agree. If you do not agree, please click “Cancel” to be directed to the multi claimant group page. For the purpose of this tutorial, we will click “I agree to the above” and then click “Continue”.
Multi-Claimant Group: Employer Separations
When you arrive at the employer separations page, you will see fields for information as well as a list at the bottom of the screen of previously reported multi claimant groups associated with this account.
For “Group Type” there are a few options and depending on which options is selected, the screen may look slightly different. We will select “File a Claim”.
The first step of this process is to create the group information and date in order to create an identifiable group in the system. All fileds noted with an asterisk must be completed.
For the “Return to Work Date”, if you do not know an actual calendar date, use the drop down menu just to the right labeled return date and select one of those options. When you have filed all the information, click “Save”.
While the screen may not appear to change much, you will notice a note in the top left corner that says “Save successfully”.
You will also notice that the group is now displayed in the other group details scetion of the screen and there is a group ID assigned to them.
Editing is not available once you receive a confirmation number for the Group ID.
You can also use the copy feature to create a new group with the unique ID using the same separation information.
Add affected employees
We are now ready to add affected employees. Click the radio button for the group ID you wish to use and then and then click next.
You will be taken to the Employees List screen. There are two ways to add employees: you may upload file or you can add the employees manually.
The manual process is fairly self-explanatory. You will enter all of the information on the screen regarding an employee and click “Save” at the bottom of the screen. Required fields are noted with an asterisk.
For the purposes of this tutorial, we will take you through the upload process. To start, there is an informational page about the required format that can be accessed by clicking the help button on the right.
With the screen open, you can right click and then print this page. So thath it is readily available as you create your spreadsheet for the upload.
You will start by clicking the download button.
This download which will provide you an excel template in which to enter your employees information.
When you open the spreedsheet, it is recommended that you click file and save as. Locate a folder on your system where you can find the file again and then name your file. You might notice in the save as type box the file is listed as comma delimited or dot CSV file that is correct. If a pop-ip box appears, you will click “Yes” to proceed.
Let´s explore the spreedsheet for a moment. You will notice as you scroll over each cell you are able to read all of the information in the header. This is the same information that is required on the screen we just saw for the manual process.
In order to see everything in the cell, you can select the row and click wrap text. This will automatically open the cells so you can read everything while you input the information. However, please note that the wrap text must be taken off of these cells in order succesfully upload to the site.
When you are finishued, simply click the row again and click wrap text. As you fill in your employees information, you will find the notes page that you print it out very helpful. For instance, when you are filling in an employee´s start date, it tells you to type the date by two-digit month, two-digit day and four-digit year using slashes.
The last thing to do in the file, is to click cell G1 and enter the number of employees listed in the file.
When you have finished, return to the employer portal and click upload.
On the next screen, you will click the choose file button which will allow you to search your computer for the file. You will select it and then click open. A preview of the name will appear to the right of the button. Click the upload button on the right.
If there are any issues with the file, the system will give you a list of those so you make corrections. If the file is saved correctly, you will see a note in the top left-hand side of your page that says “Saved successfully”.
In addition, you will see in the individuals at the bottom of your screen. If needed, you can click the radio button next to an individual to update their information or delete them from the list.
When you are ready, click “Finish”.
Important Reminders
You will be directed to a confirmation screen. Your confirmation number for your group will be at the top of the page. If you choose, you may print this page for your records.
Please remind the individual that while you have filed trough the employer portal they must go through the claimant self-service as well in order to receive benefits. Also remind them that there is a one-week waiting period to receive benefits and that they must also have an email account to register in the unemployment benefit system.
If they earn any wages while receiving unemployment insurance benefits, these must be reported even if the work is temporary or part-time.
*Executive Order 2020-11 allows to agency to waive th eone-week waiting period for individuals who file for Unemployment Insurance benefits due the pandemic between March 15 – April 18, 2020. This allows DEW to payout claims faster to approved applicants.
From here, you can click the home button to return to the Multi-Claimant Group home page or you can click the home link on the top left to return to the employer dashboard.
For more information on how to use the new benefit portal, please see our other tutorials.