2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 41 - Labor and Employment › Chapter 27 - Employment And Workforce - General Provisions › Section 41-27-230. Employment.

"Employment" means:
(1) Any service performed prior to January 1, 1978, which was employment as defined in this subsection prior to such date and, subject to the other provisions of this subsection, service performed after December 31, 1977, for wages under a contract of hire, written or oral, expressed or implied, including service in interstate commerce by:
(a) Any officer of a corporation; or
(b) Any individual who, under the usual common law rules applicable in determining the employer-employee relationship, has the status of an employee; or
(c) Any individual other than an individual who is an employee under subdivision (a) or (b) who performs services for remuneration for any employing unit:
(i) As an agent-driver or commission-driver engaged in distributing meat products, vegetable products, fruit products, bakery products, beverages (other than milk) or laundry or dry-cleaning services, for his principal;
(ii) As a traveling or city salesman, other than as an agent-driver or commission-driver, engaged upon a full-time basis in the solicitation on behalf of, and the transmission to, his principal (except for side-line sales activities on behalf of some other person) of orders from wholesalers, retailers, contractors, or operators of hotels, restaurants or similar establishments for merchandise for resale or supplies for use in their business operations; provided, that for purposes of subparagraph (1)(c), the term "employment" shall include services described in (i) and (ii) above performed after December 31, 1971, only if:
A. The contract of service contemplates that substantially all of the services are to be performed personally by such individual;
B. The individual does not have a substantial investment in facilities used in connection with the performance of the services (other than in facilities for transportation); and
C. The services are not in the nature of a single transaction that is not part of a continuing relationship with the person for whom the services are performed.
(2)(a) Service performed after December 31, 1971, by an individual in the employ of this State or any of its instrumentalities (or in the employ of this State and one or more other States or their instrumentalities) for a hospital or institution of higher education located in this State, or a political subdivision of this State which has elected to cover such service; provided, that such service is excluded from "employment" as defined in the Federal Unemployment Tax Act solely by reason of Section 3306(c)(7) of that act and is not excluded from "employment" under Section 41-27-230(4) of this Title.
(b) Service performed after December 31, 1977, in the employ of this State or any political subdivision thereof, or any instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing which is wholly owned by this State and one or more other states or political subdivisions, or any service performed in the employ of any instrumentality of this State or any political subdivisions thereof, and one or more other states or political subdivisions; provided, that such service is excluded from "employment" as defined in the Federal Unemployment Tax Act by Section 3306(c)(7) of that act and is not excluded from "employment" under Section 41-27-230(4) of this Title.
(3) Service performed after December 31, 1971, by an individual in the employ of a religious, charitable, educational or other organization but only if the following conditions are met:
(a) The service is excluded from "employment" as defined in the Federal Unemployment Tax Act solely by reason of Section 3306(c)(8) of that act; and
(b) The organization had four or more individuals in employment in each of twenty different weeks, whether or not such weeks were consecutive, within either the current or preceding calendar year, regardless of whether they were employed at the same moment of time.
(4) For the purposes of paragraphs (2) and (3) the term "employment" shall not apply to service excluded from employment by reason of Section 41-27-260(10).
(5) Service performed after December 31, 1977, by an individual in agricultural labor as defined in Section 41-27-120 of this Title when:
(a) Such service is performed for a person who:
(i) During any calendar quarter in either the current or preceding calendar year paid remuneration in cash of twenty thousand dollars or more to individuals employed in agricultural labor (not taking into account service in agricultural labor performed before January 1, 1980, by an alien referred to in division (b) of this subparagraph); or
(ii) For some portion of a day in each of twenty different calendar weeks, whether or not such weeks were consecutive, in either the current or the preceding calendar year, employed in agricultural labor (not taking into account service performed before January 1, 1980, by an alien referred to in division (b) of this subparagraph), ten or more individuals regardless of whether they were employed at the same moment of time.
(b) Such service is not performed in agricultural labor if performed before January 1, 1980, by an individual who is an alien admitted to the United States to perform service in agricultural labor pursuant to Sections 214(c) and 101(a)(15)(H) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
(c) For the purposes of this paragraph any individual who is a member of a crew furnished by a crew leader to perform service in agricultural labor for any other person shall be treated as an employee of such crew leader:
(i) If such crew leader holds a valid certificate of registration under the Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act of 1963; or substantially all the members of such crew operate or maintain tractors, mechanized harvesting or cropdusting equipment, or any other mechanized equipment, which is provided by such crew leader; and
(ii) If such individual is not an employee of such other person within the meaning of paragraph (1) of this section.
(d) For the purposes of this paragraph, in the case of any individual who is furnished by a crew leader to perform service in agricultural labor for any other person who is not treated as an employee of such crew leader under (c); such other person and not the crew leader shall be treated as the employer of such individual, and such other person shall be treated as having paid cash remuneration to such individual in an amount equal to the amount of cash remuneration paid to such individual by the crew leader (either on his own behalf or on behalf of such other person) for the service in agricultural labor performed for such other person.
(e) For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "crew leader" means an individual who:
(i) Furnished individuals to perform service in agricultural labor for any other person;
(ii) Pays (either on his own behalf or on behalf of such other person) the individuals so furnished by him for the service in agricultural labor performed by them, and
(iii) Has not entered into a written agreement with such other farm operator under which such crew leader is designated as an employee of such other farm operator.
(6) Service performed after December 31, 1977, by an individual in domestic service, which includes all service for a person in the operation and maintenance of a private household, local college club or local chapter of a college fraternity or sorority as distinguished from service as an employee in the pursuit of an employer's trade, occupation, profession, enterprise or vocation, and such service is performed for a person who paid cash remuneration of one thousand dollars or more after December 31, 1977, in the current calendar year or the preceding calendar year to individuals employed in such domestic service in any calendar quarter.
(7) The term "employment" shall include the service of an individual who is a citizen of the United States, performed outside the United States after December 31, 1971 (except in Canada, and in the case of the Virgin Islands after December 31, 1971, and prior to January 1 of the year following the year in which the United States Secretary of Labor approves the unemployment compensation law of the Virgin Islands under Section 3304(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954) in the employ of an American employer (other than service which is deemed "employment" under the provisions of Section 41-27-230(9) and Section 41-27-230(11) of this section or the parallel provisions of another State's law), if:
(a) The employer's principal place of business in the United States is located in this State; or
(b) The employer has no place of business in the United States, but,
(i) the employer is an individual who is a resident of this State; or
(ii) the employer is a corporation which is organized under the laws of this State; or
(iii) the employer is a partnership or a trust and the number of the partners or trustees who are residents of this State is greater than the number who are residents of any one other State; or
(c) None of the criteria of divisions (a) and (b) of this subparagraph are met but the employer has elected coverage in this State, or the employer having failed to elect coverage in any state, the individual has filed a claim for benefits, based on such service, under the law of this State.
(d) An "American employer", for the purpose of this paragraph, means a person who is an individual who is a resident of the United States; or a partnership if two-thirds or more of the partners are residents of the United States; or a trust, if all of the trustees are residents of the United States; or a corporation organized under the laws of the United States or of any state.
(e) As used in this section, the term "United States" includes the states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and effective one day after the date on which the United States Secretary of Labor approves its unemployment compensation law under Section 3304(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, the term shall include the Virgin Islands.
(8) All service performed by an officer or member of the crew of an American vessel on or in connection with such vessel, if the operating office, from which the operations of such vessel operating on navigable waters within, or within and without, the United States are ordinarily and regularly supervised, managed, directed and control is within this State; and
(9) The term "employment" shall include an individual's entire service, performed within or both within and without this State, in the United States if:
(a) The service is localized in this State; or
(b) The service is not localized in any state but some of the service is performed in this State and:
(i) the base of operation or, if there is no base of operation, the place from which such service is directed or controlled is in this State; or
(ii) the base of operation or place from which such service is directed or controlled is not in any state in which some part of the service is performed, but the individual's residence is in this State; or
(c) The service, wherever performed, is within the United States or Canada, if:
(i) such service is not covered under the unemployment compensation law of any other state or Canada; and
(ii) the place from which the service is directed or controlled is in this State.
(10) A service not covered under item (7) of this section and performed entirely without this State, with respect to no part of which contributions are required and paid under an unemployment compensation law of another state or of the federal government, is considered employment subject to Chapters 27 through 41 of this title if the individual performing such services is a resident of this State and the department approves the election of the employing unit for whom the services are performed that the entire service of the individual is considered employment subject to Chapters 27 through 41 of this title.
(11) Service shall be deemed to be localized within a state if the service is performed entirely within such state, or if the service is performed both within and without such state, but the service performed without such state is incidental to the individual's service within the state; for example, is temporary or transitory in nature or consists of isolated transactions.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 68-14; 1952 Code Section 68-13; 1942 Code Section 7035-99; 1936 (39) 1716; 1939 (41) 487; 1940 (41) 1630; 1941 (42) 358, 369; 1957 (50) 580; 1971 (57) 950; 1972 (57) 2309; 1973 (58) 248. 1977 Act No. 161 Section 2; 2010 Act No. 146, Section 17, eff March 30, 2010.
Effect of Amendment
The 2010 amendment made nonsubstantive changes to subsection (10).