South Dakota program
Income after a job loss (Reemployment Assistance)
South Dakota unemployment benefits replace some pay after a qualifying job loss or reduction in work.
What it is
South Dakota unemployment benefits replace some pay after a qualifying job loss or reduction in work.
Unemployment is money for people who lost work through no fault of their own. If your employer lets you go or cuts your hours, you can claim. If you quit to care for your child, South Dakota does not pay; its list of good reasons covers the worker's own health, not a child's. Each week you claim you also have to be able to take a full-time job, which is hard during intensive treatment.
Eligibility rules
- Your payment comes from your past wages and how the job ended. The health exception for quitting covers the worker's own health, not a child's.
- For that exception, a doctor has to examine the worker before they leave and confirm the health risk in writing.
What you get
- From $28 to $575 a week, based on eligible earnings.
- Up to 26 benefit weeks, subject to the total earnings-based limit.
What the help includes
- The weekly range took effect July 5, 2026. Total benefits are capped at the smaller of one-third of base-period wages or 26 weekly payments.
- For partial benefits, the first $25 of weekly earnings is ignored and 75% of earnings above $25 is deducted, with the benefit rounded down to a whole dollar. No benefit is payable for a week when earnings equal or exceed your weekly benefit amount; the other eligibility rules still apply.
If you decide to apply
- If you are considering a claim, ask the social worker to help you review your work change and availability.
- Have your work and wage history ready for the Department of Labor and Regulation’s claim process.
South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The first eligible week is unpaid. The week a claim starts matters to the claim’s timing.
Good to know
This mainly helps a parent whose employer ends or cuts the job. Leave keeps the job; resigning to care for your child closes the door on unemployment in South Dakota.
Other details
- Employer leave and unemployment are different options. HR can explain available leave before a parent decides how to handle time away.
Official sources
- Reemployment Assistance wage requirements
- SDCL chapter 61-6 — Reemployment Assistance Benefits
- Reemployment Assistance, Individuals
- Reemployment Assistance claimant handbook
- Reemployment Assistance FAQs
- What You Need to Know About South Dakota Labor Laws
- Official guidance supporting Partial unemployment earnings deduction and leaving work to care for an ill child
“If my work changes because of my child's treatment, would unemployment pay me, or does quitting rule it out? Does this fit us, and can you help me look at leave first?”
Why I’m asking: I want to understand how a work decision could affect both income and time with my child.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Ask for leave or a lay-off in writing before resigning, and file the week work changes.
Your social worker
The oncology social worker can help you word the request to the employer.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation
- Ask HR
- “My child has leukaemia and I need time off. Can I take unpaid leave, or be laid off, rather than resign?”
How to apply
First step: Ask the employer in writing for unpaid leave or a lay-off before resigning.
- Before anyone resigns, ask the employer for unpaid leave or a lay-off in writing.
- If hours have been cut, file anyway: partial benefits exist.
- File the week the work changes; the first eligible week is unpaid.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: File as soon as work ends or hours are cut, at dlr.sd.gov.
What to gather
- Your employer's written answer
- Your pay records for the last year
How long: File the week work changes. The first eligible week is unpaid.
What a yes looks like
A weekly payment between $28 and $575.
What a no looks like, and the next move
If the denial is about how you left, ask what evidence would show the separation was not a voluntary quit, and appeal by the date on the notice.
Watch out
- Quitting to care for a child is not in the statute's list of good causes.
- You must stay able and available for full-time work to be paid.
- The first eligible week is unpaid, so file the week it happens.
Dates that change this
2026-07-05: The weekly range of $28 to $575 took effect on July 5, 2026. The next change date was not published.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
$28 to $575 a week, for at most 26 weeks, if the job ends in a way that keeps you eligible.
- $575/week — Maximum weekly benefit from July 5, 2026
- $28/week — Minimum weekly benefit from July 5, 2026
- $26 — Maximum number of weekly benefits in a benefit year
- $25/week — Weekly earnings ignored before partial benefits are reduced
Legal protection: A lay-off or a cut in hours keeps the claim alive; a resignation to care for a child generally does not · Partial benefits can be paid to a worker whose hours were reduced
What it costs the family: Nothing.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Work history
- base-period wages; the total is capped at one third of base-period wages or 26 times the weekly amount, whichever is less
- Availability
- able and available to accept full-time work
- Good cause
- the statute restricts good cause for quitting to a listed set; the health exception requires that continued employment presents a hazard to the employee's own health, examined by a practitioner before the separation and certified in writing
Decisions this site cannot make: Department of Labor and Regulation decision on whether the separation was for good cause
Expect friction on: A parent has to stay able and available for full-time work, which is hard while sitting at a bedside
The trap: You also have to stay able and available for full-time work to be paid. Cutting your own hours to care for a child does not by itself make you eligible, though partial payments exist for a worker whose employer cut the hours: the first $25 a week of earnings is ignored and the benefit is then cut by 75 cents for every dollar above that.
Where I read this
- Reemployment Assistance wage requirements — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, read September 10, 2026
- SDCL chapter 61-6 — Reemployment Assistance Benefits — South Dakota Legislature, read September 10, 2026
- Reemployment Assistance, Individuals — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, read September 10, 2026
- Reemployment Assistance claimant handbook — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, read September 10, 2026
- Reemployment Assistance FAQs — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, read September 10, 2026
- What You Need to Know About South Dakota Labor Laws — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, read September 10, 2026