I live in MN, company based in SC, have been working mostly NC & SC the past few years.
Company told me to collect in MN because that is where my income and UI taxes are paid into, and that's where my wages are reported.
First of all, the company you are working for is screwing you, because you/they have to pay unemployment tax/unemployment insurance to the state you are working in. Not where you live. You will need to get them to pull the payments back, and apply them properly for you to be able to pull unemployment from the state you performed in. If you worked in South Carolina, you will not win your protest, if you did not, you have a chance.:
Subd. 12.Covered employment.
(1) an employee's entire employment during the calendar quarter if:
(iii) the employment during the quarter is not performed primarily in Minnesota or any other state and the base of operations or place from which the employment is directed or controlled is not in any state where part of the employment is performed, but the employee's residence is in Minnesota;
Call the company you worked for, and have them give you written proof to where they paid your unemployment.
To give you some idea of where I am coming from, I have had to address this issue with the state of Tennessee, from an employers perspective. One of my clients was properly reporting wages where the employee worked, even thought the employee lives in TN, and my Client was based in TN. It took a while to explain TN's law to the TN folks, but eventually they understood.
There are "tests" to see where to pay.
Test 1) "
Localization of Services Test"
Wages are reported to the state where service is performed. (Your case)Test 2) "
Employee Base of Operations Test" Wages are reported to the state in which employee has his base of operations
AND PERFORMED SOME SERVICES"
-- You did not, N/ATest 3) "
Employer Base of Operations Test" Wages are reported and premiums are paid to the state from which the service is directed
IF THE EMPLOYEE PERFORMED SOME SERVICE IN THAT STATE" - You if you worked in SC.
Test 4) "Place of Residence Test"
Wages are reported to the state employee lives IF SOME SERVICE IS PERFORMED IN THAT STATE" -- You did not, N/A
Notice Base of operations and residence are similar, but you don't qualify for either.
Basically, your employer should be paying to the state you are working in, all of the time.
You should research Minnesota's unemployment laws. Here is an easy to read handbook, and some exerpts:
http://www.uimn.org/uimn/employers/publications/emp-hbook/employment-in-more.jspEmployment in more than one state Reference: Minnesota Law, §268.035 Subd.12
When an employee performs services in Minnesota and at least one other state, use the following information to determine whether wages paid to the worker must be reported to the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program.
- The employment is performed primarily in Minnesota, and the employment performed outside Minnesota is incidental to the employment in Minnesota, or
- The employment is performed in Minnesota and the base of operations or the place from which the employment is directed or controlled is in Minnesota, or
- The base of operations or place from which the employment is directed or controlled is not in any state where part of the employment is performed, but the employee's residence is in Minnesota.
If the information above does not apply and the individual's services are not covered under the laws of another state or Canada, the services are covered in Minnesota if the employer directs and controls them from Minnesota.
Wages paid to an employee who was covered under the unemployment insurance law of another state do not count toward the Minnesota taxable wage base.
Leased employeesReference: Law, §268.046 Subd.1
The term leased employees refers to a relationship where one legal entity provides labor to another legal entity on a continuing basis for a fee. All employee leasing firms (also commonly referred to as "professional employer organizations" or "PEOs") that operate in Minnesota must register with the Minnesota Department of Commerce before registering with the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program. Employee leasing firms must maintain separate UI employer accounts for each of their clients.
Here is the actual law for your state. They are basically the same everywhere, with some minor variances.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=268.035#stat.268.035.12Subd. 12.Covered employment.
(a) "Covered employment" means the following unless excluded as "noncovered employment" under subdivision 20:
(1) an employee's entire employment during the calendar quarter if:
(i) the employment during the quarter is performed primarily in Minnesota;
(ii) the employment during the quarter is not performed primarily in Minnesota or any other state but some of the employment is performed in Minnesota and the base of operations or the place from which the employment is directed or controlled is in Minnesota; or
(iii) the employment during the quarter is not performed primarily in Minnesota or any other state and the base of operations or place from which the employment is directed or controlled is not in any state where part of the employment is performed, but the employee's residence is in Minnesota;
(2) an employee's entire employment during the calendar quarter performed within the United States or Canada, if:
(i) the employment is not covered employment under the unemployment insurance program of any other state, federal law, or the law of Canada; and
(ii) the place from which the employment is directed or controlled is in Minnesota;
(3) the employment during the calendar quarter, performed entirely outside the United States and Canada, by an employee who is a United States citizen in the employ of an American employer if the employer's principal place of business in the United States is located in Minnesota. An "American employer," for the purposes of this clause, means a corporation organized under the laws of any state, 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; and
(4) all employment during the calendar quarter performed by an officer or member of the crew of an American vessel on or in connection with the vessel, if the operating office from which the operations of the vessel operating on navigable waters within, or within and without, the United States are ordinarily and regularly supervised, managed, directed, and controlled is in Minnesota.
(b) "Covered employment" includes covered agricultural employment under subdivision 11.
(c) For the purposes of section 268.095, "covered employment" includes employment covered under an unemployment insurance program:
(1) of any other state;