Notice for State Employees

The Governor has directed that when inclement weather occurs in South Carolina, state government offices and their employees will follow the same weather hazard decisions made by county government officials where the state offices are located. For example, if a county delays opening offices or closes early, state agencies in that county will do so. Further, if a county closes offices for an entire day, state offices in that county will do so.

Four sources of information regarding closings and delayed openings of county/state offices are available:

1. Check South Carolina Educational Television and Radio. SCETV will broadcast a "crawl" showing the information and announce it on SCETV radio. SCETV and SCETV radio will broadcast the information statewide.
2. Information regarding closings and delayed openings will be posted to the SCEMD website as quickly as it is received. View SCEMD’s State Government Closings page. 
3. The South Carolina Emergency Manager Mobile App. The SC Emergency Manager app is your personal emergency management tool that displays a complete list of all state and county government closings.
4. Check local commercial news media outlets. They typically broadcast, post on their websites, and/or disseminate through social media any deviations from normal operations for county offices. That information applies to state agencies located in those counties.

Do not call county emergency management offices for information. We ask that state employees refrain from requesting information from county emergency managers because they are typically involved in response activities during stormy weather and should not be interrupted.

County/state closing information can change rapidly. Employees should contact their immediate supervisors if they have questions.

State regulations allow the Governor to authorize pay for missed days under certain circumstances. S.C. Code Ann. 8-11-57 (1976, as amended) provides: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law whenever the Governor declares a state of emergency or orders all or some state offices closed due to hazardous weather conditions he may authorize up to five days leave with pay for affected state employees who are absent from work due to the state of emergency or the hazardous weather conditions." S.C. HR Regulation 19-712.01 (K) includes further information about Hazardous Weather and Emergency Leave. These provisions govern hazardous weather and emergency leave for state employees.

Essential employees may be required to report to work even if state offices are closed for inclement weather. Each agency shall identify essential employees position, classification or internal title.

For State Human Resources general information, please call 803-896-5300 or email DSHR@admin.sc.gov. Note: Employment verification requests must be submitted to the applicable agency or agencies. State Agency Human Resources contact information can be found here (.pdf).