(AP) -- COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Last year's unemployment benefits law change has caused thousands of people to wait longer to get benefit checks. The change also means South Carolina doesn't comply with federal standards.
John Finan is director of the Department of Employment Workforce and says the state is consistently missing a 21-day deadline to issue checks to people filing jobless claims.
That's because businesses got a break in a law passed in April. It gives them 12 business days instead of seven calendar days to respond to unemployment claims.
The state has been warned by the U.S. Labor Department that the new law would put the state out of compliance with federal standards. But legislators didn't act fast enough to deal the problem before leaving in June.
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