myjobcontacts › States › South Dakota
How many job searches do you need for unemployment in South Dakota?
Short answer: You must make at least 2 job contacts each week you ask for benefits. A job contact means applying for a job, usually by sending an application or resume the way the employer asks. You enter each contact when you file your weekly request for payment.
Each week
2 employer contacts
The week
Sunday through Saturday
Request payment
File for the week that just ended, starting Sunday.
Official log form
Employer Contacts Job Search Tracking Sheet (DLR WIOA Form 66)
Keep records
Check with DLR. We suggest keeping your log until your claim is fully closed.
Special cases
- Working reduced or part-time hours: 2 a week. You still must search for full-time work (or more part-time work that adds up to 40 hours).
What counts as a work search in South Dakota
- Submitting a job application online or in person
- Submitting a resume online or in person
- Going to a job interview
- Taking part in a DLR-approved reemployment services program
- Applying in person, if you talk with someone who can hire
What doesn’t count
- Looking at job listings online, Job Service boards or help wanted ads without applying
- Calling a business to ask if it is hiring
- Registering with or contacting a temporary staffing agency
- Using your current part-time or on-call employer as a contact
- Looking for self-employment or independent contract work
- Contacts with relatives or a spouse who works at the company
- Applying to the same employer again within 30 days, unless it is for a different job
Same employer twice? Repeat contacts with the same employer do not count unless you apply for a different job or 30 days have passed.
More on this in what counts as a work search contact.
How to report your job contacts
When you file your weekly request for payment, you enter each job contact: business name, date, the business phone, address, email or web link, the job title, the person with hiring authority you contacted, and how you applied. If it is missing or incomplete, you may be denied for that week. Also keep your own record and copies of confirmations.
When: File for the week that just ended, starting Sunday. You have 7 days after the Saturday week-ending date.
Where: RA Benefits Portal.
When the search starts: Each week you request benefits. Your filing instructions tell you if you must search.
Keep a work search log
DLR’s form is the Employer Contacts Job Search Tracking Sheet (DLR WIOA Form 66). It asks for: contact date, name of business, business address, telephone, and/or email or website, contact method, name of person contacted, job applied for.
The free myjobcontacts app keeps the same details and prints them in the same columns as DLR’s form. Prefer paper? Use the free printable work search log.
Who doesn’t have to search
- You will be recalled to full-time work by an employer within 10 straight weeks, and the employer gave a recall date
- You have a definite recall date with an employer that paid at least half your base-period wages, and weather-related seasonal work is not available
- You are a member in good standing of a referring union with a hiring hall (you must be on the out-of-work list)
- You are in department-approved training
Union members: If you are a member in good standing of a union with a hiring hall and on its out-of-work list, DLR can excuse you from the weekly job contacts. Stay in touch with the hall.
See work search exemptions for how these work in other states.
Reviews, audits and RESEA
DLR checks your job contacts with employers. Claims are also picked at random for audits, including an audit of your weekly job applications. If you are picked, you must send your records on time.
RESEA: You must go to all reemployment services DLR schedules for you. If you miss one, your benefits stop until you report to your local Job Service office.
What to expect: unemployment work search audits.
If you miss your number
If you do not make 2 contacts or leave contact details off your weekly request, you may be denied for that week. If you cannot show proof of your contacts when asked, you may lose benefits. Saying you applied when you did not is fraud.
Sign up with the job bank
If you live in South Dakota, you are registered in SDWORKS automatically when you file. If you live in another state, register with your state's job service and send proof within 14 days. SDWORKS.
Keep every job contact in one place
myjobcontacts is a free work search log. Pick your state and it shows how many contacts you still need this week, reminds you before you request payment, and prints a clean log if DLR ever asks for it. No sign-up. Your list stays on your phone.
Start my free logQuestions people in South Dakota ask
How many job searches are required for unemployment in South Dakota?
You must make at least 2 job contacts each week you ask for benefits. A job contact means applying for a job, usually by sending an application or resume the way the employer asks. You enter each contact when you file your weekly request for payment. Some people have a different number: Working reduced or part-time hours (2).
What counts as a work search in South Dakota?
Submitting a job application online or in person; Submitting a resume online or in person; Going to a job interview; Taking part in a DLR-approved reemployment services program, and 1 more on the list above. Check your notice for anything your state added for you.
Do I have to keep a work search log in South Dakota?
When you file your weekly request for payment, you enter each job contact: business name, date, the business phone, address, email or web link, the job title, the person with hiring authority you contacted, and how you applied. If it is missing or incomplete, you may be denied for that week. Also keep your own record and copies of confirmations.
What happens if I don’t do enough job searches in South Dakota?
If you do not make 2 contacts or leave contact details off your weekly request, you may be denied for that week. If you cannot show proof of your contacts when asked, you may lose benefits. Saying you applied when you did not is fraud.
Who doesn’t have to look for work in South Dakota?
You will be recalled to full-time work by an employer within 10 straight weeks, and the employer gave a recall date. You have a definite recall date with an employer that paid at least half your base-period wages, and weather-related seasonal work is not available. You are a member in good standing of a referring union with a hiring hall (you must be on the out-of-work list). Your notice will say if this applies to you.
Does South Dakota check or audit work search records?
DLR checks your job contacts with employers. Claims are also picked at random for audits, including an audit of your weekly job applications. If you are picked, you must send your records on time.
Checked against DLR’s own pages and rules on November 6, 2026. We could not confirm how long to keep your records on an official page, so check your notice for that.
Sources
Work search rules in every state
myjobcontacts is not a government website and this is not legal advice. Rules change, and your own claim notice or letter is what counts. If something here doesn’t match what your state told you, follow your state.