SPIEGEL: Mr. Butterwegge, you have always been a keen critic of Hartz IV. One of the main criticisms, the tough sanctions, has defused the Federal Constitutional Court today. Does it satisfy you?
Butterwegge: The verdict is a legal slap for those hardliners who have introduced Hartz IV. I am thinking of Gerhard Schröder and his economics and labor minister Wolfgang Clement. In 2010, the Federal Constitutional Court dismantled the calculation of the Hartz rule sets, now the arsenal of Old Testament punishments that the rules provide.
SPIEGEL: Is "Old Testamentary" not a bit high-handed?
Butterwegge: If a young unemployed commits two breaches of duty, for example, rejects a McJob and an application training breaks off, he gets so far not a cent more of the office and may even lose his apartment. That is completely disproportionate.
SPIEGEL: Today, however, young unemployed people were not the subject of the negotiation; they are subject to different rules.
Butterwegge: That's right, but the problems that are there have actually gotten the court through, and in a very elegant way. The judges have stated, mutatis mutandis, that in drastic cuts in the subsistence level, human dignity is violated. It is obvious that young adults have no other human dignity than older ones. The different treatment depending on the age of those affected is hardly uphold the judgment.
SPIEGEL: Schroeder's principle "Promote and Demand", some say "carrot and stick", but the Constitutional Court has not annulled. Sanctions remain possible.
Butterwegge: Yes, which I am very sorry. However, the court would hardly have been able to go further without causing the entire Hartz IV system to collapse. Realistically, this hope was not.
SPIEGEL: You have to explain this: How could one have brought Hartz IV to collapse?
more on the subject
Butterwegge: In my view, the Hartz system has three core elements: First, it was the unemployment benefit, which was based on the former wage level replaced by payments that cover only the subsistence level, no matter how much you have earned before. Second, aid recipients are expected to accept jobs in the low paid sector as well. And third, the professional and qualification protection has been eliminated, which ensured that you as a technician not in the beverage market and as a medical-technical assistant did not land in the call center. Each of these points in itself is so unreasonable that you have to threaten its enforcement with draconian sanctions.
SPIEGEL: So, now that the sanctions have been completely abolished, as you demand ... ...
Butterwegge: ... ... then the rest would probably have been unstoppable.
SPIEGEL: What is the success of the sanction opponents?
Butterwegge: The court has limited the worst hardships. On the one hand, only a maximum of 30 percent of the cash benefit may be deducted, and on the other hand, rent and heating costs are spared from withdrawal. The arbitrary extermination of existences was thus blocked. In addition, the court has ended the nonsense that sanctions apply for three months, even if an unemployed person already changes the sanctioned behavior after two weeks. That was counterproductive.
SPIEGEL: How counterproductive?
Thus, the sanctions in Hartz IV were previously regulated
reporting failures
A failure to register is usually that a Hartz IV recipient simply does not appear for an appointment at the Job Center - and for no "important reason" can prove.
In this case, Hartz IV will be cut by ten percent of the regular requirement for three months. Specifically, a single so so long with 42.40 euros less per month to get along, as the rule requirement for him is 424 euros. Since each individual failure to report leads to a reduction of ten percent over three months, it is quite possible that the cuts will add up - that is, 20, 30 or more percent of the regular requirement will be deducted.
breaches
A breach of duty is, for example, if a Hartz IV recipient without a "good cause" declines a reasonable job or behaves in the interview so that he does not get the job. Similarly, if he can not prove to have written enough applications , or a so-called action - ie training or training - refuses or breaks off . There are a few more breaches of duty, which are very rare according to statistics.
Breaches of duty are punished much harder than failure to report: Hartz IV is reduced for three months by 30 percent of the standard requirement for the first violation , in a single so by 127.20 euros. If there is a second breach of duty within a year , it will be cut by 60 percent , ie by 254.40 euros. In the third dereliction of duty within a year, it comes quite thick, namely to Vollsanktionierung : Then the entitlement to Hartz IV goes completely - that is, there is no cent more from the Job Center , the housing and heating costs are also no longer paid , as well as health insurance ,
Stricter sanctions for young people
Much harder are the regulations for Hartz IV recipients under 25 years . With them, the job center already cuts 100 percent of the standard rate on the first breach of duty . In the case of a second breach of duty within a year, the full sanction follows: Then the claim to Hartz IV expires altogether - that is, there is no more cent from the job center , the housing and heating costs are also no longer paid, as well as the health insurance .
Benefits in kind as a substitute
If it imposes sanctions, the Jobcenter can grant benefits in kind, ie, in the main, vouchers for food or hygiene products . However, this is never a complete substitute for the reduced amount of money: Benefits in kind can only be granted from a reduction of more than 30 per cent - and at most enough to reach the level of a 30 per cent reduction , but at least half of the standard rate , In addition, they are only available on request - and even then the job center discretionary will decide whether to grant them.
An exception are households in which children live. In this case , the job center must provide the benefits in kind - without request and discretion .
In addition, the job center with cuts of 60 percent and more usually transfers the rent directly to the landlord and the heating costs directly to the provider. This is to prevent Hartz IV recipients from losing their apartment because they no longer pay the rent in order to spend the money provided for their daily needs.
duration
The law provides for a rigid duration of sanctions of three months . Even with a change in behavior of the Hartz IV receiver, the sanction is generally not lifted or lowered prematurely . Exceptions are only possible with full sanctions - then the Jobcenter can reduce the sanction in adults to 60 percent reduction, under 25-year-olds will then at least be paid again living and heating costs and health insurance.
Multiple sanctions
If both sanctions for breaches of duty and failure to report are effective during the same period , they are simply added up . There is no way to impose the sanctions on a timely basis instead. For example, a Hartz IV beneficiary is sanctioned for a breach of duty for the period from February to April with a reduction of 30%, and a reduction of 10% for a period from March to May due to a failure to report. Then he gets in the two overlapping months of March and April a 40 per cent (30 plus 10) reduced unemployment benefit II.
Butterwegge: Officially, the sanctions are about behavioral changes. But if changes made do not lead to the end of the sanction, it becomes obvious that their actual purpose is different. It's just about punishing. This is the cane pedagogy of the empire, which has no place in the labor market and social policy of the 21st century.
SPIEGEL: Some fear that unemployed people without sanctions will now be able to go at the expense of the contributors.
Butterwegge: Yes, that corresponds to the fantasies of the permanent leave unemployed and is socially envious down. Whoever is not at the employment agency, gets no money.
SPIEGEL: In your opinion, how should it go after the verdict?
Butterwegge: The necessary legal adjustments must be implemented quickly. I think the verdict is also a good reason to completely rethink the system. For example, instead of paying the unemployed, they should receive further education allowances to help them re-orient themselves. Every teacher knows that positive incentives are more effective than negative ones. With the purchase premiums for the E-car one does it in such a way - incidentally without means test even with noble cars.
SPIEGEL: Is not it enough if the points in the judgment are implemented soon?
Butterwegge: No, there are many other problems in the Hartz system. For example, the rules of reasonableness in taking up work are under scrutiny, which are actually only good for lowering wages. In addition, there are two million children in the Hartz IV relation, which hardly benefit from the education and participation package. It would be dangerous if such abuses would get out of sight after the legal partial success of the Hartz IV critics in the sanctions.