More money, more respect, more sanctions: the job center is ready for the new citizens' allowance

Created: 12/21/2022, 08:00

By: Sebastian Tauchnitz

After tough political negotiations - here is a recording from the mediation committee of the Bundesrat and Bundestag - the citizen's income is now a decided matter.

The implementation of the extensive labor market reform is once again being left to the local job centers.

© Bernd von Jutrczenka

The job center is under constant stress.

First the corona pandemic, then more than 1,000 Ukrainians had to be taken on within a few days, and now the new citizen’s income will come at the turn of the year.

Is the authority ready for this?

District

- It has to be fast.

Yet again.

The training for the employees is currently underway, says the manager of the job center Weilheim-Schongau, Jan Riediger, a few days before Christmas.

The law on the new citizens' income, which is to start on January 1st, is ready.

Work is still in progress on the implementation regulations that local employees rely on.

This is one of the reasons why the new citizen's income does not start with a bang at the beginning of the year, but rather with a bit of restraint.

The application forms, notifications and letters have not yet been changed: "It still says Hartz IV on it, but it already includes citizen's income," says Riediger.

The new forms are to be converted in the course of the first half of the year.

In the Weilheim-Schongau district, the job center currently looks after around 4,000 people, including around 1,000 Ukrainians who came to the country this year and who fell under the responsibility of the job center due to the change of legal sphere (we reported).

The people live in 1,900 communities of need, around 450 of them from Ukrainians.

Conversion professionals: Since 2005, eleven changes to the Hartz IV rules

For the employees of the job center, the changeover to citizen's income does not bring as many new things as one might assume, according to the managing director: "Since 2005, the SGB 2, in which the Hartz IV regulations are summarized, has been changed eleven times ."

Jan Riediger is the managing director of the job center in the Weilheim-Schongau district.

© Photo: Sebastian Tauchnitz

Nevertheless: A lot will change at the turn of the year.

“Bürgergeld” is more than just a new name.

Perhaps the most important thing, says Riediger, is that the approach is fundamentally changing.

In the past, the credo was to get people to work as quickly as possible.

They quickly disappeared from the statistics, but there were rarely really permanent solutions.

“Now the goal is to place people as permanently as possible.

This also includes qualifying them, if necessary, so that they are ideally available as skilled workers on the job market,” says Riediger.

This is to prevent the newly placed persons from coming back after a few weeks because the person and the job do not go together.

In order to determine what the customer wants and what the job center expects, a so-called cooperation plan should be concluded with each citizen income recipient, in which the rights and obligations of both sides are precisely noted.

The goal is more respect for the lifetime achievements of customers

It's not just about money, it's about people.

Respect for the customer's lifetime achievement should also be given greater focus, says Riediger, Will mean: "If someone has worked their whole life and at the age of 58 slips into receiving citizen's income, they should no longer be forced to pay their entire to eat up savings.”

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During the Corona period, the allowances for assets that Hartz IV recipients were allowed to have without being allowed to use them were increased significantly.

The reason was pragmatic: due to the pandemic, many self-employed people slipped into receiving social benefits.

The higher allowances should make it easier for them to restart after the pandemic.

The allowances for citizen income are now falling slightly again, but remain at a significantly higher level than before the pandemic, explains Riediger.

The applicant may have assets of 40,000 euros, plus 15,000 euros for each additional person in the community of needs.

That's at least 100,000 euros for a family with three children, which they can have on the high edge in order to still be able to draw citizen's income.

These allowances are valid for one year.

After that, they drop significantly.

That should probably be a motivation to try hard to find a new job.

Rent: Accommodation costs are covered in full for one year

The same will be done with the assumption of the rent.

For one year, the full amount of the accommodation costs will be recognized.

If you don't have a job yet, you will be asked to look for something cheaper or have to pay the difference yourself.

The district determines how much the job center pays for the accommodation.

The corresponding guideline is to be revised in the new year.

Even those who live in their own house are not forced to sell their home and move as a recipient of citizen income.

It doesn't matter whether you own a house or rent an apartment: the heating costs are covered "at a reasonable level".

Electricity costs, however, have to be financed from the standard rate.

It will increase at the turn of the year.

"The notices will be issued in time for the end of the year," promises Riediger.

Those who are already receiving Hartz IV do not have to reapply for citizenship benefits.

Instead of the previous 449 euros, a single person will then receive 502 euros per month.

Riches are still not.

"The adjustment may cushion inflation and electricity costs - but hardly more," says Riediger.

In addition, there was a special payment of 200 euros in July this year and a monthly 20-euro supplement for each child.

Significantly more sanctions if agreements are not complied with

What is new is that a long-cherished wish of the employees has been fulfilled: from January there will be a de minimis limit of 50 euros for refunds from the job center.

Anyone who has overpaid 40 euros no longer has to pay this to the office.

Because the administration costs and the effort in these cases are higher than the income.

However, after the mediation process between the Bundestag and Bundesrat, things are much stricter when it comes to sanctions.

At the request of the union-led federal states, benefits are being cut significantly more often.

"In the past few years, there were actually only sanctions if the customers did not show up at the agreed appointments," says Riediger.

The Weilheim-Schongau job center will continue to approach the sanctions with a good sense of proportion in the future.

“They were never the panacea.

In the end, however, we also owe it to the taxpayer that we make sure that the recipients keep to the agreements - in line with the slogan 'Fördern und Demandn'," ​​says the head of office.

But even before Corona, it was by no means the case that mass benefits were cut: "We're talking about maybe 100 sanctions a year."

Further innovations will follow in July

Further innovations related to citizens' income should then come into force on July 1st, says Jan Riediger.

But even until then, the employees of the job center will have their hands full.

Because the workload has increased significantly again in the year that is coming to an end – but not the staffing.

Before the change of legal status in the summer, there were 50 full-time positions at the job center to look after around 3,000 customers.

Now that around 1,000 Ukrainians have to be looked after, accommodated in language and integration courses and placed in employment, there are 51 full-time positions spread over 62 employees.

It also doesn't fit in with the fact that less money will be available next year for reintegration, i.e. for qualification, than this year.