Authorities are sometimes said to have a certain aversion to innovations and reforms – one of the largest of this kind, the citizen’s income, meets with a lot of approval from those responsible, at least in the district. “This is an opportunity for us to start something new,” says Benedikt Hoigt, managing director of the Ebersberg job center, about the reform that will begin in January.
The authority is initially very relieved that, despite the detour via the mediation committee, it was possible to get the new law to come into force at the beginning of the new year. If there had been delays, which some experts had thought possible in the meantime, this would have meant considerable additional work for the job center, says Hoigt. Because at the end of the year, some special regulations, such as easier access to social benefits or the sanctions moratorium, would have expired. The salaries of the Hartz IV recipients would also have increased, but on the basis of the old social legislation. According to Hoigt, they are glad that this transitional period did not come about, “otherwise we might have had to pay out the difference manually”.
Ebersberg sees positively that there will be more emphasis on qualification in the future
But the fact that the social legislation is now being reformed as a whole is also very good news, says the head of the job center in Ebersberg. Because the previous Hartz IV regulations need to be improved in many areas. For example, the “priority of mediation” that was officially still in force until the end of December. According to Hoigt, this means that the unemployed must accept any reasonable job that is offered to them. According to Hoigt, this requirement has always been counterproductive. Because “if it doesn’t fit”, the person concerned is back in the job center after a few weeks – that’s not motivating.
For this reason, efforts have already been made in Ebersberg to get people into jobs that they can do permanently, says Hoigt. On average, 500 to 700 people per year were placed in the first job market. For comparison: the Ebersberg job center is currently responsible for around 1,780 so-called communities of need. It can be individuals or entire families. About 630 of them are families or people who have fled Ukraine. According to Hoigt, jobs are also being found for these people on the primary labor market, and around 70 people have already been placed. Because the qualifications of the Ukrainians are usually good, which is why the focus here is primarily on language courses.
Further training and further training as well as other qualification measures will then be intensified again for the other recipients of citizen’s income in the middle of the year. From July, the second stage of the reform will take effect, for example with training bonuses. In the first six months of the year, the main focus will still be on changing the formalities. For example, the higher protective assets or the rule that the office covers all rental costs for one year, only then do the new upper limits for housing costs take effect. Until July, the old term “Unemployment Benefit II” is still occasionally found on the forms – but the new rates will of course apply from January and automatically. “Nobody who now gets Hartz IV has to go to the office and apply for citizenship allowance,” says Hoigt.
And of course there are sanctions reforms. These are still possible with citizen income, but in a weaker form: the office can reduce salaries by ten percent for one month, by 20 percent for two months and by a maximum of 30 percent for three months. According to Hoigt, the subject of sanctions is overrated anyway. He cites the statistics, according to which nationwide around three percent of Hartz IV recipients were or are affected by sanctions – the figure for the Ebersberg district is similarly low.
Perhaps the public image of the agency will change, the boss hopes
In the vast majority of cases, these sanctions were imposed because someone failed to appear at appointments without an excuse. However, according to Hoigt, outreach social work was often used in such cases. Because especially when someone has been unemployed for a long time, which often happens due to “difficult life situations”, there are problems with structuring oneself, for example with appearing on time for an appointment.
There are also new possibilities in the new law, says Hoigt. In future, the office will be able to place people in so-called sheltered jobs. This can be a job at the local building yard, for example, but this is also possible in the private sector. The state then covers the wage costs for up to two years, during which time those affected can get used to a regular working day.
And Hoigt also expects improvements for the authority itself: If in the future there is much more emphasis on qualification and placement in permanent employment, “that can change the attitude of the population towards the job center in a positive way”.