Encouraging and demanding - this is how the unemployed should get jobs again. Now the Hartz IV sanctions are being suspended for the time being. A serious mistake, says Interior Minister Strobl. Many unemployed should be put under more pressure. He's wrong, say others.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - After the extensive lifting of the Hartz IV sanctions, unemployed people who are unwilling to work must be put under more pressure from the point of view of the CDU state chairman Thomas Strobl so that they accept job offers. Rather, cuts would have to be threatened and enforced if repeatedly offered positions were not filled. The change in the sanctions practice for Hartz IV recipients by the Berlin traffic light coalition was a "serious mistake", said Strobl.
There are around 1.9 million vacancies in Germany and around 1.6 million Hartz IV recipients who could work, said the CDU politician. In employment agencies, however, it is said that the hands of the employees are tied. "There are those who don't keep appointments, aren't interested in job offers, further training measures and the like and thus thumb their nose at the job brokers," criticized Strobl. "And that makes it seem like it doesn't really matter whether someone who can work actually works or not."
The principle of "support and challenge" must be cultivated again. "We have to demand something from a person who receives social benefits." For example, he had to appear on certain agreed dates. "It is a serious mistake at this time to accept it differently." Basically, there is already an unconditional basic income today.
The Diakonie Württemberg contradicted the CDU state chief. "Our experience is that unemployed people in most cases also want to work, that they suffer from their situation," said Diakonie Chairwoman Annette Noller of the dpa. "People want to make their contribution, they want to participate. We have to accompany and encourage them." She can only imagine sanctions as a carefully applied means of giving people a boost.
However, the unemployed are often difficult to place because they have to care for relatives or raise children - or because of personal problems such as illness. "You can't compare vacancies and the number of unemployed Hartz IV recipients 1:1," said Noller. "Furthermore, shoes must also fit the feet. A warehouse worker cannot simply become a caregiver." Noller warned of a "revolving door effect". "Under the pressure of sanctions, many people take up a job but quickly leave because they lack internal acceptance or are overwhelmed."
Strobl also admitted that many Hartz IV recipients were trying to find work. "But with regard to the others, the 'black sheep', I ask: Is that fair to the nurse or the police officer or the truck driver who, through their work and their taxes, finances those who decide to do so, rather on the couch lie down than try to find a job?" Anyone who doesn't make an effort, doesn't keep appointments or isn't interested in further training should have benefits cut, demanded Strobl, who is also the interior minister of Baden-Württemberg. "Not immediately, not inhumanely, but in a carefully differentiated, balanced system."
The sanctions have been disputed since Hartz IV was introduced in 2005. The federal government at the time wanted to "encourage and challenge" the long-term unemployed. Following a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2019, it has now been decided to suspend sanctions for one year. One reason for the moratorium is the citizen's income planned for 2023 instead of the current Hartz IV system, which should also be linked to a new regulation for sanctions.
The possibility of reducing unemployment benefit II by 30 percent in the event of a breach of duty will be suspended for one year. This applies, for example, if reasonable work is not accepted. However, in the event of repeated failure to report or missed deadlines, there is a risk of benefit cuts of up to 10 percent of the standard rate. When the new citizens' income comes next year, cuts of 30 percent should be possible again.
Previously, the payments were linked to certain obligations. For example, Hartz IV recipients had to report regularly to the job centers, accept reasonable measures and jobs or report longer absences. Anyone who did not follow the rules had to expect their pay to be cut, sometimes drastically.
According to the Federal Employment Agency, the job centers in Baden-Württemberg identified 14,690 sanctions against Hartz IV recipients last year, affecting 10,119 people. However, the balance sheet is still heavily dependent on the pandemic. For comparison: in 2019, 50,481 sanctions were determined, 26,042 people were sanctioned.
"This only affects a very small proportion of people for whom you want to change their behavior because they would otherwise not accept job offers," said Joachim Wolff from the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) in Nuremberg. On the other hand, it is about people who have great difficulty in getting long-term and stable work. "This is not a heterogeneous group," said Wolff.
