Social affairs - Increased online support for the unemployed
Over 900,000 people in Germany who receive unemployment benefit I should be able to easier find jobs, as the draft law proposed by Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) intends to abolish the requirement for personal interviews at employment agencies and expand the possibility of consultation and placement through video calls. This is one of the innovations of the referential draft reported by the German Press Agency on Tuesday from government circles in Berlin.
The labor promotion should become more modern, citizen-friendly, and bureaucracy-free with this draft. Digitalization and automation are the means to achieve this. Already, people can register for employment and report unemployment online at the Federal Employment Agency. Companies can apply for grants or short-term unemployment benefits online. "These digitalization steps must be consistently continued," it says in the draft referential. In particular, young people and persons with foreign professional qualifications are to be more effectively reached.
Presence requirement to be abolished
The requirement to be available for job placement in person is to be abolished. "It will be sufficient for the unemployed to reside within the German federal territory or in the neighboring countries and to regularly take note of messages and proposals from the Federal Employment Agency for professional integration," the draft states.
The calculation of unemployment benefit I is to be simplified. Deductions for social insurance contributions, income tax, and solidarity contribution should be considered earlier and avoid subsequent calculations. Certain measures, which until now have been reserved for young people in social welfare, are to be extended to recipients of unemployment benefit I. Youth employment agencies are to be promoted, and the funding of accommodation costs for vocational orientation training is to be increased.
Million-dollar costs
The federal budget will incur only minor additional expenses due to these plans. The cost for the Federal Employment Agency is projected to reach an additional 59 million euros in 2025, which is to increase annually to around 161 million euros by 2027 and to 197 million euros by 2029.
- The proposed law by Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil in Berlin aims to eliminate the necessity for in-person interviews for the over 900,000 individuals in Germany receiving unemployment benefit.
- The German Press Agency reported on Tuesday that the Federal Government is looking to modernize labor promotion, making it more accessible and bureaucracy-free, with a focus on digitization and automation.
- As part of this digitalization effort, Hubertus Heil's draft law intends to simplify the calculation of unemployment benefit I, considering social insurance contributions, income tax, and solidarity contribution deductions earlier to avoid subsequent calculations.
- The measures proposed in this referential draft by the SPD member also include extending certain social welfare measures previously reserved for young people to recipients of unemployment benefit I, hence promoting youth employment agencies and increasing funding for accommodation costs for vocational orientation training.
- Despite these plans, the German Federal Government anticipates only minimal additional expenses, with the Federal Employment Agency projecting an additional 59 million euros in 2025, increasing annually to approximately 161 million euros in 2027 and eventually reaching 197 million euros by 2029.
