The reform of Hartz IV is a key project for the Minister of Labor. The chancellor recently assured the citizens’ income again. But for employers it is a “turning point into the past”.
Germany’s employers reject the federal government’s plans to convert the Hartz IV system into a citizen’s allowance. He recommends that the draft bill by Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) not be decided by the federal cabinet in its current form, said the chief executive of the employers’ association BDA, Steffen Kampeter.
The current crisis has changed the situation. Kampeter referred to the shortage of skilled workers and workers in many areas. “We’re panting from record to record for vacancies.” The planned citizens’ allowance would be “a fatal milestone in terms of labor market policy”. According to Kampeter, if the plans were implemented, no bridges would be built into working life, but into the transfer system into the unemployment system. “This is the opposite of what is required.” He criticized Heil’s proposal as a throwback to the 1980s and 1990s.
Assets up to 60,000 euros should not be touched
The introduction of citizen income is one of the most important socio-political projects of the traffic light coalition. Heil wants less strict conditions for those receiving benefits than with the current Hartz IV. In the first two years of receiving citizen benefit, the actual housing costs should be recognized and assets up to 60,000 euros should not be touched. In addition, no reductions in so-called breaches of duty are planned within a six-month “period of trust”. This applies, for example, if job offers are not accepted or applications are not written as agreed.
Kampeter therefore criticized the draft as “the state’s declaration of bankruptcy”. The person seeking help would then no longer be expected to do anything in return. “This will meet with a lack of understanding among the population and employers.” Even a spacious apartment would then be financed by the state for the first two years. “On the whole, we think this is a turning point in the past,” said Kampeter, referring to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s (SPD) statement on the “turning point” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Scholz had recently promised that Hartz IV would be replaced by the new citizens’ allowance in the coming year.
Source: Stern
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