Benefit sanction moratorium. Statement of the IAB to the hearing of associations of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs on the draft law on a benefit sanction moratorium regarding the rules of the basic income support for job seekers on 2.3.2022

Abstract

"By introducing a new basic income scheme that replaces the unemployment benefit II the Federal Government also plans to reform the related benefit sanction rules as according to the judgement of Federal Constitutional Court from the 5th November 2019 the sanction rules are partly incompatible with the Basic Law. The draft law plans the introduction of a sanction moratorium until the end of the year 2022. Thereafter, the new basic income scheme will be introduced including a reform of rules that its recipients have to comply with as well as of the benefit sanctions due to infringements against such rules. In its statement concerning the draft law on a benefit sanction moratorium of the basic income support for job seekers the IAB refers to the contents of previous statements on proposals to reform the benefit sanction system. In these statements the IAB outlined that a sanction moratorium or even abolishing benefit sanctions completely cannot be justified by the results of research on benefit sanctions. However, behind the background of these results, elements of a reform of the benefit sanction rules can well be justified. Important reform steps were already implemented at the end of 2019 due to the judgement of Federal Constitutional Court. The reasons provided in the draft law to justify the sanction moratorium do not make clear, why this additional step is necessary and in particular why the proposed sanction moratorium includes benefit sanctions due to missing an appointment. First results on benefit sanctions in the period of the Covid-19 pandemic are not in support of the sanction moratorium." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Wolff, J. (2022): Sanktionsmoratorium. Stellungnahme des IAB zur Verbändeanhörung des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales zum Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Regelung eines Sanktionsmoratoriums im SGB II am 2.3.2022. (IAB-Stellungnahme 03/2022), Nürnberg, 7 p. DOI:10.48720/IAB.SN.2203