Professional Rehabilitation Act

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Basic data
Title: Law on Compensating Professional Disadvantages for Victims of Political Persecution in the Accession Area
Short title: Professional Rehabilitation Act
Abbreviation: BerRehaG
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter: Social law
References : 255-1
Original version from: June 23, 1994
( BGBl. I p. 1311 )
Entry into force on: July 1, 1994
Last revision from: July 1, 1997
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1625 )
Entry into force of the
new version on: 		January 1, 1998
Last change by: Art. 3 G of November 22, 2019
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1752, 1753 )
Effective date of the
last change: 		November 29, 2019
(Art. 6 G of November 22, 2019)
GESTA : C080
Weblink: Text of the law
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Occupational Rehabilitation Act (BerRehaG) contains numerous special regulations for people who have suffered professional disadvantages as a result of illegal persecution in the Soviet occupation zone and in the GDR . Together with the Administrative Rehabilitation Act , which was promulgated at the same time, and the Criminal Rehabilitation Act promulgated earlier, it is one of the laws that serve to compensate for the SED injustice.

Eligible

Those who are persecuted are eligible within the meaning of Section 1 BerRehaG. Persecuted persons are people who, for the following reasons, were at least temporarily unable to pursue a profession that was previously practiced, started, learned or that was demonstrably aimed at or a socially equivalent profession through the start of vocational training:

  • they suffered an illegal imprisonment under the Penal Rehabilitation Act
  • they had been taken into custody within the meaning of the Prisoner Assistance Act
  • they were victims of an administrative decision contrary to the rule of law under the Administrative Rehabilitation Act
  • they were otherwise victims of political persecution

In the first three cases, the persecution has to be proven through rehabilitation by the relevant authorities. Only in the last case is an individual examination carried out.

The specific time of persecution suffered is compensated. According to § 2 BerRehaG, the period of persecution is the duration of the deprivation of liberty or detention or the time in which the persecuted person was unable to exercise his or her profession through no fault of his own due to an illegal measure.

Anyone who has violated the principles of humanity and the rule of law can in principle not claim any compensation under this law ( § 4 BerRehaG).

With the law, all civil law claims against the former GDR are deemed to have been settled; further claims than those arising from this law are excluded ( Section 5 BerRehaG).

Jurisdiction

The rehabilitation authorities in the new federal states are responsible. The federal state on whose territory the persecution took place is locally responsible. ( Section 17 BerRehaG)

The persecuted person and, if applicable, his or her surviving dependents are entitled to apply if there is a legal interest in the determination. Since the amendment to the law of November 22, 2019, applications can be made for an unlimited period, because Section 23 BerRehaG has been deleted. Applications must basically meet the formal requirements of § 21 BerRehaG, i.e. contain a detailed curriculum vitae with the type and extent of the professional disadvantage.

In the event of disputes under this law, legal recourse to the administrative courts is given; an appeal or a complaint against decisions of the administrative courts is excluded. ( Section 27 BerRehaG)

Services

Achievements for Persecuted Students

Those who suffered political persecution while still at school receive preferential professional training and retraining. According to § 3 BerRehaG, political persecution applies :

  • the non-admission to the EOS , the referral from the EOS and the non-admission to the school leaving examination for political reasons,
  • the rejection of a university degree for political reasons,
  • expulsion from another school for political reasons

These students enjoy certain preferential rights in professional development:

  • Entitlement to further professional development by the Employment Agency as a compulsory service and not as a discretionary service, in particular without the eligibility requirement for an education voucher
  • Entitlement to unemployment benefit for further vocational training (formerly maintenance allowance) when completing further vocational training, even if the qualifying period for entitlement to unemployment benefit has not been fulfilled
  • Reimbursement of all costs incurred through continuing professional development
  • Conversion of loans in accordance with Section 44 (2a) AFG into grants

Applications must be submitted to the Federal Employment Agency. Applications can be submitted until December 31, 2020. ( Section 24 (1) BerRehaG)

Outside of the Professional Rehabilitation Act, z. B. Entitlements to benefits according to BAföG without age limit for training courses started by January 1, 2003 as well as waiver of loan repayment claims on BAföG and KfW loans ( § 60 BAföG)

Equalization pension

Persecuted people whose economic situation is particularly damaged receive a compensation pension to compensate for the professional disadvantages they have suffered. Since the amendment to the law of November 22, 2019, persecuted students can also make use of this section (amended Section 3 BerRehaG). According to § 8 BerRehaG:

  • The pursuit time was according to Section 8 (2) BerRehaG lasted more than three years or only ended with the dissolution of the GDR
  • The income of the persecuted person and his / her spouse does not exceed an income limit, which is composed of twice the standard rate in terms of social assistance, allowances for the spouse and minor children and the actual cost of accommodation. If the income limit is exceeded, the excess income will be offset against the equalization pension.
  • The persecuted person does not already receive his own pension from the statutory pension insurance.

The equalization pension is 240 euros, for recipients of their own pension from the statutory pension insurance 180 euros ( Section 8 (1) BerRehaG). It is not counted towards other social benefits and cannot be attached. ( Section 9 BerRehaG)

There must be a period of at least six years between the start of the period of persecution and the start of the pension ( Section 8 (2) BerRehaG).

Applications must be submitted to the local social welfare agency ( Section 24 (2) BerRehaG). Since the amendment to the law on November 22, 2019, applications can be submitted without a time limit.

Compensation for disadvantages in pension insurance

This section contains certain rules for taking into account periods of political persecution in the GDR in the statutory pension insurance.

  • The period of persecution, during which no employment that constitutes a pension insurance obligation could be exercised, is considered to be the mandatory contribution period in the statutory pension insurance. ( § 11 BerRehaG) The calculation of the pay points for these times is regulated in § 13 BerRehaG.
  • If a university or technical college training could not be completed due to persecution, these periods are treated from a pension law perspective as if the training had been completed; in this respect, the times are fully counted as crediting time . If the training could only be completed later due to persecution, the maximum duration for the recognition of credit periods increases by double. ( § 12 BerRehaG)

Section 14 BerRehaG contains a similar provision for the additional and special pension systems of the GDR ; Here too, tracking times are taken into account accordingly.

The resulting increased pension contributions may have to be paid retrospectively to July 1, 1990. ( Section 16 BerRehaG)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BerRehaG - Law on Compensating Professional Disadvantages for Victims of Political Persecution in the Accession Area. Retrieved December 6, 2019 .