Social protection package

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Basic data
Title: Law for easier access to social security and the use and protection of social service providers due to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2
Short title: Social protection package
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter: Social law , labor law
References : 215-20, 860-2, 860-3, 860-4-1, 860-6, 860-12, 85-4, 830-2, 8050-21, 8251-10, 860-6, 8050-21, 8251-10, 860-4-1, 860-4-1
Issued on: March 27, 2020
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 575 )
Entry into force on: March 28, 2020
GESTA : G058
Weblink: Text of the law
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The social protection package , full title: Law for easier access to social security and the use and protection of social service providers due to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 of March 27, 2020, is an article law with which the negative economic effects of COVID -19 pandemic in Germany for employed people, especially for small businesses and so-called solo self-employed without employees, but also for social services and institutions through easier access to social benefits such as unemployment , short-time working or insolvency benefits .

It reacts to the considerable to complete failure of business operations and loss of income as a result of the cancellation of trade fairs and events or the cessation of social services as well as the general avoidance of all unnecessary social contacts, including through and within companies, and the associated consequences.

On the one hand, it is intended to guarantee a decent subsistence level for those entitled ( Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law in conjunction with the welfare state principle of Article 20, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law) and, on the other hand, to cover a short-term increased need for labor.

In addition to changes to SGB ​​II , SGB ​​III , SGB ​​IV , SGB ​​VI and SGB ​​XII , it also contains changes to the Federal Child Benefit Act , the Federal Pension Act , the Working Hours Act and the Act on Old-Age Insurance for Farmers . The changes primarily relate to simplifications in the administrative procedure, in the offsetting of income and means test, the extension of approval periods and exceptions to the legally permissible daily working hours.

In Art. 10 it contains the Social Service Provider Employment Act .

To finance the additional spending was supported by the Bundestag and Bundesrat with the supplementary budget law of 2020 a supplementary budget adopted in the billions.

Changes in SGB II, SGB XII and in the Federal Pension Act

Tax -financed transfer payments , not from contributions, usually require that the applicant is unable to earn a living from his own income and assets or to help himself in special circumstances, and that he does not receive sufficient help from other sources ( § 9 SGB ​​I). The benefits must be applied for ( § 18 sentence 2 no. 2 SGB X). The authority is obliged to investigate the facts ex officio ( § 20 , § 21 SGB ​​X) and to check the eligibility requirements. If the applicant does not need help , the benefits will be rejected. In addition to the flat-rate standard requirement , the costs of accommodation and heating are not granted in actual but only in an "appropriate" amount.

Basic security for job seekers (SGB II)

When deciding on an entitlement to unemployment benefit II ("Hartz IV") and social allowance, the applicant's assets are exceptionally not available for a period of six months for approval periods beginning from March 1 to June 30, 2020 taken into account unless the assets are “substantial” (Section 67 SGB II new version). The applicant's mere declaration that his assets are insignificant is sufficient. The job center does not conduct any further investigations into the question of the need for assistance within the meaning of Section 9 SGB ​​II . The applicant does not need his assets except for the acc. § 12 SGB ​​II to use off credit-free assets for subsistence.

Accommodation and heating costs (warm rent) are considered to be reasonable for a period of six months, even if these costs are above the limits of a local rent index or the housing allowance table and the apartment is of an appropriate size. A request from the job center to reduce costs, for example by changing to a cheaper apartment or subletting ( Section 22 (1) sentence 3 SGB II), will not be issued during this period.

Services whose approval period ends in the period from March 31 to August 30, 2020 (so-called existing cases) will be provided ex officio for a further 12 months without a renewed application. However, the legal obligation to notify changes in the circumstances that are significant for the service without being asked ( Section 60 SGB ​​I), as well as the right to reclaim wrongly granted services ( Section 45 , Section 48 , Section 50 SGB ​​X) .

Social assistance and basic security in old age and with reduced earning capacity (SGB XII)

Elderly and temporarily or permanently fully disabled people who have not received any support for livelihood or basic security in old age and with reduced earning capacity can also suffer significant income losses . This applies in particular in the case of a mixed community of needs , if the previously considered income of the main earner ceases to exist due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The provisions of SGB II on easier access to services are therefore adopted into SGB XII for older people and those unable to work (Section 141 SGB XII new version). Here, the main breadwinner's assets are not taken into account, even if the applicant declares that this is not "significant". Requirements for accommodation and heating (warm rent) are recognized as appropriate in the case of beneficiaries outside of facilities, in deviation from Section 42a (1) SGB XII for a period of six months. However, this does not apply in those cases in which the actual costs have already been reduced in the previous approval period, i.e. in so-called existing cases (Section 141, Paragraph 3, Sentence 3, SGB XII new version).

Already approved basic security benefits in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity will be approved once ex officio for 12 months if the approval period ends in the period from March 31 to August 30, 2020. Overall, unchanged conditions are assumed. The notification obligations and the reimbursement of wrongly rendered benefits ( Section 60 SGB ​​I as well as Section 45 , Section 48 , Section 50 SGB ​​X) apply unchanged as for unemployment benefit II.

Federal Pension Act

Supplementary support for livelihood according to Section 27a of the Federal Pension Act (BVG) in conjunction with SGB XII is only granted to damaged and surviving dependents if they are in need. In the case of spouses or partners who are not separated, the income and assets of both spouses or partners must also be taken into account jointly in the social compensation law ( Section 27a sentence 2 BVG, Section 27 paragraph 2 sentence 2 SGB XII). If the partner loses their income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this group of people will also be granted temporary asset exemption and the actual costs of accommodation and heating in accordance with the basic security provision (Section 88a BVG).

Change in SGB IV

Deviating from the rule on short-term employment in Section 8 (1) No. 2 SGB ​​IV , such is from March 1, 2020 up to and including October 31, 2020, even if the employment is limited to a maximum of five months or 115 working days ( § 115 SGB ​​IV new version). The extension primarily addresses problems related to seasonal work in the agricultural sector.

Change in SGB VI

The additional earnings limit for old-age pensions will be increased from 6,300 euros to 44,590 euros for the 2020 calendar year ( Section 302 (8) in conjunction with Section 34 SGB ​​VI). B. During the COVID-19 pandemic, caregivers can temporarily return to full-time work without reducing their pension.

Reactions

Thomas Voelzke , Vice-President of the Federal Social Court , attested to the legislature that he had “not messed up with the social protection package, but rather bulged” and consciously accepted deadweight effects and abuse of services .

The social judge Andy Groth spoke of a “novelty in the history of German social law”. The legislature showed what it can do in the crisis. The "minor handicraft mistakes" made in the process were probably unavoidable. The administrative lawyer Hannes Berger, on the other hand, sees high administrative costs in the future for both social administration and benefit recipients due to a number of incorrect performance notices. The legislature has done both the administration and the beneficiaries a disservice .

The Lower Saxony Refugee Council criticized the fact that those seeking protection who receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act do not benefit from the social protection package.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Draft of a law for easier access to social security and the use and protection of social service providers due to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (social protection package) BT-Drs. 19/18107 of March 24, 2020
  2. ↑ cf. BVerfG, judgment of February 9, 2010 - 1 BvL 1/09 et al
  3. ^ The social protection package. Easier access to social benefits Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs , March 28, 2020.
  4. ↑ Joachim Rock: Draft of a law for easier access to social security and the use and protection of social service providers due to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (social protection package) German Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband , March 23, 2020.
  5. ↑ Federal Law Gazette I p. 556
  6. ↑ Approval for Corona rescue package and fertilizer ordinance bundesrat.de , March 27, 2020.
  7. ↑ Draft of a law for easier access to social security and the use and protection of social service providers due to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (social protection package) BT-Drs. 19/18107 of March 24, 2020, p. 18
  8. ^ The social protection package. Easier access to social benefits Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs , March 28, 2020.
  9. ↑ Thomas Voelzke : The social protection package - with the bazooka for social protection? juris.de, accessed on April 15, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Andy Groth: The Social Protection Package: (First) Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Social Law . In: juris-PraxisReport Sozialrecht . No. 7 , 2020, ISSN  1860-1588 ( juris.de [accessed April 9, 2020]).
  11. ↑ Hannes Berger: § 67 SGB II: The simplified access to social security due to the corona virus . In: Journal for State Constitutional Law and State Administrative Law (ZLVR) . No. 2 , 2020, ISSN  2511-3666 , p. 60 ( zlvr.de [PDF; accessed on June 22, 2020]).
  12. ↑ Bundestag and Bundesrat decide on easier access to social security ... and forget Refugee Refugee Council Lower Saxony, March 26th 2020.