Online application for unemployment benefit: Read completely before submitting
Celle, March 1, 2021
The State Social Court of Lower Saxony-Bremen (LSG) has decided that an unemployed person cannot plead the ignorance of his obligation to notify if he has confirmed receipt of the leaflet “Rights and Obligations” in the online application.
A 44-year-old professional driver from Bremen who became unemployed at Christmas 2016 had sued. After registering personally as unemployed, shortly afterwards he submitted an application for unemployment benefit (ALG) on the Internet (eService). He confirmed that he had taken note of the information sheet on his rights and obligations as an unemployed person.
In February 2017, he took a one-week, unpaid full-time trial job at a logistics company, but the man did not report this to the employment agency. There was no employment because of unfavorable working hours on night shifts. After the employment agency had found out about the trial work, it demanded that the unemployment benefit be reimbursed: By starting the trial work, unemployment had ceased and the unemployment registration had become ineffective. Since the reclaim also affected the subsequent period, the amount totaled around € 5,000.
The man countered this by stating that an unpaid trial work could not be equated with normal work. In addition, he did not worry about a failure to communicate. According to his memory, he never received an information sheet.
The LSG has confirmed the legal opinion of the Federal Agency. As a justification, it stated that there is no entitlement to ALG even in the case of an unpaid trial work of at least 15 hours per week, as the person concerned is no longer available for the job placement service. Ignorance of the obligation to notify could not be argued against the reclaim from ALG. It results from the leaflet, the receipt of which every unemployed person confirms by signing the application. The same applies to an online application, because it can only be sent to the Federal Agency if it is confirmed by clicking on it beforehand. The man did this too. If, despite this, there is no notification of the trial work, the person concerned is acting with gross negligence.
Regional Social Court of Lower Saxony-Bremen, Judgment of January 25, 2021 – L 11 AL 15/19, published by www.juris.de; Lower court: SG Bremen
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