Daily Bild reported that 828,708 infringement sanctions were handed out to Hartz IV jobless benefit recipients last year.
The figure was 14 percent higher than in 2009, the paper reported, citing statistics from the Federal Labour Office (BA). It continues the trend of rising numbers of penalties.
Most penalties were dished out to people who had not turned up to agreed appointments at the BA office, or who had failed to apply for any jobs.
In 102,631 cases, sanctions were given because people had refused to accept a reasonable offer of employment, education or a part-time “€1 job.”
The average size of penalties also rose, the paper reported. On average, people slapped with a penalty lost €114.31 per month of their payments, which was about €10 more than the previous year.
The Local/djw
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