In Germany we have a relatively good social security system. If you are unemployed, there are basically two types of unemployment benefits that you can apply to. If you don’t qualify for the first one, normal unemployment benefits (ALG1), then you would qualify for the second one (ALG2), which covers people who are not habitual workers.
The ministry of work and the jobcenter (yes, those are two different departments) however utilize a principle called Zuflussprinzip, which means that your eligibility for benefits is based on when you received your last salary as opposed to for which month that same salary was meant to compensate you.
An employer, with whom one might not have parted in good, might delay payment of your salary, so that it arrives on your bank account on the next month, thus making you ineligible to receive unemployment benefits for the first month of your unemployment.
inb4: An application for benefits for the gap month doesn’t work for multiple reasons: already employed and/or has to be applied for in advance.
source: Happened to me.
(US) American here. Out of curiosity, do unemployment benefits there allow you to cover your basic living expenses? I ask mostly because the one time I claimed unemployment in the state of Florida several years ago, the amount I received would only cover my rent and maybe my electric bill if I didn’t use my air conditioner but there wasn’t enough left over to buy food.
ALG1 is based on your income over the past 12 months. It’s 60% of the monthly average.
ALG2 is based on your living expenses. It covers your rent plus 450-500€ depending on the number of dependants.
There are also some other benefits that one can apply for regardless of employment status, e.g. Household benefits (Wohngeld), which aims to help with covering rent with ~200€. Being eligible for these obv. requires being below a certain income threshold.
My expenses (rent, utilities and food) were pretty much covered. Obviously it wouldn’t cover a certain lifestyle, but I’m generally frugal, so I didn’t notice a difference.
Ah thank you for the information. That actually seems like a system that’s useful. And helpful.
Yes, it is.
It’s just that things like the Zuflussprinzip don’t seem to work as they are intended to and because you are dealing with a bureaucratic institution. It feels that these rule-made principles are prone to misuse or abuse.
