If beneficiaries of citizen’s benefit do not cooperate at all or not enough in their job placement, job centres often cannot respond effectively. Our audit shows that the statutory options in place are not enough. The principle of “demanding” should be strengthened.
We found that some of the beneficiaries of citizen’s benefit had not cooperated enough in their job placement – in some cases for many years. Some have never showed up for job counselling appointments or could also not be reached by phone. The current option of reducing citizen’s benefit by up to 30 per cent of the standard needs rate often had no apparent effect.