Victims of SED injustice - compensation payments

Requirements

• You have received a certificate from the rehabilitation authority in accordance with the Vocational Rehabilitation Act.
• The period of persecution stated in the certificate is either more than 3 years or does not end before 02.10.1990.
• If you, as the person persecuted, receive a pension from the statutory pension insurance, it is also a prerequisite for the granting of compensation benefits that there is a period of more than 6 years between the beginning of the persecution period and the beginning of the pension payment.
• Another essential condition, as already mentioned, is the amount of income available to you.

Income - limit and calculation

The income limit for the payment of social benefits is calculated according to a basic amount, which is based on the rates of the regulations of the Twelfth Social Code and the Thuringian Standard Rate Ordinance. (This basic amount is regularly adjusted, so that the basic amount may also change in subsequent years).

In order to establish that the person concerned is particularly disadvantaged in his economic situation, the following calculation is carried out in accordance with the Twelfth Book of the Social Code (SGB XII § 82). I.e. from all incomes are deducted:

• the taxes to be paid on the income
• compulsory contributions to social insurance, including unemployment insurance
• contributions to public and private insurances or similar institutions (as far as prescribed by law or reasonable in reason and amount)
• necessary expenses connected with the earning of the income, rental costs including heating costs

deducted.

The following are not counted as income:

• Benefits according to SGB XII
• the basic pension according to the Federal Pension Act (BVG) and
• pensions or allowances under the Federal Compensation Act up to the amount of the basic pension under the BVG.

When determining the income of spouses who are not permanently separated, the income of both spouses is to be taken into account. Marriage-like unions are treated in the same way as marriages for the purposes of determining income and calculating the income limit.

If the remaining income calculated in this way does not exceed the basic amounts specified below, the equalisation benefits may be claimed in full.

Basic amounts in the new federal states as of 01.01.2020 according to SGB XII (as of January 2020):

However, if the remaining income exceeds the respective basic amounts, this does not mean that you lose your right to compensation benefits altogether. However, the equalisation benefits will be reduced by the amount by which the net income exceeds the income limit.

Procedure / Notes

The basic prerequisite for the possible receipt of compensation benefits is the certificate according to the Vocational Rehabilitation Act.

Furthermore, it is a prerequisite that you are particularly impaired in your economic situation (for more details, see Prerequisites). For this purpose, you must submit an application for compensation benefits to the Jena Municipality, Social Services Department, where the economic situation will also be determined.

On the basis of this application, compensation benefits of up to € 240.00 or, in the case of pensioners, up to € 180.00 per month can be paid from the month following the application.

Deadline for applications

We would like to point out that the compensation benefits according to § 8 BerRehaG can in principle only be applied for until the end of 31.12.2020 (current legal situation) in the Jena Municipality, Social Services Department.

However, the payment of compensation benefits will continue beyond this deadline of 31.12.2020 until the conditions no longer apply.

The legal basis for the payment of compensation benefits is Section 8 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act (BerRehaG) in the version of 17 December 1999, last amended by the Second Act on the Integration of Social Welfare Law into the Social Code of 27 December 2003.