Politics · Germany · 8 hrs ago
Nordhausen expands mandatory community work to all benefit recipients
Nordhausen district in Thuringia is extending mandatory community work to all 2,000 people receiving basic support who are able to work.
District chief Matthias Jendricke says people assigned to these jobs will be paid €1.20 an hour.
The policy previously applied to recipients under 25, and the district says 31 of 60 young people assigned work were sanctioned for refusing.
Refusal can bring benefit cuts or a home visit from enforcement staff, who may take recipients to their assigned jobs.
The district says some benefits were cut by 10% to 30% for missed work, while six people had all support stopped after checks found false information about where they lived or their relationships.
Repeated breaches can now lead to cuts of up to 100% under the new basic-support system introduced in July.
Jendricke says the work assignments test whether recipients are willing and available to work, and the district reports youth unemployment fell 17% year on year; the expanded policy will now cover older recipients too.
Nordhausen district plans to extend mandatory community work to all 2,000 benefit recipients who are able to work, without an age limit.
Recipients who do not attend assigned work may face home visits or benefit cuts.
District administrator Matthias Jendricke says the measure is intended to test whether recipients are willing and available to work.
In the first months of the existing scheme for recipients under 25, 31 of 60 people assigned work were sanctioned for refusing it.
The assigned community jobs pay €1.20 an hour.
- Who
- Nordhausen district administrator Matthias Jendricke is extending the policy to benefit recipients who are able to work.
- What
- Community work is being made mandatory for all benefit recipients in the district, without an age limit. Refusal may lead to sanctions.
- When
- The expansion was announced on October 28, 2026.
- Where
- Nordhausen district, Thuringia, Germany.
- Why
- Jendricke says assigning a specific job can test whether recipients are willing to work and available locally.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Jendricke introduced mandatory work for benefit recipients under 25 in Nordhausen district.
31 of the 60 recipients assigned work were sanctioned for refusing it.
Repeated breaches of obligations can result in total benefit sanctions of up to 100 percent under the new basic income support system.
Jendricke announced that the work requirement would be extended to all benefit recipients in the district who are able to work.
- District
- Nordhausen, Thuringia
- Recipients affected by expansion
- 2,000
- Community-work pay
- €1.20 an hour
- Under-25 recipients assigned work
- 60
- Sanctioned for refusal
- 31
What people are saying
Anyone who cannot be moved to work for 14 days without a valid reason will face sanctions, period.
I would like to work, but I have applied five times and nobody takes me.