h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Cheers, Hoggy. Have some errands to do, so must

Don't forget to tell them how much you will charge them for not giving you what you pay them to give you

- PLUS making you fill in forms and stuff!

Believe me, sometimes it w*rks!

You are lucky they are sending you the forms - ususally they don't do such things and let you come (which means waiting for hours)

Nice to see I can some straight to my page again. Yeah!
Good luck with those forms, B'El. Here's hoping the questions they ask are actually answerable without hiring an accountant, a physician and a philosopher to interpret them.

I haven't got any forms yet, Tina. I got an appointment now, though, on 26th March at 8am.

I keep my fingers crossed for you Bel, try to get as much out of them as possible (moneywise they have their rules, but concerning other helps like for applications, schooling, schemes - whatever, and ask them to give you a form where you can right down where you send your application, you should get 5 euro for each you did when you send in the form - and you can even write those on it you did per mail....)

Thanks, Tina, that's great advice.

You're welcome, if I remember something else I'll post it

I just spent an hour trying to fill in the forms they sent.

that means you have done quite well.... (I know these forms are awful - wait till you get their answer, that is even worse.....barely understandable)

Don't talk to me about the flippin' Arbeitsamt

When was unemployed, he did some part-time (EUR 400 basis - for unemployed is EUR 250 or so I think) and unlike a lot of peple, he registered. Only the place he worked just acted as though he started on the 1st of the month when he registered, instead of the 11th as he did.

Same when he got his job, same month, 2 days later, but they registered it as 1st of the month. Over a year later within the space of 2 months, we got letters demanding a total of EUR 450 back. Which we paid (over a few months, with difficulty)

Then he got a letter from the Zollamt saying that he was being investigated for fraud... Turns out that he hadn't been overpaid, had done everything right and the idiots at the arbeitsamt hadn't corrected the paperwork.

But they won't give us the money back becuase "we're out of time for claiming it"

If we were rich and rolling in it, no doubt we'd have had it back agees ago

I haven't heard anything positive about the Arbeitsamt ever.

I've started wondering whether it was wise to register.

The silk of work?

The work velvet

Work velvet?

I was wondering myself for a minute...Arbeit + Samt.

Sho - I know these problems (I was lucky though to proove they were wrong, only when I was working for a staff leasing company I had problems over problems, since their money comes a month late and then in the middle of the month and the Arbeitsamt not seeing the problem that rent and everything has to be paid at the 1st).

Bel - it was right though to register, because you can claim a couple of things (and seeing the work market now you might need them)

B'el it's definitely right to register, not least because of your pension contributions and your krankenkasse.

Anyway, you've worked long enough - contributing to our social safety net, now you are in a position to make use of it you should.

Matodemi - the worst thing for us was when went to work for his current agency - they pay on 15th. When he started they didn't pay him for 6 weeks. We're lucky in that my salary covers rent and everything - but even so we were very very close to the edge - and the Arbeitsamt should have stepped in (if only to squeeze money out of his employer) to make sure that we weren't out of pocket because he took on a job.

But did they help?

Same when I was pregnant with #1. My company fired me. 3 times as it happened, while pregnant. Which is illegal. And they didn't pay me. Although I had legal insurance and had immediately contacted a lawyer (and went to work every day to strengthen my case) I still had rent to pay. The arbeitsamt wouldn't give me any money because I wasn't allowed to be unemployed. Nobody helped and in the end I had to borrow money from my parents. Ever since then I have relied on lawyers and unions to get things straightened. The Arbeitsamt really don't seem to want to help.

It doesn't help, of course, that I'm not German. I dread to think how they would be if I were Turkish or from outside the EU.

I had the same problem with the payment from the Arbeitsamt when working for the agency - and noone here to help me out, so I had to ask the one I rent the appartment from to wait for his money. Not a nice thing to do - but he did understand.

So even as a German you don't get the nicest treatment (though I must admit, sometimes I had good luck with them from the ARGE - more than most people I know)

Cheers KB, I was really stuck with thet work velvet.

Sho, matodemi: now that cheered me up. I'm really optimistic now.