Frankfurt / Main (dpa / tmn) – If you cancel yourself, the employment office will grant you a freeze on unemployment benefits. Unless you can give an important reason. However, relying on a confidentiality agreement with the former employer is not enough. This shows a decision of the social court in Stuttgart (Az .: S 21 AL 4798/19), of which the Bund-Verlag informs.
Confidential grounds for termination
The case looked like this: An employee quit his job, registered as unemployed and applied for unemployment benefits. The reason for his dismissal was that he could no longer identify with his employer. Due to a confidentiality agreement with the employer, he was unable to provide details.
For the employment office, however, this was not an important reason;
The employment agency’s decision was understandable to the court. Usually the agency has to prove why there is no important reason. An exception applies, however, if the circumstances which speak of the important reason are the responsibility of the unemployed person.
Social Code III (Article 159, paragraph 1, sentence 3) stipulates that the burden of proof then falls on the unemployed.
The social tribunal saw this in the case before it. On the basis of the Applicant’s general information, he was not convinced that there was a material reason for dismissal.
Confidentiality agreement with consequences
Anyone entering into a nondisclosure agreement with an employer must first consider the consequences. This includes the fact that the agreement may prevent proof of an important reason for the termination.
The court ruled that an insured person could not reverse the burden of proof by voluntarily entering into a confidentiality agreement with the employment agency and therefore with the community of insureds.
