Assistance in material need

A complainant objected against the procedure of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, the regional branch in Ústí nad Labem, which asked the complainant to produce a certificate of inclusion in the register of jobseekers, the decision on provision of unemployment relief, and notice of the amount of housing allowance in order to evaluate the complainant’s entitlement to subsistence support. However, the Labour Office can obtain all this information from the official records.

In the investigation the Public Defender of Rights concluded that the applicant for the subsistence support must prove all the above-mentioned facts. Nevertheless, (s)he may ask the Labour Office to find the necessary information in its records on his/her behalf, in accordance with the principle of efficiency. The authority providing assistance to persons in material need has the duty to inform the applicant for subsistence support that it will obtain the information necessary for evaluation of the existence of entitlement for subsistence support and its amount (i.e. the certificate of inclusion in the register of jobseekers, certificate of provision of unemployment relief and requalification, and certificate of the existence of entitlement to State social support).

The Labour Office has adopted remedial measures and now informs all persons in material need that certain facts relevant for decision on entitlement for assistance in material need can be obtained from official records by the Labour Office itself, if the applicant so requests.