Bundesagentur für Arbeit

Focus on European and social and health policy

For the BA, European social policy is of particular interest. However, there are also numerous other areas where the BA's business policy is concerned, for example digitalisation, migration, education etc..

The BA has two different types of objectives: strategic business policy goals and staff-orientated goals. The strategic business goals determine the operational orientation and the success of the BA in the respective policy fields, while staff-orientated goals relate to securing and improving the productive efficiency and the employability of BA staff.

Aim, structure and tasks of the organization

The BA is a self-governing public law corporation endowed with its own legal status which reports directly to the federal government and the Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs. Its legal mandate is set in the Social Code (SGB Sozialgesetzbuch) and the main tasks are listed in §19 Social Code I.

The BA fulfils comprehensive service tasks for the labour and training market for individuals, companies and institutions and provides a nationwide network of employment agencies and branch offices for this purpose. The employment agencies counsel and place trainees and job seekers, offer career counselling, promote the professional integration of people with disabilities, pay out income replacement benefits such as unemployment benefits or insolvency benefits and are a competent point of contact for employers on various issues relating to personnel policy.

The BA conducts labour market monitoring, analysis and research and produces reports and labour market statistics. Moreover, it distributes child benefits through the Family Benefits Office and it is also responsible for monitoring benefits fraud.

The BA has two different types of objectives: strategic business policy goals and staff-orientated goals. The strategic business goals determine the operational orientation and the success of the BA in the respective policy fields, while staff-orientated goals relate to securing and improving the productive efficiency and the employability of BA staff.

The BA is headed by an Executive Board that has a Chair and three other members. The Executive Board manages the BA and the conduct of business. All members of the Executive Board serve full-time and are appointed for a term of five years. The Regional Directorates and the local Employment Agencies are also managed by multi-member managing boards, where each member has their own area of responsibility.