When your caseworker suggests a job instead.

What changed in 2023.

Until the end of 2022 the agency had a rule called Vermittlungsvorrangplacement priority: a job placement comes before any funding: before it could fund a start-up, it had to check whether it could place you in a job instead. Since 1 January 2023 that priority no longer applies to the Gründungszuschuss. § 4 SGB III says so, and the agency’s own internal rules repeat it in one line: “Der Vermittlungsvorrang gilt seit 01.01.2023 im Verhältnis zum Gründungszuschuss nicht mehr.”

What did not change: the grant and the AVGS voucher are discretionary. Your caseworker weighs your plan, your chances in the job market, and the agency’s own guidance, and decides. A job suggestion is part of that job, not a refusal of yours.

What you still owe the agency.

While you receive Arbeitslosengeldunemployment benefit you remain unemployed in the legal sense, and § 138 SGB III attaches two duties to that: you make your own efforts to end unemployment, and you are available for placement. A founder plan does not suspend them. Applying for jobs the agency sends you, going to appointments and reacting to letters are part of the deal until the day your business starts. A plan that ignores this invites a Sperrzeita block without benefit; a plan that respects it keeps the conversation friendly.

The same paragraph has a rule in your favour: self-employed work under 15 hours a week does not end your unemployment. You may prepare the business, talk to customers and even take first small jobs while on benefit, as long as the time stays under that line. Income is offset against the benefit after an allowance of €165 a month (§ 155 SGB III).

What to say.

Three sentences, in this order, in the appointment or in a short message through the portal.

1. The plan, concretely. What you will sell, to whom, and what you have done about it so far. A caseworker who hears "I have an idea" hears a wish; one who hears "I have spoken to eight potential clients and two want to start in January" hears a plan.

2. The request, by name. Founder coaching through an AVGS under § 45 SGB III now, and the Gründungszuschuss once the plan has passed the viability review. Name the instruments; it shows you have read the rules.

3. The rule, calmly. If the answer is "we place you first": "As far as I know, the placement priority no longer applies to the Gründungszuschuss since 2023, § 4 Absatz 2 SGB III. I would like my plan to be considered on its own." Then stop talking.

In German, for the third sentence: „Soweit ich weiß, gilt der Vermittlungsvorrang seit 2023 nicht mehr für den Gründungszuschuss, § 4 Absatz 2 SGB III. Ich bitte darum, mein Vorhaben für sich zu prüfen.”

If the answer is still no.

Ask for the decision in writing, with reasons. A written Bescheida formal decision letter can be appealed within a month, and a refusal that gives no reasons is weaker than one that does. Often the reason is fixable: a plan with no numbers, a viability review not yet done, fewer than 150 days of benefit left. Fix the reason, apply again.

If you are with the Jobcenter rather than the Arbeitsagentur, the picture is different: for Grundsicherungsgeldbasic income support from the Jobcenter, since July 2026 placement into work comes first by law since 1 July 2026, and the instrument there is the Einstiegsgeld, not the Gründungszuschuss. The conversation is harder; the Fit Call helps you prepare it.

General information, not legal advice. Whether to appeal a decision, and how, is a question for a lawyer or a counselling service.