Working life country profile for Croatia
This profile describes the key characteristics of working life in Croatia. It aims to provide the relevant background information on the structures, institutions, actors and relevant regulations regarding working life.
This includes indicators, data and regulatory systems on the following aspects: actors and institutions, collective and individual employment relations, health and well-being, pay, working time, skills and training, and equality and non-discrimination at work. The profiles are systematically updated every two years.
‘Individual employment relations’ refers to the relationship between the individual worker and their employer. This relationship is shaped by legal regulation and by the outcomes of social partner negotiations over terms and conditions. This section looks at the start and termination of the employment relationship and entitlements and obligations in Croatia.
Requirements regarding an employment contract
According to Article 19 of the Labour Act, it is prohibited to employ a person under 15 years of age (or between 15 and 18 years if they are still subject to compulsory full-time elementary schooling). When a legal representative authorises the conclusion of an employment contract for a minor (with the exception of a minor who is still subject to compulsory full-time elementary schooling), the minor has legal competence for concluding and terminating such a contract and for taking any legal actions. Article 19(a) of the Labour Act sets out the special protection of children and minors. It establishes that a child, in the sense of this act, is a person who is younger than 15 years, while a minor is a person who has reached the age of 15 or is older than 15 and younger than 18 years, while Article 19(b) specifies the conditions and characteristics of people who work with minors. An amendment to Article 19(b) specifies employers’ duties regarding the special protection of children and minors. An amendment to Article 21 stipulates that the employer may not employ a minor before prior determination of the minor’s medical capacity. Furthermore, the minister responsible for labour affairs, with the prior consent of the minister responsible for health, prescribes by ordinance the preliminary determination of the health capacity for work of minors.
For employees who work from home (that is, at a separate workplace from their employer), if an employee makes a request for the employer to amend the employment contract through which working from home is regulated, the employer is obliged to respond to the employee and can reject the request only for a justified reason, which must be explained in writing to the employee no later than 30 days after receiving the proposal. In addition to including the information set out in Article 15 of the Labour Act, an employment contract concluded in writing by which the employer and the employee agree to work at separate workplaces must also contain additional information about (1) the organisation of work that enables the availability of employees and their unhindered access to the business space, information and professional communication with other workers and the employer, as well as third parties in the business process; (2) the method of recording working hours; (3) means of work for the performance of work that the employer is obliged to acquire, install and maintain; (4) compensation for expenses incurred due to the performance of work, which the employer is obliged to pay to the employee if the work at a separate workplace is contracted as permanent or when the period of work at a separate workplace lasts longer than 15 working days continuously; (5) the method of training and professional development of the employees; (6) the way of exercising the right to employees’ participation in the decision-making process; and (7) the duration of work at a separate workplace.
Dismissal and termination procedures
Article 115 of the Labour Act allows an employer to dismiss workers for certain reasons. These comprise the specific nature of the work, in terms of organisation and technology; the employee’s personal characteristics; misconduct; and failure to measure up to the work standards during the probationary period. When a worker is dismissed because of the changing nature of the work, their tenure, age and family circumstances have to be taken into consideration.
Entitlements and obligations
Parental, maternity and paternity leave
Statutory leave arrangements, 2019
| Maternity leave | |
| Maximum duration | The leave is divided into two parts. The mandatory period, used by pregnant women/mothers, lasts from the 28th day before the expected delivery date (or from the 45th day, upon medical approval) to the 70th day after birth. After this compulsory maternity leave, the mother has the right to additional maternity leave for up to six months of the life of the child. If she wants, she may transfer her leave to the father of the child with his prior consent, by a written statement (paternity leave (očinski dopust)). In cases of poor health or health risks for the mother and child, the pregnant mother is entitled to sick leave before birth for the duration of the risk (which is referred to as ‘sick leave due to illness and complications related to pregnancy’). Maternity leave can last a maximum of three years all together. |
| Reimbursement | Compensation for maternity leave for the first six months after delivery is determined based on the average salary paid for the six months prior to the month in which the maternity leave began. It amounts to 100% of the average salary paid in this period (therefore, there is no amount limit). However, for a pregnant woman/mother to exercise her right to maternity leave, she must have been employed for at least nine months continuously or 12 months with interruptions in the previous two years. This, for example, means that if a person goes on maternity leave in July, then her maternity leave allowance is calculated according to the last six paid salaries, from January to June of that year. Transportation, jubilee awards, holiday pay, etc., are not included in the compensation calculation. The maternity leave allowance for an unemployed mother amounts to €305 per month. |
| Who pays? | The national social security fund, that is, the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance (Hrvatski zavod za zdravstveno osiguranje), funded from general taxation. |
| Legal basis | Act on Maternity and Parental Benefits (Zakon o rodiljnim I roditeljskim potporama; OG 85/08, 110/08, 34/11, 54/13, 152/14, 59/17 and 85/22). The new Act on Maternity and Parental Benefits (OG 152/22) has been in force since 1 January 2023. |
| Parental leave | |
| Maximum duration | An employed or self-employed parent is entitled to parental leave after the child reaches the age of six months, and they may use it until the child turns eight years of age (for their first and second child). This is a personal right of both parents and they may take it for eight months (for the first and second child) or 30 months (for twins and the third and every subsequent child). As a rule, both parents can avail of parental leave of 4 or 15 months each (depending on the number of children born), but not at the same time. However, if this right is used by only one parent, then the leave can last for 6 or 30 months. Additional maternity leave may be used from six months after the birth until the child’s eighth year and may be used by both parents for an equal duration: eight months for the first and second child. The leave may be used in one period or in more parts, twice per year at most, each time for a duration of at least 30 days. |
| Reimbursement | As of an amendment on 1 August 2020, after the child is six months old, parental leave is granted in an amount up 100% of the net salary, but up to a maximum of HRK 7,500.13 or €995.45. Before 1 August 2020, this amount was HRK 5,654.20 or €751. The compensation after the first 12 months is HRK 2,328.20 or €309. |
| Who pays? | The national social security fund, that is, the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance (Hrvatski zavod za zdravstveno osiguranje), funded from general taxation. |
| Legal basis | The Labour Act, which has been harmonised with the European law, in particular the Parental Leave Directive (Directive 2010/18/EU), and the Act on Maternity and Parental Benefits. The new Act on Maternity and Parental Benefits (OG 152/22) has been in force since 1 January 2023. |
| Paternity leave | |
| Maximum duration | The legislation introduces 10 working days of paid paternity leave per child to fathers or equivalent second parents, regardless of their marital or family status. The 10 days of leave cannot be transferred to any other parent and may be taken only within six months from the birth of the child or the placement for adoption. In addition, the leave may be taken regardless of the mother’s employment status. If the mother is employed, second parents may take their leave simultaneously with the mother’s maternity leave. |
| Reimbursement | During such leave, second parents are entitled to their full salary. |
| Who pays? | The national social security fund, that is, the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance (Hrvatski zavod za zdravstveno osiguranje), funded from general taxation. |
| Legal basis | Amendments to the Act on Maternity and Parental Benefits (OG 85/22). The new Act on Maternity and Parental Benefits (OG 152/22; Article 16) has been in force since 1 January 2023. |
| Paternity leave in case of multiple births or for different time periods of parental leave | The leave increases to 15 working days when the working parent has twins or multiples. |
Sick leave
Calculation of the sickness cash benefit provided by the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance (Hrvatski zavod za zdravstveno osiguranje) is based on the average net wage in the six months preceding the month of sickness. It is paid in full (100% of the calculation base) when the sickness is a result of the Homeland War, for injury that occurred during work, for nursing a sick child under three years of age, for the donation of tissues and organs, in the case of the need to isolate or for complications during pregnancy. In all other instances, it amounts to 70% of the calculation base. After six months of continuous sick leave, the amount increases to 80%. It is regulated by the Act on Mandatory Health Insurance (Zakon o obveznom zdravstvenom osiguranju; OG 80/13, 137/13 and 98/19), the Book of Rules Regarding Longest Duration of Sick Leave Depending on the Type of Disease (Pravilnik o rokovima najduljeg trajanja bolovanja ovisno o vrsti bolesti; OG 153/09), the Labour Act and the Act on Maternity and Parental Benefits. The new Act on Maternity and Parental Benefits (OG 152/22) has been in force since 1 January 2023.
Retirement age
The retirement age for men is 65 years, while the retirement age for women increased to 63 years in 2022 and to 63.25 years in 2023, from 60.5 years in 2012. The legal retirement age for women rises every year by three months, with the intention to reach 65 years by 2030. There is a possibility to take early retirement a maximum of five years before the official retirement age with a reduction in the amount of the pension of 0.2% for each month of early retirement ( Zakon o izmjenama Zakona o mirovinskom osiguranju, the Law on Amendments to the Law on Pension Insurance, OG 102/19, Article 4).
