Employment Law

Croatian Employment Contract

Croatian law requires employers to provide new employees with a formal employment contract and all relevant details of the employment agreement. The document should be written in the local Croatian language and mention compensation in the local currency of Croatian Kuna.

Fixed Term

Indefinite

Croatia Working Hours

Standard working hours in Croatia are 40 hours per week, spread over five days. Anything exceeding this standard is considered overtime and overtime pay is required at 150% of normal wages, and employees must not work more than 8 hours of overtime per week.

Holiday Policy

Croatia Vacation

Employers in Croatia must provide their employees with at least 20 days of paid leave per year. In addition, employees are entitled to up to 7 days of personal leave due to reasons such as the death of a family member.

Croatia Sick Leave

Croatian employees are entitled to up to 42 days of paid sick leave per year at a salary of at least 70% of their regular salary.

Parental Leave in Croatia

Female employees in Croatia are entitled to paid maternity leave. Generally, they can take up to 28 days of leave before the date of birth and at least 70 days after the date of birth, or until the child is six months old. If the parents choose to do so, the father can take any unused days from the mother after the initial 70-day period.

After the child reaches six months, parents can also enjoy 120 days of parental leave.

Termination and Severance in Croatia

An employment contract in Croatia can be terminated if both the employer and employee agree, or if there is a proper reason for termination. The employer must provide a notice period, the length of which depends on length of service:

• Service less than one year = two weeks notice
• One year service = one month notice
• Two years of service = one and a half months
• Five years of service = two months notice
• Ten years of service = two and a half months
• 20 years of service = three months notice

Some other factors, such as the age of the employee, may result in a longer mandatory notice period. Fired employees may also be entitled to severance pay.

Croatian Taxes

Employers in Croatia are required to contribute to various social funds. For health insurance they have to pay 15% of the employee's salary, for unemployment they have to pay 1.7% and for accident insurance they have to pay 0.5%.

If an employer hires young people (under 30 years old), these contributions are not required for five years.

Health Insurance in Croatia

Healthcare is covered by government and compulsory health insurance contributions, so private health insurance is not required. However, some employers may choose to offer it as part of a benefits package.

Salary and Benefits

Croatian Compensation Law

The minimum wage in Croatia (as of January 2019) is 3,750 HRK per month.

Benefits Administration in Croatia

As a foreign organization, setting up a Croatian benefits system for your employees can be difficult. Running a comprehensive and compliant benefits system can be time-consuming due to language and cultural differences, as well as complex, unique employment laws

At Remoly we specialize in setting up and running employee benefits systems in Croatia. We'll use our extensive experience to handle everything, ensuring you're ready to launch your business in Croatia quickly and efficiently.