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Show Applicable labour law

Show Overview of employment contracts

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<div class="ck-content" data-wrapper="true" dir="ltr" style="--ck-image-style-spacing: 1.5em; --ck-inline-image-style-spacing: calc(var(--ck-image-style-spacing) / 2); font-family: Segoe UI; font-size: 11pt;"><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;">Croatian labour law is primarily governed by the<strong> Labour Act</strong> (Zakon o radu, Official Gazette <a href="https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2014_07_93_1872.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">No. 93/14</a>, <a href="https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2017_12_127_2877.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">127/17</a>, <a href="https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2019_10_98_1940.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">98/19</a>, <a href="https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2022_12_151_2343.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">151/22</a>, <a href="https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2023_04_46_788.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">46/23</a>), which regulates employment relationships, working conditions, and workers' rights. The <strong>APW </strong>(Zakon o upućivanju radnika u Republiku Hrvatsku i prekograničnoj provedbi odluka o novčanoj kazni, Official Gazette No. <a href="https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2020_11_128_2438.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">128/20</a>, <a href="https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2022_10_114_1719.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">114/22</a>) implements the Posting of Workers Directive, Directive 2018/957/EU and Directive 2014/67/EU.</p><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;"><br><strong>The Labour Act:</strong></p><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><ul style="list-style-position: inside;"><li data-list-item-id="e0bfa2f8b69293191d4f99846e1bad27b"><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;"><strong>Defines basic obligations and rights</strong> of contracting parties in an employment relationship. The employer is obliged to assign a worker a job and pay them remuneration for the work performed. The worker is obliged to perform the assigned work personally, according to the instructions given by the employer in accordance with the nature and type of work (Article 7).</p></li><li data-list-item-id="e29af94cf7d7006ccba803d7d2df25969"><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;"><strong>Prescribes mandatory content of an employment contract in case of posting of workers from Croatia</strong>. The employer can, within the framework of temporary and occasional cross-border provision of services, for a limited time, post a worker to work abroad to perform contracted tasks. If the posting lasts longer than four consecutive weeks, the Labour Act prescribes specific mandatory content of an employment contract that has to be signed before going abroad (Article 18) (see section 3.1).</p></li><li data-list-item-id="e529010724c82de4aac9f803748dcb244"><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;"><strong>Defines a worker</strong> as a natural person who, in an employment relationship, performs certain tasks for the employer (Article 4).</p></li></ul><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;"><br><strong>The APW:</strong></p><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><ul style="list-style-position: inside;"><li data-list-item-id="ecd4066000d27c885b0fbaef37f8a1774"><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;"><strong>Regulates</strong>, regardless of the law applicable to the employment contract of a posted worker, <strong>the working conditions and rights</strong> of a worker posted to work for a limited time in Croatia from the EU, other Contracting States of the EEA, the Swiss Confederation or a third country, unless otherwise provided in the APW (Article 1).&nbsp;</p></li><li data-list-item-id="ec497afe189c7385d04d01ca6d258e52b"><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;"><strong>Regulates guaranteed working conditions</strong> for posted workers, including: maximum work periods and minimum rest periods; minimum paid annual leave; compensation for performed work, including increased compensation for overtime work; health protection and safety at work; protective measures for pregnant workers and those who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding and underage workers; conditions of hiring-out through temporary employment agencies; equal treatment of women and men and other protection against discrimination; allowances or reimbursement of expenses for travel, food, and accommodation, provided that such allowance or compensation under the regulation or extended collective agreement has a national worker; quality of accommodation to the extent to which the national worker is entitled, if the employer is obliged by regulation or an extended collective agreement to provide accommodation to a national worker who is absent from their usual place of work (Article 6).</p></li><li data-list-item-id="ee945bd26bc7ece03c133bc5b4873e1bd"><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;"><strong>Provides exemptions</strong>, as certain working conditions (e.g. minimum paid annual leave and remuneration provisions) do not apply to qualified workers sent by a foreign employer for a period of less than eight days, if the foreign employer who performs the delivery instructs the worker to perform the initial assembly or the first installation necessary for putting the delivered goods into use and which is contracted as an essential component of the contract for the delivery of goods (Article 6(3)). This exemption does not apply to workers engaged in construction-related activities (Article 6(4)).</p></li><li data-list-item-id="e94bb5d4c6b9757babfbb2ecb5ab3af03"><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;"><strong>Distinguishes </strong>between TCNs posted by an employer established in an <strong>EU/EEA Member State or Switzerland</strong> and those posted by an employer in a<strong> third country</strong>. TCNs legally employed by an EU/EEA-based employer do not require a work permit in Croatia but must comply with temporary stay regulations if the posting exceeds 90 days (Article 20).</p></li><li data-list-item-id="e6bb1bd926b4a4f5839f7078dac4b3b18"><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;"><strong>Defines posted workers</strong> as workers posted by a foreign employer (a natural or legal person established in a Member States or the EEA, other than in Croatia) to carry out work temporarily in Croatia, where they do not usually work (Article 3). Under Croatian law, a posting situation occurs when a foreign employer, within the framework of temporary or occasional cross-border provision of services, posts a worker to work in Croatia for a limited time period, and:&nbsp;</p></li></ul><p style="margin: 0 0 0 80px; text-align: justify;"><br>i.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Service provision contract: The worker is posted to Croatia to perform work under the employer’s direction, based on a contract between the foreign employer and the service user doing business in Croatia. Throughout the posting period, the worker remains employed by the foreign employer, maintaining an active employment relationship with them.<br>ii.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Intra-group mobility: The worker is posted to a branch or subsidiary in the same corporate group as the foreign employer. The employment relationship remains with the foreign employer during the posting period.<br>iii.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Temporary employment agency posting: A temporary employment agency posts the worker to a user company in Croatia, with the employment relationship maintained by the agency throughout the posting.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 0 80px; text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><ul style="list-style-position: inside;"><li data-list-item-id="ec1461b61d973530301bd376b65f3c560"><p style="margin: 0; text-align: justify;">&nbsp;<strong>Applies to all posted workers</strong>, including TCNs, posted to work in Croatia.<sup>1</sup></p></li></ul><hr><p style="margin: 0;"><span style="font-size:9pt;"><sup>1 </sup>Workers posted to work in Croatia: </span><a href="https://mrosp.gov.hr/arhiva-3104-10582/posted-workers-11539/11539"><span style="font-size:9pt;">https://mrosp.gov.hr/arhiva-3104-10582/posted-workers-11539/11539</span></a><span style="font-size:9pt;"> [last accessed: 13/03/26].</span></p></div>

Employments contracts

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Table 2 - Overview of relevant national administrations

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Country-Fiche: Croatia

Competent authorities

Request for information from national authorities

Table 1 - Overview of relevant national administrations

Applicable labour law

Employments contracts

Table 2 - Overview of relevant national administrations

Temporary Work Agencies

Social security

Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI) system (includes public repository of social security institutions)

Institutions responsible for the issuance of PD A1

Online tool to check PD A1

European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) – List of institutions that issue the EHIC

Entry and stay requirements for TCNs

Visa

Table 3 - Visa types

Residence and work permits

Table 4 - Residence Permits

Table 5 - Work Permits

Special entry and stay requirements

Travel and residence documents

Useful Links

Table 6 - Useful links