KNOW

YOUR
RIGHTS

CONTACT
[email protected]
www.radnickaprava.org
www.facebook.com/radnickaprava.org
 KNOW
YOUR
RIGHTS
The ins and outs
of working in Croatia
as migrant workers
 WHY THIS MANUAL
– INTRODUCTION

“When you start working, no one pays attention to the working hours. We worked
in two shi s: from 11 am to 4 pm and from 7 pm until the end of the shi . The end-
ing hours of the shi were not fixed, it seemed like there was no end to it. The
longest we stayed was 2 o'clock a er midnight. I had one day off per week.

The only thing that was OK was the fact that our salary was paid to our bank ac-
counts and that the employer paid for our pension and social security. The only
reason they did that was because former workers sent the inspection to them. But
they neither kept track of, nor paid overtime. We had basic accommodation, and
out of three meals a day which were promised, they only gave us lunch.”

This is the experience of one woman worker who came to Croatia in 2019 for a
seasonal job as a kitchen worker.

The previous quote contains several violations of workers’ rights, like unpaid
overtime which is also not recorded and working hours longer than law allows.
Unfortunately, her example is just a drop in the ocean of violations of workers’
rights that happen on a daily basis either to Croatian or foreign workers.

In order to protect and improve their rights, workers need to be informed: they
should know where these rights come from, whom they should ask for help and
how they can protect themselves. This manual is dealing primarily with issues
faced by migrant workers, i. e. third country nationals – that is why we included
summaries of national law and mechanisms that regulate their work and resid-
ence status.

However, migrant workers have the same rights as Croatian workers. That is why
we hope that this manual will inform you about the rights to which you’re legally
entitled and help you detect illegal practices of employers. Also, we hope that it
will be useful in your everyday struggle and that it will help in improving your po-
sition and position of your colleagues in the workplace.

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NATIONAL LAW
AND MECHANISMS

Main documents that regulate the status of third country nationals are the
Foreigners Act and Ordinance on the status and work of third country nationals in
the Republic of Croatia.

FOREIGNERS ACT¹
Conditions for approving the entry, stay and work of third country nationals are
prescribed by the provisions of the Foreigners Act. It contains provisions
concerning validity and issuance of passports and residence permits, as well as
entering and leaving Croatia. It also defines your residence, according to its
purpose: family reunification, secondary school education, studying, research,
humanitarian reasons, life partnership and work. There are chapters that define
short-term stay, temporary stay, as well as residence and work permits. Those can
also be found in shortened form in English on the official pages of Ministry of
Foreign and European Affairs,² together with information concerning travel, visas,
citizenship, legalization of documents etc.

ORDINANCE ON THE STATUS AND WORK OF THIRD-COUNTRY

NATIONALS IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA³
This regulation defines some of the more technical issues, like methods of
determining the conditions for residence and work of foreigners, the appearance
and content of application forms for issuing temporary and permanent residence
permits, identity cards, travel documents etc.

1 The Aliens Act (in Croatian): www.zakon.hr/z/142/Zakon-o-strancima [Official Gazette

133/2020] 2 www.mvep.hr/en/consular-information/stay-of-foreigners/granting-stay-in-croatia-/
3 Ordinance on the status and work of third country nationals (in Croatian):
https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2012_05_52_1279.html [Official Gazette 52/2012]

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS 3

 WORK OF MIGRANT
WORKERS IN CROATIA

The Foreigners Act also regulates your employment. To be able to work in Croatia
you need to have a stay and work permit or a work registration certificate, unless
provided otherwise by the Foreigners Act.

Information about an application for a stay and work permit can be found in
English on the web pages of Ministry of Interior,⁴ which deals with such issues.

If you are a seasonal worker (if you have a work permit issued for a period of 90
days to six months), your rights are defined in Article 108 of the Foreigners Act. If
you have a stay and work permit, and a working contract signed with the
employer for a period longer than 6 months, your rights are defined in Article 138
of the Foreigners Act.

You have the same rights as Croatian citizens, including the right to regular salary,
occupational health and safety, education, acknowledgement of qualifications,
social security, tax reliefs, access to public goods and services and freedom of
association.

4 https://mup.gov.hr/aliens-281621/281621

Your work in Croatia is restricted – you are allowed to do only

those jobs for which you have been granted a stay and work
permit or a work registration certificate and only with the
employer who hired you.

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BEFORE BEGINNING OF
THE WORK

When you find an employer and agree to work for him or her, you need to sign an
employment contract. It needs to be in a written form, and it should include most
important information about the employment. Those are your name, surname
and residence, name and headquarters of employer, place of work and the
description of tasks that you will be doing, salary, wage benefits and period of
payment, as well as duration of the working day or working week.

WHAT TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR

There were cases of workers being tricked by the employer. The employer
would offer a certain sum of money, which to the worker seemed like a fair
amount, but the workers were not informed of the fact that the amount offered
is actually gross amount (which means that tax and other expenses need to be
deducted from this amount). Thus they had to stay in Croatia for a year working
for less money than it was promised to them.

In order to avoid that from happening, you need to know that in Croatia salary is
calculated and presented in two ways: as gross and net salary.

Gross salary is the total amount that you earn. It includes taxes and health and
pension insurance. This is the salary which will usually be written on your
working contract.

Net salary is the amount that you receive on your bank account. It's the take-
home pay.

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 WORKING CONTRACTS

There are two main types of working contracts: fixed-term contracts (temporary
contracts) and permanent contracts.

Fixed-term contracts can be extended every one, two, three, six etc. months for a
period of three consecutive years. If the employer doesn’t want to continue
employing a certain worker anymore, he just has to wait for the time period
stipulated in the work contract to expire. This kind of contract brings insecurity
for workers, because they are constantly afraid if the employer will extend their
contract or not.

However, some collective agreements have provisions that define a shorter

period in which the employer is allowed to prolong contracts, which can make
the situation easier for the worker.

A er that certain period expires, the employer should offer you permanent
employment. If he tries to offer you a short-term contract again, he is breaking
the law. Additionally, if your employer fails to notify you about your three year
period ending and you continue to work past the contract expiry date, you have
an automatic right to permanent employment.

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 WORKERS’ RIGHTS

ACCORDING TO CROATIAN LABOUR ACT,⁵

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO:

FULL WORK TIME

Maximum duration of full work time in Croatia should be 40 hours per week.

PAID ADDITIONAL HOURS OF WORK

Working longer than the full-time working hours is considered overtime work. It
shouldn’t exceed additional 10 hours per week and 180 hours per year. In some
cases more overtime hours per week or per year can be agreed upon through
collective agreements, but only if workers want that.

Overtime must always be paid – the replacement of overtime hours with days off
instead of cash compensation is not allowed, and the employer who does so is
committing a serious violation of the Labor Act.

Working between 10 o’clock in the evening and 6 o’clock in the morning of the
following day and, in the case of work in agriculture, between 10 o’clock in the
evening and 5 o’clock in the morning of the following day, is considered night
work.

You have the right to an increased salary for those hours. The increase should be
defined through workers contract or collective agreement.

REST PERIOD
When working full-time you are entitled to a 30-minute break every working day.
You are also entitled to daily rest between two consecutive working days, lasting
a minimum of 12 hours without interruption, as well as to a weekly minimum rest
of 24 hours.

There is one exception: workers who perform a seasonal job on two occasions per
day have the right to a rest period between two consecutive working days of a
minimum of at least 8 hours without interruption.

5 Labour Act: www.vsrh.hr/CustomPages/Static/HRV/Files/Legislation__Labour-Act.pdf

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 Annual leave is a constitutional category. Article 56 of the Constitution of
Republic Croatia defines that a worker cannot give up this right. It also must
not be taken away from the worker!

PAID ANNUAL LEAVE

You have the right to paid annual leave for a period of 4 weeks minimum for each
calendar year. This right is acquired a er six months of uninterrupted work. If the
six-month time-limit didn't expire, you have the right to a proportion of annual
leave — one twel h of annual leave for each full month of work. When using up
annual leave, you are required to take a minimum of two weeks off at once.
Salary paid for the annual leave amounts to the average salary calculated for the
last three working months.

PAID DAYS OFF

You have the right to be free from work obligations and receive salary compen-
sation for a maximum of seven working days for important personal needs, and,
in particular, those related to marriage, childbirth, serious illness or death of a
member of the immediate family.

If you need additional days off work, you can request unpaid leave. During that
period the rights and obligations arising from employment are suspended.

SALARY
Employer should pay the salary amount stipulated in the collective agreement,
work regulations or working contract. He/she must pay equal salary to women
and men for equal work and for work of equal value. Salary should be paid a er
the work has been done and always in the form of money, not in vouchers for
stores or other similar compensation. It should be paid in intervals lasting not
longer than one month, and always until the fi eenth day of the current month
for the previous month. For example, salary for January should be paid until 15th
February.

When you work in Croatia, you have the right to a minimum wage. That is the
lowest amount that an employer can pay for full time work (8 working hours per
day). Salary increases should be agreed upon in a working contract or in
collective agreements. If such exists, employer must respect them. He/she has to
give you a payslip from which it is clear how salary is calculated.

8 WORKERS' RIGHTS
Minimum gross wage for 2021 is 4250 Croatian kuna (562,62 euros), and
minimum net wage is 3400 Croatian kuna (449,80 euros).

INCREASED SALARY
In addition to overtime, night work and work on days that are usually not working
days, you also have the right to an increased salary for arduous working
conditions. Such wage supplements/bonuses are regulated with collective
agreements.

For example, if you work in a construction sector, a bonus should be paid to you if
you work in environments with temperatures under -5 or above +35 degrees
Celsius or if you work in an environment in which noise is higher than allowed,
even with protective equipment.⁶ You should check the information about the
special conditions with a union that is active in the sector.

MATERNITY AND PARENTAL LEAVE⁷

Pregnant woman has the right to maternity leave during her pregnancy,
childbirth and care for her child. Maternity leave can be compulsory and
additional. Compulsory maternity leave lasts 28 days before the expected date of
childbirth and 70 days a er the birth of the child. Additional maternity leave lasts
28 days before the expected date of childbirth until the child is 6 months old.

The father can also exercise the right on maternity leave, a er the expiration of
compulsory maternity leave.

Parental leave can be used a er the child is six months old. It can last 8 months
for first and second born child and 30 months for born twins, third and every
other child.

The employer is not allowed to refuse to employ a woman because of her

pregnancy, nor can he offer her less favorable conditions or terminate her
contract during her pregnancy and up to 6 months a er the child is born, or
longer if she has two or more children. Furthermore, employers are not allowed
to ask for information about a woman's pregnancy.

6 Collective agreement for construction sector: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/

2020_08_93_1778.html 7 Law on maternity and parental leave, art. 12 and 14: www.zakon.hr/z/214/
Zakon-o-rodiljnim-i-roditeljskim-potporama

WORKERS' RIGHTS 9
 TERMINATION PERIOD
If you have been fired or you have quit your job, you have the right to termination
period. It starts on the day on which you are dismissed or quit the job, and its
duration depends on the number of days you worked for a certain employer
(minimum is two weeks if you worked less than a year).

You have to work during the termination period, but you have the right to be
absent from work minimum 4 hours per week in order to look for a new job.

SEVERANCE PAY
If you have worked for two years without interruption in one company, you have
the right to severance pay. Severance pay is a form of compensation paid by an
employer to an employee a er employment has ended. It should be paid in
money, and the amount is calculated according to your previous working days.
Minimum severance pay is defined by the Labour Act.

You can get severance pay if your employer terminates the contract for a
business-related reason, for example if the work you do for the company is no
longer required. But, you cannot get severance pay if the employer charges you
for inappropriate behavior.

Also, if you suffered an injury at work, or if you have fallen ill with an occupational
disease and the employer cannot provide you with appropriate workplace a er
recovery, you have right to a double severance pay (under the above described
conditions).

10 WORKERS' RIGHTS
RIGHT TO ASSOCIATION IN
TRADE UNIONS AND
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Besides the Labour Act, organizing in unions is guaranteed by the Constitution of

the Republic of Croatia and international laws.

Organizing and unity can bring benefits for you and your working colleagues and
improve your position as worker. The most important benefits of organizing in
unions are collective agreements – documents in which higher level of rights than
those defined by the Labour Act can be agreed upon.

Collective agreements can be concluded on a sectoral level – those are called

branch collective agreements, and those negotiated between union and single
employers are company level agreements.

Collective agreements can, for example, define higher salaries, bonuses on a

salary, increased number of days of annual leave, number of allowed paid days
off, improved occupational health and safety etc.

Labour Act provides the protection of rights agreed in a collective agreement

before the competent court. Collective bargaining and workers' association
are also protected by international regulations that are ratified by Croatia.
Those are Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the
Right to Organize and Convention 98 on the application of the principles of
the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining.

These conventions provide a legal basis for workers' struggle for better
working conditions than those specified by existing regulations.

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 Basically, any problem concerning the workplace you and your colleagues have
can and should be discussed within the union and included in the collective
bargaining process. Prerequisites for successful collective bargaining are strong
unions and workers willing to fight for their rights.

Employers very o en try to prevent organizing in unions with various tactics –

that’s why it’s very important to know your rights and to fight for them.
Successful examples of workers’ and union fights are collective agreements for
construction sector and service industry (links below), which give better prote-
ction to the workers employed in mentioned sectors. If you are interested in
rights improved by the collective agreement, you should contact the sectorial
union.

USEFUL LINKS
In order to protect your rights and to find out if you have additional workers’
rights, you should check if there is agreement in force at your company or at
branch level.

Database of collective agreements:

www.kolektivni-ugovori.info/baza-kolektivnih-ugovora/

Extended collective agreements exist for two branches where most workers from
third countries are employed:

Collective agreement for construction sector:

https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2020_08_93_1778.html

Collective agreement for service industry:

https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/full/2020_01_5_76.html

12 RADNICKAPRAVA.ORG
CONTACTS FOR HELP

LABOUR INSPECTION
If you have experienced a violation of your rights, you can file a report against
your employer to the State Inspectorate (https://dirh.gov.hr/podnosenje-prijava/
83). A report is anonymous, unless you want the inspectorate to notify you about
the results of their investigation.

UNIONS
Trade Union of Construction Industry of Croatia
(Sindikat graditeljstva Hrvatske)
Address: Zagreb Trg Petra Krešimira IV/2 Zagreb
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone number: 01 4655017 or +385 99 2536590 for Zagreb,
Čakovec: 099 2658575, Osijek: 031 209511, Rijeka: 051 330 733, Split: 01 4655014
Webpage: www.sgh.hr
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SindikatGraditeljstvaHrvatske/

Tourism and Services Trade Union

(Sindikat turizma i usluga Hrvatske)
Address: Krešimirov trg 2./3, Zagreb
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone number: + 385 1 46 55 620
Web page: www.stuh.hr
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/stuh.hr

CREDITS
Author: Ana Vragolović
Proofreading: Ivana Perić & Matea Grgurinović
Editor: Jakov Kolak

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