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Income tax rates in Croatia vary based on the residence of the employee. The following tax rates apply to monthly income:

The employer cost is generally estimated at 16.5% of the employee salary.

• Health insurance - 16.5%

Conditional Costs:
Expenses Tax Gross-up: Variable depending on the employee’s salary. This is an additional amount of money added to cover the income taxes the employee will owe on the payment of reimbursed expenses.

These costs are provided as estimates and are intended solely for general informational purposes. To fully comprehend all associated costs and fees related to the terms of any employment agreement for this country, please contact our Sales team for a quote.

Pregnant employees are entitled to 98 days of paid leave. 28 days must be taken before the child's birth. 70 days must be taken after the child's birth. The employee will receive 100% of their average salary during this period (based on the last 6 months), and the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) will be responsible for this pay.

The employee can extend leave through parental leave.

Employees are entitled to 8 months for the first and second child and 30 months for twins or every child after the first two of parental leave. Both parents can use parental leave, each for 4 or 15 months. If this right is used by only one parent, then leave can last only 6 or 30 months. Salary compensation during the first 6 months of parental leave is paid 100% of their average salary (based on the last 6 months) with a maximum limit of HRK 5,654.20 per month. For the remaining leave, employees will receive 70% of their average salary.

The Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) is responsible for this payment.

Parental leave can't be extended.

Employees are entitled to paid sick leave for up to 42 days and long-term illness benefits after 42 days. This leave is paid at different rates and by different payers:

Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.

Terminations in Croatia can be complex. There is no at-will termination in Croatia for employers, outside the probation period, and termination must be done for just cause.

Compliant terminations include:

• Voluntarily by the employee
• By mutual agreement
• Unilaterally by the employer based on:
  • Economic, technical, or organizational reasons the need for Employee's work position ceases to exist
  • Employee ceases to be capable of performing his/her duties, due to his/her ability or character
  • Employee breaches his/her obligations arising from the employment relationship
• By the expiration of the contract

The minimum notice period is 2 weeks and will be increased according to the length of the employment.

• The stated deadlines are reduced by half if the employee's employment contract is terminated due to a breach of the employment obligation, i.e. if it is a case of dismissal due to the employee's misconduct
• If the employee terminates the employment contract, the notice period is one month

* If the worker has reached 50 years of age this period is extended for another 2 weeks, and if the worker has reached 55 years of age for one month.

In Croatia, employees are entitled to severance pay if the following conditions are met:

• The employer terminates the employment contract
• The dismissal is not conditioned by the behavior of the worker
• The worker has spent at least 2 years continuously working for the employer terminating the contract

Severance payment is based on the length of employment with the same employer. The statutory minimum severance payment is one-third of the monthly salary (average of the last 3 months) per year of employment. The maximum payment is 6 months salary unless otherwise provided for by law, by-law, collective agreement, or work contract.

Croatia celebrates 13 national holidays. National holidays include:

• New Year’s Day
• Epiphany
• Easter Monday
• Labor Day
• National Day
• Corpus Christi
• Day of Anti-Fascist Struggle
• Victory Day & Patriotic Gratitude & Veteran’s Day
• Assumption Day
• All Saints' Day
• Memorial Day for the Victims of the Homeland War
• Christmas Day
• St. Stephen’s Day

Contracts must be in Croatian and can be bilingual. They must be in writing and signed by both parties.

A contract must include:

• Name
• Position and job description
• Obligations
• Place of work
• Commencement and duration of employment
• Working hours
• Salary and other benefits
• Additional remuneration and reimbursement of expenses
• Vacation and leave
• Termination conditions