Remote’s guide to employing in

Croatia
croatia flag

Make employment in Croatia easy. Let us handle payroll, benefits, taxes, compliance, and even stock options for your team in Croatia, all in one easy-to-use platform.

  • Capital City

    Zagreb

  • Currency

    Euro (€, EUR)

  • Languages

    Croatian

  • Population size

    4,058,165

Services available in this country:
Employer of Record ProductContractor Management

Facts & Stats

Croatia Map Illustration
  • Capital City

    Zagreb

  • Currency

    Euro (€, EUR)

  • Languages

    Croatian

  • Population size

    4,058,165

  • Ease of doing business

    Very easy

  • Cost of living index

    56.36 (45 of 139 nations)

  • Payroll frequency

    Monthly

  • VAT - standard rate

    25%

  • GDP - real growth rate

    2.9 (2019)

The Republic of Croatia (Republika Hrvatska) is a parliamentary republic nestled across Central and Southeast Europe. Croatia is home to the stunning port city of Dubrovnik, the world’s largest truffles, and a glittering coastline dotted with idyllic islands. The nation has a proud history of innovation as the birthplace of Nikola Tesla, Marco Polo, and the modern pen.

Croatia hosts the 43rd highest human development index in the world, driven by a strong social security system, free education, universal healthcare, and a high per capita income— all of which are factors that make the nation an attractive location for digital nomads and remote workers.

Grow your team in Croatia with Remote

Looking to employ workers in Croatia? Companies hiring in Croatia must either own a legal entity in the country or work with a global employment solutions provider, usually one that provides employer of record services.

Remote can employ your team in Croatia on your behalf through our local legal entity in the country and handle payroll, benefits, taxes, and compliance for your Croatia team. You can also pay contractors now in Croatia with Remote.

Risks of misclassification

Croatia, like many other countries, treats self-employed individuals or contractors and full-time employees differently. Misclassification of contractors in Croatia may lead to fines and penalties for the offending company.

Employing in Croatia

The Croatian Labor Act is the definitive authority on issues regarding employee protections, workers’ rights, and generally all labor relations for Croatia’s workforce of 1.7 million. Employees in Croatia enjoy protections against discrimination based on age, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression, and race.

Common questions that could come up during the hiring process include the minimum wage, overtime rates, and guaranteed paid time off. Remote can help you offer a complete, competitive, and compliant benefits package to your employees in Croatia.

Minimum Wage

Every employee who works full-time must receive an initial monthly salary of at least €900 gross per month and after a 6-month continuous period of employment with the same employer, this salary must increases to at least €1000 gross per month.

This minimum wage does not apply to domestic workers, agricultural and livestock workers and shipping workers, as well as to workers for whom the minimum wages in the hotel industry applies.

Payroll Cycle

For customers of Remote, all employee payments will be made in equal monthly installments on or before the last working day of each calendar month, payable in arrears.

Onboarding Time

We can help you get a new employee started in Croatia fast. The minimum onboarding time we need is only 4 working days.

Our team ensures your employees are onboarded and paid as quickly as possible while keeping your business compliant with all local employment legislation. The minimum onboarding time begins after the employee submits all required information onto the Remote platform. The onboarding timeline is also dependent upon registration with local authorities.

For all non-nationals of the country of employment, the Right to Work assessment (if applicable) will add three extra days to the total time to onboard. There may be extra time required if we need to follow-up on the right to work assessment.

Please note, payroll cut-off dates can impact the actual first day of employment. Remote has a payroll cut-off date of the 10th of the month unless otherwise specified.

14 Public holidays

Jan
Monday, January 1, 20241New Year's Day (Nova godina)
Saturday, January 6, 20242Epiphany (Bogojavljenje)
Mar
Sunday, March 31, 20243Easter (Uskrs)
Apr
Monday, April 1, 20244Easter Monday (Uskršnji ponedjeljak)
Wednesday, April 17, 20245Parliamentary Election
May
Wednesday, May 1, 20246Labor Day (Praznik rada)
Thursday, May 30, 20247Statehood Day (Blagdan Tijelova)
Jun
Saturday, June 22, 20248Day of Antifascist Struggle (Dan antifašističke borbe)
Aug
Monday, August 5, 20249Day of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving and Day of Croatian Defenders (Dan pobjede i domovinske zahvalnosti i Dan hrvatskih branitelja)
Thursday, August 15, 202410Assumption of Mary (Uznesenje Marije)
Nov
Friday, November 1, 202411All Saints' Day (Svi sveti)
Monday, November 18, 202412Remembrance Day (Dan sjećanja)
Dec
Wednesday, December 25, 202413Christmas Day (Božić)
Thursday, December 26, 202414Saint Stephen's Day (Dan svetog Stjepana)

Want to see and manage all holidays? Sign up for our free HRIS!

Effortless HR in Croatia: Take the Tour

Seamlessly Manage Your Workforce, from First Hire to Final Paycheck

Competitive benefits package in Croatia

At Remote, we’re obsessed with helping you craft the best possible employee experience for your team. We are leading the way in practicing “fair equity,” which means making sure employees everywhere have access to both the required and supplemental benefits they need to thrive (and that will allow you to attract the best local talent).

Our benefits packages in Croatia are tailored to fulfill the local needs of your employees. Typically, our packages contain some or all of the following benefits:

  • Health Insurance

  • Dental Insurance

  • Vision Insurance

  • Mental Health Support

  • Pension or 401(K)

  • Life and Disability Insurance

Taxes in Croatia

Learn how employment taxes and statutory fees affect your payroll and your employees’ paychecks in Croatia.

  • 16.5%

    health insurance contribution

Types of leave

Employees are entitled to at least 20 paid working days off work.

Employment termination

Termination process

Employee contracts can be terminated if a just cause is established, such as dishonesty, negligence, fraud, or any other work-related offenses.

No matter the reason for an employee’s termination, the employer is expected to provide written notice in advance.

Notice period

The statutory notice period depends on an employee’s tenure with the employer’s organization.

  • 2 weeks: employees with one year of service

  • 6 weeks: employees with two years of service

  • 8 weeks: employees with five years of service

  • 10 weeks: employees with 10 years of service

  • 12 weeks: employees with 20+ years of service

The notice period can either be limited to just 30 days, if an employer provides a valid justification, or halved if an employee breaches terms spelled out in the employment contract.

Severance pay

Employees who have worked at least two years with an employer are entitled to a severance package, equivalent to a third of a month’s wages per year of employment.

For instance, an employee who has worked with an employer for 12 years will be entitled to four months’ wages upon severance.

Probation periods

Probation periods are agreed upon by both parties and cannot exceed a year. We recommend that probation periods should not exceed 6 months and it is common to give 1 weeks notice during termination in probation period.

Fair Pricing in Croatia

Employer of Record

Hire and pay your global team

Starting at $599/month

for annual plans

Top features

  • Satisfaction guaranteed

  • No deposits or hidden fees

  • Zero onboarding or offboarding fees

  • Compliant equity incentives support including withholding and reporting

  • Built-in security and compliance

  • Fast onboarding (average 2-3 days)

  • Flexible, localized benefits

Contractor Management

Compliantly onboard and pay contractors

$29

per contractor/month

Sign up

Top features

  • Only pay for contractors you actively work with

  • Work with contractors in 200+ countries

  • Create, edit, and sign tailored, localized contracts

  • Approve contractor invoices with one click or auto-pay

  • Transparent payments with complete visibility

Remote Payroll

Consolidate your multi-country payroll

$50

per employee/month

Top features

  • Reduce costs by centralizing payroll management

  • Ensure local compliance for every country

  • Direct support from in-house local payroll experts

  • Accurate, on-time, compliant payroll to level-up your employee experience

  • Tax and labor authority reporting handled for you

HR Management

Manage all of your employees in one place

Free
Sign up

Top features

  • Guided onboarding and offboarding

  • Employee profile and document management

  • Time and attendance (time off and tracking)

  • Expense management and reimbursement

  • Employee self-serve on the platform and mobile app