Remote Working Legislation, Laws & Regulations in Croatia

Yes. In Croatia, work from home is governed by the Employment Act (Official Gazette No. 93/2014, 127/2017, 98/2019, 151/2022), the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Official Gazette No. 71/2014, 118/2014, 154/2014, 94/2018, 96/2018) and accompanying bylaws.

Work from home must be implemented by an employment contract or an amendment to it. Namely, the Employment Act explicitly prescribes the obligation for employers to expressly include terms regarding remote work in the employment contract (e.g. working time, necessary tools and equipment, reimbursement of costs, employee training, etc.). It is possible (and quite common) to regulate work from home through an employer’s policy, which is a practical approach, but does not exclude the obligation to regulate the matter in the employment contract.

However, in the event of extraordinary circumstances arising from epidemics, earthquakes, floods, environmental incidents and similar occurrences, the employer may, in order to continue operations and protect the health and safety of the employees, agree with the employees to work remotely without amending the employment contract. It should be noted that such remote work may not last longer than 30 days, after which the employer will be obliged to offer the employee a new employment contract, or an annex to the existing employment contract with necessary terms / amendments regarding remote work.

No, the employer cannot implement work from home unilaterally since this is subject to an agreement of both parties and must be regulated by the employment contract.

No, the employee cannot force the employer to allow remote work. However, the employee may, for the purpose of harmonizing work and family obligations as well as his / her personal needs, request that the employer temporarily work remotely, especially in the event of (i) health protection due to diagnosed illness or established disability, (ii) pregnancy or care for a child of up to eight years of age or (iii) care for a sick family member or person living in the same household with the employee. The employer is obliged to consider the employee’s request, taking into account the needs of the employee and the needs of the work organization. Furthermore, if the request is rejected, the employer must explain the reason in writing within 15 days after receiving the request. According to the competent Ministry’s opinion, such written explanation should be related to organizational reasons on the employer’s side (e.g., allowing remote work is not possible within the business processes of the employer or would be too aggravating for the employer etc.). Therefore, it is not sufficient to simply reject the request due to employer’s unwillingness to accept it.

Yes, the Employment Act requires the employer to provide the employee with the machines, tools and equipment necessary for remote work.

If the employee uses his / her own machines, tools and equipment for work, the matter of reimbursement of associated costs should be regulated in the employment contract.

Yes, a company is obliged to reimburse an employee for expenses while working from home if such work was performed for more than 7 working days in a calendar month. However, there is no legal framework or published court practice which would quantify work from home expenses or the manner of determining these costs (e.g. internet costs, electricity, other utilities, etc.), but the highest possible amount that can be paid tax-free is EUR 3.98 per each day of work from home, with a maximum of EUR 66.37 per month. Therefore, parties need to specify the reimbursement costs in the employment contract.

No, under the Employment Act there are no special allowances granted for working from home.

In general, the employer is obliged to pay the same wages for employees working from home as they would for employees performing work at the employer’s business premises.

Yes, the employer must comply with the relevant health and safety measures prescribed under the Occupational Health and Safety Act to ensure a safe working environment, which does not endanger employee health, even in cases of remote work. Employees must also comply with the health and safety instructions of the employer and the relevant health and safety rules.

For the purpose of ensuring a safe working environment (i.e., maintenance of equipment and supervision of working conditions), the employer may enter the employee’s home, but only if contractually agreed and at a time agreed with the employee.

However, employers who implement remote work on an occasional basis (i.e. work of an administrative or similar nature that is deemed low risk) do not have to complete health and safety risk assessments of the homes of employees who are working remotely. This exemption applies solely for specific types of work, which are usually performed at an employer’s premises and remotely only occasionally and which have previously been assessed and documented as low risk.

The employer must properly monitor and keep records of working hours for remote employees. In principle, provisions on work schedules, overtime work, night work, distribution of working hours, etc. apply to the remote employee also, insofar as these provisions are not regulated differently in the applicable labour-law sources (e.g. employment contracts, agreements with works council, collective bargaining agreements, etc.).

Under Croatian law, an employer is not obligated to insure employees.

Notwithstanding the above, the obligation to insure employees may be envisaged in CBAs, bylaws, agreements with the works council or other internal acts of the employer.

In practice, most employers insure their employees for work-related injuries regardless of their place of work.

Yes, the employee is protected for work-related accidents and illnesses in the same manner as employees working at the business premises of the employer.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act determines that a work-related injury includes both injuries that occur at the employer’s business premises and other premises where employees perform work duties.

No.

N/A

There have been no legislative changes nor updates to immigration rules in this respect. However, it is worth mentioning Croatia offers the possibility of temporary stay for digital nomads.

A digital nomad is a third country citizen (i.e., a non-EU / EEA / Swiss citizen) who is employed or performs work through communication technology for a company or his / her own company that is not registered in Croatia and does not perform work or provide services to employers in Croatia. Such temporary stay is granted for up to a year and cannot be extended.

On 1 January 2023, the amendments of the Employment Act entered into force, which introduced, among other things, a distinction between remote work and distance work. In the former case, the place of work is specified (e.g. employee’s home) and the employer is obliged to reimburse the associated costs as specified above. In the latter case, employees can choose from where they will work, and the employer is not obligated to reimburse the employee with any expenses.

However, distance work is only possible for the types of jobs that are always performed through information and communication technology. Since the place from which the employee will perform his / her work is independently determined by the employee, in case of distance work the employer is not fully liable for health and safety matters. Nevertheless, the employer is still obliged to ensure the protection of employee’s privacy and to provide the employee with written instructions regarding the protection of health and safety at work.