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Croatia

COVID-19 vaccination and testing in Croatia - employment law perspective

Table of contents
  1. Vaccination
    1. 1. What options does the employer have to encourage employees to be vaccinated? Can the employer provide a financial incentive to employees? 
    2. 2. Is the employer obliged to offer vaccines (or can it voluntarily offer vaccines) to employees? Is the employer obliged to support (or can it voluntarily support) third parties or governmental institutions providing vaccines to employees?
    3. 3. Can the employer verify which of its employees have been vaccinated? If yes, can the employer make record of these vaccinated employees?
    4. 4. Does an employee have a duty to inform the employer whether or not he or she has been vaccinated?
    5. 5. Can the employer oblige employees to be vaccinated as a condition of employment? If yes, specify under what conditions. Include in your answer to what extent certain professions are (statutorily) obliged by your country to be vaccinated, such as in the health sector
    6. 6. Can employees refuse to be vaccinated? Please also include the consequences for employees working in a certain field or profession where vaccinations are obliged, but an employee refuses to be vaccinated. 
    7. 7. Can the employer refuse to admit employees into the workplace if they are not vaccinated in terms of returning to the workplace. Furthermore, is it possible to make two categories of employees and make distinction between these two groups of people in terms of safety measures as wearing face masks or quarantine obligations?
    8. 8. Can the landlord of the building of employer (if any) refuse to admit employees into the building (workplace)? Especially, when multiple employers/offices are established in one building, and they are sharing the elevator or have other shared areas within the building.
    9. 9. Can the employer make a distinction in requesting vaccination status (or proof by means of an app or COVID-19 pass) between employees and third parties such as visitors, suppliers, employees of suppliers, contractors etc.?
    10. 10. How has your country implemented the EU DCC (if applicable)?
    11. 11. In case employer organises external events, can vaccination status (by means of an app or COVID-19 pass) be requested by this external party?
    12. 12. How should international business travel be managed? Include any local requirements where proof of vaccination is necessary to enter your jurisdiction.
    13. 13. Can the employer oblige the employee to travel for business purposes? Who will have to bear the costs for testing in case of non-vaccinated employees?
    14. 14. Which points of discussion or developments are expected in the future? Include any relevant new legislation that will or could be introduced.
  2. Testing
    1. 1. Can an employer oblige an employee to take a COVID-19 test? If so, is the employer required to provide workplace COVID-19 tests? If not required, can it opt to do so voluntarily? 
    2. 2. If the answers to the previous questions are yes, how often is the employee obliged to take a test? Can tests be performed by the employer's medical personnel or must they be done by a professional third party?
    3. 3. Is an employee obliged to share the outcome of a positive COVID-19 test with the employer?
    4. 4. Can an employee refuse to be tested? Should testing become a mandatory condition of employment?
    5. 5. Can an employer assign different duties to employees who are unable to present a negative COVID-19 test before entering the workplace?
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Vaccination

1. What options does the employer have to encourage employees to be vaccinated? Can the employer provide a financial incentive to employees? 

The employer can always raise awareness and inform his employees of the benefits of a COVID-19 vaccination. He can also encourage vaccinations among staff by allowing inoculations during working hours and recording the time spent doing so as working time.

An employer should not provide a financial incentive to employees, as there is a high risk for such foregoing to be considered as health-related discrimination against other employees who do not want or cannot be vaccinated. He cannot treat employees who do not wish to be vaccinated differently than those that do (this especially includes any type of penalization of the employees who are not vaccinated).

2. Is the employer obliged to offer vaccines (or can it voluntarily offer vaccines) to employees? Is the employer obliged to support (or can it voluntarily support) third parties or governmental institutions providing vaccines to employees?

For now, employers are not obliged to offer their employees the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19, nor are they obliged to support third parties or governmental institutions providing vaccines to employees. Of course, employers can voluntarily decide to do so, as long as they do not impose the obligation of vaccination to employees.

3. Can the employer verify which of its employees have been vaccinated? If yes, can the employer make record of these vaccinated employees?

According to the available guidelines of the national data protection authority, the general rule is that an employer cannot ask its employees to provide information on whether they have been vaccinated or collect such information from the health institutions. Accordingly, the employer cannot make records of the vaccinated employees. Nor can the employer ask the employee for proof of vaccination. 

However, there have been recent changes regarding employees working in the health care and social welfare industry (for details, see the response for question 1 in Testing).

4. Does an employee have a duty to inform the employer whether or not he or she has been vaccinated?

No. Since vaccination status is health data, employees do not have a duty to inform the employer of their vaccination status.

However, there have been recent changes regarding employees working in the health care and social welfare industry (for details see question 1 in Testing).

5. Can the employer oblige employees to be vaccinated as a condition of employment? If yes, specify under what conditions. Include in your answer to what extent certain professions are (statutorily) obliged by your country to be vaccinated, such as in the health sector

No, employers cannot make vaccination against COVID-19 compulsory and having a vaccination cannot be a condition of employment. 

6. Can employees refuse to be vaccinated? Please also include the consequences for employees working in a certain field or profession where vaccinations are obliged, but an employee refuses to be vaccinated. 

Yes, employees can refuse to be vaccinated since there is no current legal obligation for employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. 

At the moment, the employee is not legally obliged to give a reason for refusal to be vaccinated.

However, as of recently, there have been some changes in relation to the consequences and obligations of employees working in the health care and social welfare industry, who refuse to provide appropriate proof of vaccination. These employees are not permitted to enter the premises of the employer, unless they provide appropriate proof that they have been tested or have recovered from COVID-19 within the prescribed timeframe.

7. Can the employer refuse to admit employees into the workplace if they are not vaccinated in terms of returning to the workplace. Furthermore, is it possible to make two categories of employees and make distinction between these two groups of people in terms of safety measures as wearing face masks or quarantine obligations?

The employer cannot forbid non-vaccinated employees from entering the workplace (for exceptions to this rule, see question 6) since this could violate the anti-discrimination law and open the employer to liability. Same would apply when dividing employees into two categories. In addition, this could represent a breach of data protection rules.

Of course, if an employee is manifestly ill and shows symptoms that may indicate an infection, the employer can take all measures necessary to protect other employees, customers, etc., including asking the symptomatic employee to leave and consult a doctor.

8. Can the landlord of the building of employer (if any) refuse to admit employees into the building (workplace)? Especially, when multiple employers/offices are established in one building, and they are sharing the elevator or have other shared areas within the building.

No. Landlord can only demand from the users of his premises to respect the measures that are in line with current legislation and recommendations of competent authorities, such as prescribed distance between people (e.g. limited number of persons in elevators), mask wearing, using disinfectants when entering the building and similar.

9. Can the employer make a distinction in requesting vaccination status (or proof by means of an app or COVID-19 pass) between employees and third parties such as visitors, suppliers, employees of suppliers, contractors etc.?

The question on whether the vaccination status can be requested should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but the general answer is no / not likely that the employer could do that. Requesting the vaccination status (including the COVID-19 pass) can be justified as an obligation solely in limited number of cases prescribed by the competent authorities (at the moment, those cases include, for example, public gatherings of more than 100 people, or certain types of wedding receptions). As of recently, there is also an exception. Public and private health care institutions and companies performing health care activities have an obligation to request the presentation of COVID-19 passes or other appropriate evidence of vaccination, recovery or testing against COVID-19 from certain categories of people visiting their premises (e.g. patients, their visitors, escorts at birth, etc.). In all other cases, it is not likely that requesting the vaccination status would has a valid legal basis.

10. How has your country implemented the EU DCC (if applicable)?

The EU DCC is issued by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia. EU DCC may be requested online using a dedicated application, or from the authority licensed to issue such EU DCC (Croatian Health Insurance Fund, HZZO and pharmacies), which shall issue a paper EU DCC or deliver it by e-mail.

It can also be stored as a digital version on mobile devices, sent by e-mail or printed. Regardless of the version, the EU DCC will contain a QR code, general information and a digital stamp authenticating the EU DCC.

Currently, there is only one app that authenticates EUDCC in Croatia. This app, CovidGo, has been developed by the Ministry of Health.

The EU DCC is generally issued to:

  1. individuals vaccinated with both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca) - their EU DCC will be valid for 365 days from the day of the second dose;
  2. individuals vaccinated with a single-dose vaccine (Janssen), 15 days from receiving the vaccine - their EU DCC will be valid for 365 days from the day of vaccination;
  3. individuals vaccinated with the first dose of the two-dose vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna), 22 days from receiving the first dose - their EU DCC will be valid for 42 days from the day of vaccination;
  4. individuals vaccinated with the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine, 22 days from receiving the first dose - their EU DCC will be valid for 84 days from the day of vaccination;
  5. individuals vaccinated with the first dose of the two-dose vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca) who have had a positive PCR test 180 days prior to the date of receiving the first vaccine dose – their EU DCC will be valid for 365 days from the day of vaccination;
  6. individuals who present a negative PCR test or rapid antigen test result - their EU DCC will be valid for 72 hours from taking the test, i.e. 48 hours from taking the rapid antigen test;
  7. individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 disease, 11 days from the day of the first positive PCR test – their EU DCC will be valid for 180 days from the day of the first positive PCR test.

Furthermore, under conditions specifically prescribed for each type of vaccine, the EU DCC can also be issued to individuals vaccinated with one of the following vaccines: (i) Covaxin; (ii) CoronaVac; (iii) Sputnik-V; (iv) BBIBP-CorV; (v) Convidecia; (vi) EpisVacCorona; (vii) Covishield; and (viii) NVX-CoV2373. 

11. In case employer organises external events, can vaccination status (by means of an app or COVID-19 pass) be requested by this external party?

The question on whether the vaccination status can be requested should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but the general answer is no / not likely that the external party could do that. Requesting the vaccination status (including the COVID-19 pass) can be justified as an obligation solely in limited number of cases prescribed by the competent authorities (at the moment, those cases include, for example, public gatherings of more than 100 people, or certain types of wedding receptions). In all other cases, it is not likely that requesting the vaccination status (either by the employer, or by an external party engaged by the employer) would have a valid legal basis.

12. How should international business travel be managed? Include any local requirements where proof of vaccination is necessary to enter your jurisdiction.

Depending on the requirements of the country to which an employee travels for business, it might be necessary for an employee to undergo a vaccination or a COVID-19 test. The costs of such a vaccination or test must be borne by the employer. It is still unclear whether the employee can suffer any employment-related consequences if he refuses to be vaccinated or take a test and, therefore, cannot take a business trip.

As for requirements for entering Croatia: at the moment, the proof of vaccination is only one of the basis for entering Croatia. Requirements vary, depending on whether a person is entering Croatia from EU/EEA members states or from third countries; in any case, there is no requirement for mandatory vaccination (i.e. there is always an alternative, in a form of a negative PCR test, rapid antigen test, certificate of recovery and/or self-isolation).

13. Can the employer oblige the employee to travel for business purposes? Who will have to bear the costs for testing in case of non-vaccinated employees?

It is still unclear whether the employer can oblige the employee (i.e. whether the employee can suffer any employment-related consequences) to travel for business purposes, if the specific travel requires a vaccination, a test or self-isolation and the employee refuses to undertake it. Costs of testing for the purpose of business travels are in any case to be borne by the employer. 

14. Which points of discussion or developments are expected in the future? Include any relevant new legislation that will or could be introduced.

There are many (still unofficial) discussions regarding a potential new legal framework on vaccinations and testing. However, both experts and the public are divided, especially when it comes to imposing mandatory vaccinations (both in general and for certain professions), the right of employers to collect or demand any vaccination-related data and potential impact of non-vaccination to employment relationships. It remains to be seen how Croatia will tackle these challenges.

Testing

1. Can an employer oblige an employee to take a COVID-19 test? If so, is the employer required to provide workplace COVID-19 tests? If not required, can it opt to do so voluntarily? 

No, as a general rule no medical tests or examinations can be carried out in order to obtain medical information on an employee's state of health, except to check on the current fitness of an employee for the specific demands of his position.

As an exception, there is a recent obligation for (i) employees of (private) health care institutions and companies performing health care activities; and (ii) employees in the social welfare industry, who come to work, to provide proof to an authorised person of the employer that they have been tested at least twice within the last week. However, no proof of testing is needed if they provide the appropriate proof they have been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 within the prescribed timeframe.

The same applies to all service providers and other persons who are commissioned to perform certain jobs for public and private health care institutions, companies performing health care and social welfare activities or enter their premises for any reason.

In this case, the employer is required to provide rapid antigen tests. These tests can be performed solely by individuals or institutions generally authorised to do so by the competent authorities.

2. If the answers to the previous questions are yes, how often is the employee obliged to take a test? Can tests be performed by the employer's medical personnel or must they be done by a professional third party?

See question 1 in Testing.

3. Is an employee obliged to share the outcome of a positive COVID-19 test with the employer?

The employee has no legal obligation to share the outcome of a positive COVID-19 test with the employer (for exceptions to this rule, see question 1 in Testing). However, in case of a positive COVID-19 test result, the employee will be obliged to stay at home in quarantine according to measures prescribed by the government.

4. Can an employee refuse to be tested? Should testing become a mandatory condition of employment?

Yes, the employee can refuse to be tested. It is still unclear whether the employee can suffer any employment-related consequences if he refuses to take a test.

However, there have been recent changes to the consequences for employees working in the health care and social welfare industry who refuse to be tested. These employees are not permitted to enter the premises of the employer unless they provide appropriate proof they have been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 within the prescribed timeframe.

5. Can an employer assign different duties to employees who are unable to present a negative COVID-19 test before entering the workplace?

The general possibility to assign different duties to employees depends on the exact wording of each individual employment contract. As for the possibility to do so based on an inability to present a negative COVID-19 test before entering the workplace, it is still unclear whether the employee can suffer employment-related consequences if he refuses to take a test.