Nearshoring to Croatia

• The Croatian labor force is highly-fluent in foreign languages, notably English. Around 99% of young Croatians learn English in secondary school. Croatia ranked 10^th worldwide in the 2021 EF English Proficiency Index. German and Italian are also largely spoken in Croatia, making its population remarkably multilingual.
• The vast majority of Croatians, especially the younger age groups, are formally-educated. Nearly 96% of Croatians aged between 20 and 24 years have received secondary school education and more than 155,000 students are enrolled in Croatian universities and higher education institutions.
• Engineering and technical sciences are the second most popular field of study in Croatian universities, with more than a quarter of all university students enrolled in technical fields of study. Over 9,000 students graduate every year in the country with technical degrees.
• According to Eurostat, Croatia has the highest share of individuals aged 16 to 24 with basic or above basic digital skills in the EU, at 97%. This shows that the young Croatian generation has a good understanding of technologies and a vast potential for problem-solving. Croatia currently counts 35,000 professionals working in the IT sector and the number is expected to further grow in the upcoming years.

Selection

• We select the best candidates that would fit right in your team;
• We prepare detailed reports on the best candidates;
• We conduct job interviews;
• We conduct personality tests or other types of tests if needed.

Recruitment

• We provide you with video recordings of the interviews and let you make the final recruitment decision;
• We sign employment contracts with the successful candidates;
• We invite your employees to come work at our local office in Croatia.

Operation

• We give you total control over the functions of your employees;
• We completely handle administrative management of employees, including payments, taxes, social contributions, leave monitoring, etc.;
• We provide your employees with all tools required for their job, including offices, phones, computers, high-speed internet, etc.

• We look for the best candidates that perfectly match your needs;
• We adapt job advertisements to your needs and search for potential candidates on our growing talent database;
• We allow you to significantly reduce the costs and duration of the hiring process;
• We give you full access to the local talent pool;
• We let you focus exclusively on the tasks of your employees while we completely handle their administrative management.

Working Hours

• Employees in Croatia can work up to 40 hours per week divided into five days.
• Overtime work requires written permission from the employee.
• Overtime work is paid at a rate higher than the regular salary, based on the agreement between the employer and the employee in the employment contract.
• Overtime work cannot exceed 10 hours per week and 180 hours per year.

Annual Paid Leave

• Following their first six months of work, employees can take 20 days of paid leave every year.
• Croatians commemorate 12 public holidays.
  • January 1^st: New Year’s Day
  • January 6^th: Epiphany
  • Between March and April: Easter Monday (moveable)
  • May 1^st: Labor Day
  • May 30^th: Statehood Day
  • Between May and June: Corpus Christi (moveable)
  • June 22^nd: Anti-Fascist Struggle Day
  • August 5^th: Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day
  • August 15^th: Assumption of Mary
  • November 1^st: All Saints’ Day
  • November 18^th: Remembrance Day
  • December 25^th – 26^th: Christmas Holiday

Other Types of Paid Leave

• Maternity Leave: Female employees can take up to 98 days of paid maternity leave, including 28 days before birth and 70 days after. Pay during maternity leave is fully covered by social security. After 70 days, the employee can stay on unpaid leave until the baby is six months old or share the remaining days with the father, but it is very common for employers to pay regular salaries during this period as well as an extra benefit.
• Parental Leave: Parents are entitled to a total of 120 days of paid parental leave for each of their children during their first eight years of age. Employees receive 50% of their salary during parental leave.
• Sick Leave: Employees are entitled to sick leave for up to 42 days per year. The employer has to cover pay during sick leave at a rate of 70% of the regular salary. If the employees need a longer leave, the employer continues to pay them but they get reimbursed by social security.

Minimum Wage

• The minimum wage in Croatia stands at HRK 4,687.5 (EUR 624).
• The payroll in Croatia is managed on a monthly basis.

Social Contributions and Taxes

• The only employer contribution in Croatia is health insurance and it equals 16.5% of the employee’s gross salary.
• Employees have to pay a 15.0% contribution to the Generation Solidarity Fund and a 5.0% contribution to the Individual Capital Fund, amounting to a total of 20.0% of their gross salary.
• The income tax in Croatia is set at 20.0% for employees with yearly revenue of less than HRK 360,000 (EUR 47,915) and 30.0% for employees with higher revenue.

Further Useful Information

• Please see Croatian Employment Service and Croatian Pension Insurance Institute for more information on labor laws in Croatia.