ZAGREB, 26 April, 2021 - Social Policy Minister Josip Aladrović said on Monday he supports a ministry report that identified omissions by welfare services in Nova Gradiška in the case of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl who died as a consequence of domestic violence, a report which contradicts expert reports.

The Chamber of Social Workers and Croatian Chamber of Psychologists conducted separate expert analyses of the case and concluded that the social workers and psychologists working on the case acted according to standards, while the ministry last Friday said that it would examine the findings and forward everything to the County Prosecutor in Slavonski Brod.

"We, as the ministry, support the administrative oversight findings. The oversight identified certain mistakes in procedure and the findings have been submitted to the County Prosecutor as will the results of the expert analysis. I cannot comment on who was wrong, the chamber or the ministry," said Minister Aladrović while presenting an action plan to improve the social welfare system.

He said that the ministry had immediately sent a supervision team which compiled a report that, he said, is an indicator of the efficient work of public administration and not hasty decision making. One of the reasons why the Chamber of Social Workers' report took longer was because the social worker involved in the case was COVID positive, he added.

He said the omissions identified by the ministry's supervision team were sufficient to dismiss the director of the welfare centre in Nova Gradiška. The ministry does not want to impact the chamber's findings but there isn't any third body that could determine any further procedures, he added.

"There currently isn't any legal framework on how to reconcile those two findings and conflicts," said Aladrović and added that the only thing he can do is to send all the findings to the County Prosecutor to see if there is cause for any other kind of responsibility.

Amendments to the Family Law not planned for this year

As far as amendments to the Family Law are concerned with regard to taking children from their birth parents, Aladrović said that that is a complex bill that wasn't planned in the government's legislative activities for this year and is not a priority, but "we are not unwilling to discuss the Family Law as well in the following period" because there is room for improvement.

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ZAGREB, September 3, 2020 - Minister of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy Josip Aladrovic said on Thursday that the plan is for jobkeeping measures, which will continue for the next four months, to be primarily financed from European funds.

"About HRK 800 million is foreseen for the measures we adopted today for the next four months without shortening the working week. Our forecast indicates that that is about HRK 200 million a month, which is enough for 60 to 70,000 workers. We will see what the future will bring in the next four months. The main source of financing will primarily be European funds," Aladrovic said after a cabinet meeting while responding to questions from the press after Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic announced that support to the economy amid the coronavirus crisis would continue including jobkeeping measures and ensuring liquidity and Covid loans.

Aladrovic said that advance payments would be made from the state budget, adding that funds agreed over the past month at the EU level were available and that a portion of the €10 billion can be used at the moment to finance this.

"We actually plan to cover the cost of financing the measures for the next four months entirely from European funds," said Aladrovic.

He noted that the measures can be financed from current liquid funds but that it is important to know the source of funding. "The source of funding is vital and not current liquidity. At the moment, current liquidity is not in question as far as the budget is concerned but the matter at hand is the source itself. It is important that the source of funding is not tied to our internal capacities in the budget but that we transfer as much as possible to EU funds, which naturally is direct support to our economy," he explained.

Coric: Measures to date have certainly brought results

Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Tomislav Coric believes that the jobkeeping measures implemented over the past few months have definitely produced results.

He said that currently there are about 150,000 people unemployed in Croatia. Despite the fact that the majority of European and global economies recorded a fall in activities and were hit by a huge increase in unemployment, that did not occur in Croatia.

"We believe that this successful measure needs to continue. The fact that we have planned for it to continue until December, that is over the next four months, is aimed at anchoring the expectations of businesses and the real sector and that is precisely the direction we want to go in," said Coric.

He added that several portfolios would for that entire time monitor the effects of these measures on the economy and in that way take possible decisions if needed for additional measures to support the economy.

Coric underscored that in addition to the jobkeeping measures, credit lines would continually be available to settle liquidity, primarily through the SMEs agency Hamag-Bicro and the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR).

For that reason more than HRK 1 billion has been allocated to Hamag-Bicro to continue providing loans to the business sector, recalled Coric.

Asked whether in addition to writing off wage contributions, taxes too could be written off, which was one of the measures that had been in force, Coric said that that measure had been planned to apply for several months prior to the summer. Such a decision has not been made for the time being and if and when that will be, Finance Minister Zdravko Maric will inform the public.

Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac said that she was exceptionally pleased that the measure would ensure the survival of the tourism sector until the end of the year and that further plans could be made, with everything that awaits us with the new Multiannual Financial  Framework, which is extremely important for the tourism portfolio.

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ZAGREB, Aug 20, 2020 - Labour, Pension System, Family, and Social Policy Minister Josip Aladrovic said on Thursday that amendments to the Labour Act need to better regulate work from home, that 18,000 more people are working now than prior to the epidemic, and that pension allowances would certainly not be cut in the autumn.

"We had previously said that we would amend the Labour Act and that we would alter labour legislation. One of the things we need to discuss with our social partners - the unions and employers - is work from home. That needs to be better regulated and better defined. What the autumn may bring in terms of working conditions and whether the scenario from March and April may be repeated is very uncertain," said Aladrovic. 

He added that regarding the latest situation all options were open and that talks with social partners were necessary in that regard.

"The unions have announced that they wish to go more towards a national collective agreement while we consider that the Labour Act needs to be amended because there are several topics that need to be discussed, not just work from home," he added.

"If goodwill exists for an agreement and if our starting and ending positions are close, I think we can quickly resolve this issue. This doesn't only relate to work from home but to closed and open-ended contracts and additional and supplementary work," said Aladrovic.

So far 199 beneficiaries and 72 carers infected in aged care facilities

Asked about the announcement of "heavy" autumn and whether citizens need to be concerned about their jobs, wages, and pensions, Aladrovic said that pensions are "secure and stable."

"We've said before that that is the last line of defence... I'm certain that pensions will not be reduced or altered. As far as wages are concerned, trends indicate that over the past two, three months, they have been growing. At first, they fell but now they are growing. There are 18,000 people more employed now than before the start of the coronavirus crisis and I think that we will manage to hold out in the autumn," he said and added that the government had managed to save jobs but also that there was a recovery plan foreseen, and European and national funds.

He also commented on some countries putting Croatia on their lists of high coronavirus risk countries.

"I would say that it is partially due to political reasons but unfortunately also because the number of infections has been growing for several days. We have shown so far that we can handle the crisis economy-wise and I am certain that we can do that again in the months to come," he added.

Aladrovic presented the results of measures implemented in cooperation with the Croatian Institute of Public Health and the health ministry to protect the elderly population from the coronavirus, above all in aged care facilities, saying that 12 recommendations and decisions had been prepared. 

"About 26,000 beneficiaries are residing in more than 868 facilities and so far 199 cases of the infection among beneficiaries have been identified and 72 among carers. Unfortunately, 46 beneficiaries have died. Since the start of the second wave in June, eight beneficiaries have died. These are acceptable data. The thing that we will do in the coming period is to raise awareness among the elderly and strengthen the ministry's crisis management team," he said.

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ZAGREB, July 8, 2020 - Labour and Pension System Minister Josip Aladrovic confirmed on Wednesday that his ministry and the Ministry of Demography, Family Affairs, Youth, and Social Policy could be joined into a single ministry.

"... We have already announced that the number of ministries will be reduced and we will definitely do it. What is important about such plans is to keep functionality at the same level or increase it," Aladrovic said ahead of a meeting of the inner cabinet.

He noted that in Europe, a single ministry was frequently in charge of labour, the pension system, demography, and social affairs.

"... We want to show that our public administration and government can be equally functional or more functional with a small number of ministers," he said.

Asked if the joining of ministries meant reassignment of staff or layoffs, Aladrovic repeated that the main goal was to increase efficiency and reduce the number of executive posts.

"I would not rule out reductions either," he said.

Aladrovic, too, confirmed that there was a possibility representatives of ethnic minorities would have a ministerial post, noting that an agreement on which ministry they would get had not been reached yet.

State Assets Minister Mario Banozic, too, said today that he had nothing against the joining of his ministry and some other ministry.

ZAGREB, June 18, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Minister of Labour and Pension System Josip Aladrovic on Thursday presented the first 106 grant agreements for the second phase of a women's employment scheme, with women providing care for the elderly and disabled.

"We've created an instrument to return more mature women living in rural areas to the labour market as well as engaging local government and NGOs in providing care for the elderly," Plenkovic said. 

The project is being financed with a grant from the European Social Fund (ESF) and it helps include target groups in the labour market for a period of 12 months.

The total value of the grants is HRK 222 million and today 106 grants valued at HRK 192 million were presented. They will enable 2,117 unemployed women to find a job and provide care for around 13,000 elderly citizens.

This is the second phase of this project and in the first phase about 6,000 women cared for about 30,000 elderly citizens, Plenkovic added.

Plenkovic underlined that in the current financial period Croatia had HRK 14.4 billion at its disposal from the ESF and that more than contracts had been signed for more than HRK 9 billion. For the sake of comparison, in October 2016, only HRK 135 million was paid out to beneficiaries and so far the amount has increased to HRK 5.26 billion, he said.

Aladrovic: More funds due to the number of applications

Minister Aladrovic underlined that the project had been ongoing for three years.

"The best proof of the amount of interest and quality of this project and what it means for local government is probably the fact that in less than 48 hours more applications were received than the HRK 300 million earmarked for phase 2 can cover," he said.

Hence, we have decided to take additional funds from the ESF and the grants for the second stage of the project now stand at HRK 550 million, he said.

This project covers three of the four priorities set by ESF - employment, education, and social inclusion.

ZAGREB, June 17, 2020 - Minister of Labour and Pension System Josip Aladrovic on Wednesday said that the government measure for a shorter working week would be presented next week and that it will be available to employers with more than 10 employees, amounting to HRK 2,000 for each worker.

Attending a business breakfast organised by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), Aladrovic said that a task force consisting of representatives of the government, unions and entrepreneurs had already met on several occasions to discuss the shorter working week measure and that a consensus had already been reached, but that it was necessary to define all the prerequisites and eligibility criteria and that the measure would be presented to the public next week.

The measure would be available for the period from June 1 until the end of the year for employers with 10 or more employees, he said.

Given that micro-enterprises accounted for 90% of those who received job keeping incentives, Aladrovic said that they would be taken into account too and provided with a government measure of some sort.

The objective of the latest measure is to protect workers for those days when they cannot work to full capacity due to objective circumstances and in that way support employers to keep their workers, Aladrovic explained, recalling that the measure will be financed from the European Commission's SURE programme.

Calculations are still being made to see how much that could cost until the end of the year, but the current proposal recommends an amount of HRK 2,000 for each employee.

Up to HRK 9.5 billion for job keeping measures

An amount between HRK 8.8 billion and 9.5 billion will be spent on job keeping measures to compensate for wages for March, April, May and June as well as contributions to the second pension pillar, with the exemption of pension and health contributions, Aladrovic said.

The greatest amount for job keeping incentives was paid in April when most enterprises were shut down. In April 98,500 employers were paid a total of HRK 2.2 billion for 559,000 workers, said Aladrovic.

He underscored that positive trends continued in June with regard to the number of insurees with the pension fund, which increased by 11,200 beneficiaries in the period from the end of May to June 12.

Self-employment incentives as of July 1

Aladrovic announced that incentives for self-employment would be made available again as of July 1.

This measure was temporarily paused in order to make funds available for job keeping measures during the coronacrisis.

Responding to comments by participants that many people were compelled to work from home during the epidemic and that that has proved to be a good solution, Aladrovic said that it was good that we saw how simple, efficient and more favourable that is for employers.

He added that the Labour Act was outdated and that it needed to be amended regarding working from home.

AmCham Croatia executive director Andrea Doko Jelusic said that the government had reacted quickly during the coronavirus which was exceptionally important for the business sector that was faced with problems.

The government adopted some of the measures AmCham had proposed, some they didn't, she added. In the end, the measures proved to be efficient. Doko Jelusic commended the idea of a shorter working week which, she said, will provide the business sector with certain security until the end of the year and help them keep their workers.

ZAGREB, May 27, 2020 - Croatian Labour and Pension System Minister Josip Aladrovic said on Wednesday that an agreement had been reached with public sector unions on an annex to the basic collective agreement and on holiday allowances being paid into citizens' accounts rather than through the Cro Card.

"We have reached an agreement with public sector employees, they accepted the earlier offer by a majority. We have taken the position that we will pay the HRK 1,500 holiday allowance as we have so far - into citizens' accounts," Minister Aladrovic said after a meeting with public and government sector trade unions.

He underscored that government negotiators had been under the impression that union members were not pleased enough with the Cro Card idea and that they would continue negotiations with government employees on Friday, adding that he believed the talks would have a positive outcome.

Asked if it was a success when six out of eleven trade unions rejected the government's offer, Aladrovic said it was a compromise.

"I am glad we have reached an agreement. The rejections, these are things that are resolved within and between trade unions, and I, as part of the government, would not wish to interfere in their relations," Aladrovic said.

He stressed that paying holiday bonuses directly into citizens' accounts had the same financial scope as payments through the Cro Card.

"Whether it goes to the Cro Card or is paid into users' account makes no difference to us. We wanted to achieve an indirect effect on the economy, but we believe that everything we payout as the holiday allowance will still end up in the domestic economy," Aladrovic said.

He added that the cost of holiday allowances amounted to about HRK 300 million.

Health sector unions underscored as an issue the non-payment of overtime pay, and the minister said they had defined this three to four weeks ago.

"That problem has been partially solved, there is the problem of the past, but that is in the domain of court proceedings, and I would not comment on it further," Aladrovic said.

ZAGREB, May 22, 2020 - An agreement on upgrading the Central Registry of Affiliates (REGOS) services on the labour market, worth HRK 54 million and to be co-financed from the European Social Fund (ESF), as part of the Operational Programme Efficient Human Resources 2014-2020, was signed on Friday.

The Central Registry of Affiliates will improve its efficiency and additionally enhance its promptness and quality of service related to pension insurance schemes. The project includes establishing pension information centres, developing a website and the mREGOS mobile phone application, as well as training staff at Regos.

Minister of Labour and Pension System Josip Aladrovic said that this, like other projects, encourages digital transformation with the help of EU funds to develop a modern public administration and provide citizens with services that are more accessible and more efficient.

More accessible, better and prompter services

Aladrovic recalled that the ministry had already signed similar agreements to improve services for end-users of services provided by the Pension Insurance Institute, Croatian Employment Service and Regos.

"The total value of the three agreements signed is HRK 314 million and it reflects the extent of the transformation these three institutions will undergo," he underscored and added that the incumbent government has had more than HRK 14 billion available through the ESF, HRK 9 billion of which has been contracted and more than HRK 5 billion has been paid out.