June 24th, 2021 - The social partners held the first official meeting to draft a new Labor Law in Croatia, one in a series expected in the coming weeks and months.

Poslovni reports, State Secretary Dragan Jelic said that the negotiations would last until the end of this year. Before the end of the year, the first version of the agreed law is expected, which will pass the parliamentary procedure in two readings. The new Labor Law should enter into force on July 1, 2022, i.e., in a year, and the first meeting is just the beginning of the upcoming marathon.

After the meeting, Jelic said that the discussion was constructive and concrete, and they agreed on the methodology according to which they will work. In any case, the existing Labor Law will not be amended. Still, a new, more modern law will be drafted, incorporating innovations that have appeared in teleworking, remote work, additional work, and platform work, which is quite popular. However, as soon as a new law is passed, it is likely that all the old and painful topics that both employers and unions have highlighted in all previous openings of the "workers' constitution" will be opened.

It is too early to say exactly how everything will look because certain topics will be opened in separate working groups. For example, on the first day, they did not touch on severance pay, which will be for permanent employees, but also people working part-time. There is a common view that there is too much work to be done, but there are different opinions that its share will decrease.

"The impression is that different attitudes stand out at the beginning, but we will try to bring them closer with a quality discussion. We, as the proposer of the law, have the final word, but we will not do anything overnight and on our knees ", promised the State Secretary of the Minister of Labor.

Regarding teleworking and work from home, obligations related to safety at work will be defined, for such work will require the mutual consent of the employee and the employer and an addendum to the existing employment contract.

"In this year and a half, working from home has worked relatively well, some have signed an addendum to the contract, some have not, there have been some disputes over the cost of working from home, but this has been resolved in agreement with the union. Employers demand that compensation for work expenses from home be tax-free. We will see ", pointed out Jelic.

When it comes to the practice of working from home so far, Sever told reporters that there were problems. The workers, he says, were unilaterally instructed to work from home, some complaining that their employers took away their vacation days, did not recognize expenses, did not respect working hours, and were expected to be constantly available for work.

When it comes to fixed-term work, Sever reads that employers would like to transfer a good part of the uncertainty from the existing form of fixed-term work to permanent work, but the unions will not agree to that. They are also categorically against the spread of additional work, which would be harmful to workers' health.

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ZAGREB, October 22, 2020 - Due to the deteriorating epidemiological situation, the government has tasked state administration bodies and offices and other public services to take measures in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus and arrange for work to be done from home or in rosters where possible.

The government on Thursday authorised Minister of Justice and Public Administration Ivan Malenica to adopt, following prior approval from the Prime Minister, a binding instruction identifying measures related to the epidemiological situation.

"The instruction will, depending on the epidemiological situation, in detail prescribe cases and possibilities to work from home and arrange work in rosters with the aim of ensuring continual and regular state administration duties to be performed while trying to prevent the spread of Covid-19," said Malenica.

This decision will apply to public services, with the exception of health, science, education and social welfare, which are regulated with special regulations. This will also not apply to police officers, civil protection organisations and members of the Armed Forces who will conduct their duties in accordance with instructions from the police director, the military chief-of-staff and the director of civil protection.

The government adopted a decision on launching negotiations on an annexe to the Collective Agreement for state administration and public servants, and in that regard appointed its members to negotiation committees which will be headed by Minister for Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy Josip Aladrovic.

The negotiations on the most part refer to the amount of Christmas bonuses but will also discuss base wage indices for next year, the state secretary in the labour ministry, Dragan Jelic, explained.

The government defined the minimum financial standards for the decentralisation of health institutions for Zagreb, Krapina-Zagorje, Sisak-Moslavina, Zadar and Istria counties and adopted a decision on the reallocation of these funds, while the total amount for decentralisation activities in 2020 remains unchanged.

ZAGREB, October 5, 2020 - The Bridge party organised a round table on Monday on the topic "Working from Home: Do we have the right of disconnect", which discussed amendments to the Labour Act due to the coronavirus, where a lot of people work from home and the line between working hours and private time disappears.

The discussion was organised following announcements that changes would be made to the Labour Act. A lot of workers work from home due to the coronaviurs situation and in many cases have to work more and need to be available all the time.

"It has been seen in practice that work from home often leads to an overlap between working hours and private time and that the fine line is being moved or erased completely," president of the Independent Croatian Unions, Kresimir Sever, said.

He explained that an employee's working hours with an employer are clearly defined, but if that employee starts working from home, a good portion of employers abuse that and expect employees to work a lot more, leaving less time for leisure activities.

"Until such time that that system is put in order, we cannot talk about real remote work," said Sever.

He added that times of crises are not a good time to amend laws.

"Laws should not be adapted to crisis situations, but should be regulated during normal times, emphasising that a  crisis may occur," he said.

He warned that the crisis situation is being exploited to introduce a more flexible labour system in Croatia which is unacceptable for the unions, and all under the guise that remote work has to be regulated.

"The Labour Act is extremely flexible in Croatia. It allows employers a wide spectrum to arrange labour relations. The thing that would provide real flexibility is collective bargaining and there is very little of that in Croatia," Sever believes.

Viktor Gotovac from the Labour and Social Law Department at the Faculty of Law does not agree that the law is good as it does not regulate remote working.

"That means that the law is not good. We have student contracts, employing pensioners, author's contracts, everything just not to change the law... I worked form home after the earthquake and my employer immediately cut off my travel allowance, but I was not paid for using my own premises, resources," Gotovac underlined.

He did not agree that the coronavirus caused the problem but rather pointed out what needs to be changed for a better legislative framework which would regulate wages, working hours and leave.

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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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