Introduction
Croatia has 3,9 million inhabitants and according to the Labor Force Survey, in the second quarter of 2023 there were 1,611,000 employed persons and 95,000 unemployed persons in the Republic of Croatia. In the same observed period, the employment rate for people aged 15 to 64 was 66.0%, while the survey unemployment rate for the same age group was 5.7%.
Tourism is a significant source of revenue not only during the summer, but also throughout the year. According to Wanderlust Travel Awards, Croatia ranked the 5th most popular tourist destination in Europe, with Dubrovnik as the most desirable city to visit. [1]
Regulatory framework for worker participation
European and national level
As a member of the European Union, Croatia’s regulatory framework for workers participation is consistent with EU Acquis Communitaire. Croatia transposed all the relevant Directives and coordinated its legislation with the EU legislation.
The right of workers to participate in decision-making through the works council is prescribed by Article 140 of the Labor Law (Official Gazette, No. 93/14, 127/17, 98/19, 151/22 and 64/23 – Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia). Workers employed by an employer who employs at least twenty workers, except workers employed in state administration bodies, have the right to participate in decision-making on issues related to their economic and social rights and interests in the manner and under the conditions prescribed by this Law.
The number of employed workers, which is prescribed by the cited legal provision as a condition for acquiring the right to participate in decision-making, includes all employed workers of a certain employer, regardless of the content and duration of their employment contracts.
Article 145, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Labor Law, stipulates the right to vote in such a way that all workers employed by a certain employer have the right to vote and be elected, while members of the employer's administrative and supervisory bodies and members of their families do not have this right, as well as workers from Article 131, paragraphs 1 and 2 of that Law.
In conclusion, workers who are employed by the employer, in such a way that they have established an employment relationship with the employer on the basis of an employment contract concluded for a certain period of time, are included in the number of employed workers in the sense of Article 140 of the Labor Law. Also, workers who have established an employment relationship with the employer on the basis of an employment contract concluded for a certain period of time have the right to vote, which they will exercise in the elections for the workers' council, except in the case that such workers belong to categories of persons who do not have this right, in accordance with Article 145 Paragraph 2 of the Labor Law.
The legislative basis for informing and consulting workers on OSH at European level is provided by the OSH Framework Directive 89/391/EEC. Worker participation is a fundamental part of the OSH management framework promoted in this directive. This directive was transposed into Croatian legislation by the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OG, No. 71/14, 118/14, 94/18, 96/18).
International level
At the international level, regulatory provisions on worker participation are contained in Article 19 and 20 of the ILO Convention C155 on Occupational Safety and Health.[2] Croatia ratified this convention in 1991 [3]. Article 12 of the (non-binding) ILO Recommendation R 164[4] describes more specific rights and options for employees and their representatives regarding worker participation. Recommendation R 129 contains general provisions on communication between employers and workers.[5]
Role of the trade unions
The role of workers’ representatives is regulated by the Labour Law, which also determines the activities of the trade unions.[6]
Croatia has a declining union density of around 27%. The union movement was very fragmented, so the Government introduced the Law on the Representativeness of Employers' Associations and Trade Unions (Official Gazzette, No. 93/14, 26/15) in order to reduce this fragmentation. It sets more demanding criteria for a union confederation to be recognized as representative, including participation in tripartite national councils and bodies, such as the pension fund. The new rules include[3]:
- its affiliated unions must have at least 50,000 members (previously 15,000)
- it must have affiliates operating in at least five different areas of the economy
- it must have offices in at least four counties
- it must have been officially registered for at least six months
- it must employ at least five people directly
As was noted by the European Trade Union Institute in 2013, this has resulted in reversing the trend of fragmentation, with more unions joining the larger confederations, and with unions returning that had previously left.[3] The latest figures from 2023 show that the following trade union confederations met the requirements for being declared representative:
- SSSH (Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia, Savez samostalnih sindikata Hrvatske)
- NHS (Independent Croatian Trade Unions, Nezavisni hrvatski sindikati)
- MHS (Association of Croatian Unions, Matica hrvatskih sindikata)
Unions generally appear to have lost membership in recent years, although the lack of precise data makes it difficult to confirm.
There is only one representative association for employers: The Croatian Employers’ Association (Hrvatska udruga poslodavaca, HUP).
The Economic and Social Council
In accordance with Article 221 of the Labor Law (Official Gazette, No. 93/14, 127/17, 98/19, 151/22 and 64/23 – Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia) the Government of the Republic of Croatia and higher-level unions and employers' associations can establish the Economic and Social Council, as the highest form of tripartite social dialogue in the Republic of Croatia, for the purpose of determining and realizing harmonized activities with the aim of protecting and promoting the economic and social rights, i.e. the interests of workers and employers, leading a harmonized economic, social and development policy, encouraging and concluding and application of collective agreements and their harmonization with economic, social and development policy measures.
The Economic and Social Council established committees as permanent tripartite expert bodies that participate in shaping public policies for the areas for which they were established, monitor the implementation of public policies and the application of regulations, and make proposals for their improvement. The committees coordinate various issues of interest with the aim of achieving social consensus as a guarantee of compliance with the adopted regulations, and as a guarantee of general social progress.
Committees of the Economic and Social Council are:
- Committee for salary policy and tax system and standard of living
- Committee for social policy
- Committee for employment, education and adjustment to the labor market
- Committee for legislation, collective bargaining and rights protection
- Committee for sustainable development, economic stimulation, energy and climate change
- Committee for monitoring the activities of the International Labor Organization
Occupational Health and Safety
The Occupational Health and Safety Act regulates the system of safety at work in the Republic of Croatia, and in particular national policy and activities, general principles of prevention and rules of safety at work, obligations of the employer, rights and obligations of workers and workers' commissioners for safety at work, activities related to safety at work, supervision and misdemeanour liability. The employer is obliged to inform and consult employees or their representatives on issues of occupational safety in accordance with this Act and general labour regulations.
The National Council for Safety and Health at Work was established in 2000 and its tasks include the following:
- To monitor, analyze and evaluate the occupational safety system and policy and report on its findings to the Government of the Republic of Croatia and propose necessary changes;
- To monitor the effects of the implementation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, its implementing regulations, special laws and other regulations that protect the safety and health of workers in the Republic of Croatia and, if necessary, propose changes to the Government of the Republic of Croatia, as well as their compliance with international regulations;
- To provide an opinion on draft statements on regulatory impact assessment and on draft legislative proposals in the field of occupational health and safety;
- To propose measures to improve the occupational health and safety system in the Republic of Croatia;
- To participate in organizing the National Day of Safety at Work.
The National Council performs other tasks at the request of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. It consists of a president and six members (i.e., 7 persons): representatives of the state (3), of the employers (2) and of the workers (2). The president and members of the National Council are appointed for a 4-year term and may be re-appointed. In addition to the members of the National Council, representatives of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, trade unions, employers, who are not represented in the National Council, experts from certain areas, as well as other persons who could contribute to the more efficient work of the meeting, may also be invited to the sessions of the National Council, as decided by the President. In performing the tasks within its scope, the National Council adopts decisions, guidelines, recommendations, opinions, proposals, conclusions and other acts.
Collective agreements
The main rules on collective bargaining and collective agreements were set out in the Labour Law[6], although key elements, covering which unions are entitled to bargain and make collective agreements are set by the legislation on the representativeness of unions.
For company or organization agreements, negotiations are conducted by an individual employer, whilst an employers’ association handles industry level agreements.
In 2014, the collective bargaining system was amended by Law on the Representativeness of Employers' Associations and Trade Unions. If there are more trade unions involved, the employer (or employers’ association) may negotiate with the bargaining committee established through the written agreement by all the trade unions concerned. In such cases, all the trade unions signatories of the agreement are considered representative, and it is not necessary to determine their representativeness. However, if trade unions fail to agree and do not sign the agreement, each trade union or employer / employers’ association may, before the Committee for determining representativeness, initiate the procedure for determining the representativeness of trade unions, as regulated by the Labour Law. If there is only one operative trade union, then it is considered representative.
Collective bargaining in Croatia currently takes place at industry and company/organisation level, with company bargaining growing in importance. Sectoral collective agreements prevail in the public sector.
The Labour Law prescribes the possibility of extending the application of a collective agreement on the entire sector, if both sides ask for the extension and it is determined to be in the public interests.
The extension is done by the decision of the minister of labour. Currently in Croatia we have two extended collective agreements- The Collective Agreement for the Construction Sector and The Collective Agreement in Hospitality.
If a worker’s right arising from the employment relationship is regulated differently by employment contract, company by-laws, agreements between the works council and the employer, collective agreements or laws, the most favourable one for the worker applies.
A collective agreement must a) be in writing, b) define its area of application, c) be published in a prescribed way. It is legally binding on those who have signed it, although, in practice, agreements cover all workers, not just union members, as to fail to do so could be seen as discrimination.
Collective agreements can be either for a set period of time – up to five years – or for an indefinite period. If a collective agreement expires without cancellation, all terms related to the material rights of the workers remain valid for three months from the expiry.
Workplace representation and works councils
The workplace representation in Croatia is provided through trade union representatives and works councils. This system was introduced in 1994, inspired by the German model, although modified in favour of the trade unions. If no works councils have been established, the union representative can take on most of their duties and responsibilities, something that happens reasonably frequently, as ETUI has observed.[3] [7]
The Labour Law allows unions to operate at the workplace and to promote the rights and interests of the union members. This can be done either through external union officials or through union representatives who are also workers in the organization. In practice, as only 10 individuals are required to set up a union and because there is a large number of unions, union representation is often through a union or unions, where all the members work for the same employer. In other cases, the union members belong to a larger union with members spread across several employers, or even the whole country.[3]
In companies and other organizations with at least 20 workers (bodies which are part of the state administration are an exception), workers have the right to be represented through a works council. The council has to protect and promote the interests of the workers.[3]
If no works council has been set up, its rights and duties (except the nomination of a representative at board level) are taken on by a union representative working at the company. If there are several unions present in the workplace and they cannot reach agreement as to which union representative should exercise these rights, the choice is made through election, following the same rules as for the election of works council members.
The law names three important functions for works councils[3]:
- Getting information from the employer (minimum quarterly) on OSH and measures taken to improve working conditions.
- The employer must consult the works council before making a decision important for the position of the worker.
- In a smaller number of cases, the works council has the broadest decision-making powers, given that the employer can then make decisions only with the prior consent of the works council.
Thus, without the prior consent of the works council, the employer cannot make a decision on: dismissal of a member of the works council; dismissal of a candidate for a member of the works council who was not elected and a member of the election committee for a period of three months after the establishment of the election results; dismissal of a worker with professional incapacity for work, imminent danger of disability, and dismissal of a worker with a disability; dismissal of a worker over the age of sixty; notice to the worker's representative in the employer's body; the inclusion of persons, who are prohibited from resigning on grounds of parenthood, in the redundancy program; collection, processing, use and delivery of employee data to third parties; the appointment of a person who is authorized to supervise whether personal data of workers are collected, processed, used and delivered to third parties in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Law.
General workers’ assembly
A general workers’ assembly of workers employed by a specific employer, which are held for the purpose of comprehensive information and discussion on the state and development of the employer and on the work of the works council, twice a year, at equal time intervals, are regulated by the provisions of Article 163 of the Labor Law.
The assembly of workers is convened by the workers' council, with prior consultation with the employer, or the employer, if the employer has not established a workers' council.
The Labor Law does not prescribe the content of the decision or notice convening a meeting of workers, nor the method and deadlines for the publication of such acts.
EU-wide operating companies
Croatian representatives on bodies related to European Works Councils and the European Company are elected according to Law on European Works Councils (Official Gazzette, No. 93/14, 127/17). The Law clearly states the right of employees of multinational companies to information, which is the duty of the central administration, and to consultation, which is defined as an exchange of views and the establishment of a dialogue between workers' representatives and the central administration or other appropriate level administration.[8]
Works Councils
The Ordinance on the procedure for the election of the works council (Official Gazette, No. 3/16, 52/17 and 138/20) prescribes the duty of the employer to submit electronically to the ministry competent for labour data on the established works council within ten days from the date of publication of the minutes of the final election results. The data is delivered through a special application – Radnička Vijeća (hereinafter: RV application).
The collected data is analyzed using IT tools from the RV application and published on the website of the ministry once a year for the previous year.
Based on data from the RV application, it was determined that in the period from January to December 2022, a total of 67 works councils were established at 67 employers. Employers who registered the establishment of a works council employed a total of 22,263 workers.
