HR & Recruitment in Croatia

When expanding a business to Croatia you'll need to make a few decisions in terms of staffing: decide if you can and want to relocate existing employees, and the processes required to employ foreign nationals (indigenous to your country of expansion).

Employing Foreign Nationals

The fundamental thing to comprehend when it comes to employing indigenous workers is the law in Croatia. Depending on your location, the employment of staff can be affected by many extraneous factors, such as longevity of service, social charges, collective agreements, qualification and experience, etc.

The Croatian labour force is well educated and trained. Employment is governed by the Labour Act of 1996, which harmonised the law with Western European employment systems. The provisions of the Act comply with the conventions of the International Labour Organisation and other international standards.

Salaries are relatively low and registered unemployment is high at around 15%. The labour force currently numbers around 1,355,000. Local recruitment should not be a problem. There are several government, independent and foreign recruitment agencies operating in Croatia. UK companies have successfully recruited staff by advertising in local newspapers.

As Croatia is a member of the EU it allows EU resident from other countries to work and live there. There are no specific laws about the amount of indigenous workers that must be employed in a company.

International Employees

Yet again, plucking talent from neighbouring countries may not come without its woes. Make sure you know the legislative restrictions and allowances of such a practice.

Employee Relocation

Perhaps you need someone with talent, experience and reliability. Someone you can trust. Someone with the right understanding of your business to join you overseas. And why not. But you must consider both the cost-effectiveness of such a move, and the laws that preside over it.