ELA EU Pay Directive
CROATIA
Legislation Addressing the EU Pay Directive
Succinct summary of the legislation:
No.
Croatia has still not officially adopted the amendments to the Labour Act that fully implement Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency.
Application
Recruitment and job applicants
What information must an employer provide to job applicants in relation to pay (i.e. what does "initial pay range" include – basic pay, bonus, family leave payments, pension, stock options, etc)?
Not applicable.
Under the Croatian Labour Act as being in force, the employment agreement shall include at least gross salary, including the gross amount of the basic or agreed salary, allowances and other payments for work performed, as well as the payment periods for such and other payments arising from the employment relationship to which the employee is entitled.
Exceptionally, the employment contract, or the confirmation of the concluded employment contract, may refer to the relevant law, other regulation, collective agreement or internal work rules governing such matters.
How and when must this information be provided?
Refer to the above answer.
Does the salary history ban apply equally to internal candidates?
Not applicable. The employer is not obliged to provide such information.
Can employers' use salary history information already known to them when determining salaries for internal hires/ promotions?
Yes
Does local law require that the job vacancy notices and job titles are gender neutral?
Yes.
When advertising a vacancy, the job advertisement must indicate that persons of both genders may apply for the position.
Transparency of pay and pay progression policy
What information must an employer make available to workers about workers’ pay, pay levels and pay progression under local law?
The salary must be agreed, determined or prescribed in a gross amount.
The employment agreement shall include the gross amount of the basic or agreed salary, allowances and other payments for work performed, as well as the payment periods for such and other payments arising from the employment relationship to which the employee is entitled.
Instead of being regulated in the employment contract, the employment contract may refer to the relevant law, other regulation, collective agreement or internal work rules governing such matter.
If the basis and criteria for the payment of salary are not regulated by a collective agreement, an employer employing at least 20 employees shall determine such basis and criteria by means of internal work rules, and an employer who is not required to adopt internal work rules, or who has not determined the basis and criteria by such rules, shall agree on them in the employment contract concluded with the employee.
If the salary is not determined by a specific regulation, collective agreement or internal work rules, and the employment contract does not contain sufficient information on the basis of which the salary could be determined, the employer shall pay the employee an appropriate salary.
An appropriate salary shall be deemed to be a salary that is regularly paid for equal work, and if such salary cannot be determined, the salary determined by the court based on the circumstances of the case.
The basis and criteria for the payment of an employee’s salary may not constitute a business secret.
Any provision of an employment contract, collective agreement, internal work rules or other legal act contrary to above mentioned principles shall be null and void.
How should this information be provided?
Refer to the above answer.
Has local law clarified what are the "objective and gender-neutral criteria" that should be used to determine pay, pay levels and pay progression?
The employer is obliged to pay equal remuneration to a female employee and a male employee for equal work or work of equal value.
Two persons of different sex perform equal work if:
a) they perform the same work under the same or similar conditions, or could substitute for each other in relation to the work they perform;
b) the work performed by one of them is of a similar nature to the work performed by the other, and the differences between the work performed and the conditions under which each of them performs such work are not significant in relation to the nature of the work as a whole, or occur so rarely that they do not affect the nature of the work as a whole.
Two persons of different sex perform work of equal value if the work performed by one of them is of equal value to the work performed by the other, taking into account the qualifications acquired through a certain level of education and the nature of the work determined according to objective criteria such as the required knowledge, skills, responsibility and independence, as well as the conditions under which the work is performed.
Compliance with the principle of equality of work and work of equal value performed by two persons of different sex shall also apply to payments received by an employee on the basis of the employment relationship in accordance with Article 90a of this Act ((long-service award, holiday allowance, Christmas bonus, etc.).
A provision of an employment contract, collective agreement, internal work rules or any other legal act established contrary to above principles shall be null and void.
For the purpose of exercising the right to equal pay for women and men, the employer shall, at the employee’s request, provide the employee with information on the criteria based on which an employee performing work of the same or similar nature has received remuneration, if such an employee exists with that employer.
Are there any exemptions based on headcount?
Refer to the previous answer.
Individual rights to pay information
A worker is entitled to request and receive information on:
- their individual pay level; and
- the average pay levels broken down by sex for workers performing the same work as them or work of equal value to theirs
What is considered to be "pay" for the purpose of this provision?
This provision is not yet implemented in the Croatian Labour Act. However, the current legislation considers salary as the remuneration received by an employee which the employer pays to the employee for work performed in a particular month.
The employer shall calculate and pay to the employee the salary, which the employee is entitled to receive based on the prescribed, determined or agreed grounds and/or criteria established by a specific regulation, collective agreement, internal work rules or employment contract.
The salary may consist of:
- basic or agreed salary;
- allowances;
- other payments.
The allowances are monetary payments received by an employee based on a specific regulation, collective agreement, internal work rules or employment contract, proportionally to the hours worked under certain conditions (difficult working conditions, overtime work, night work, work on Sundays, work on public holidays, etc.), and which the employee receives regardless of effective work performed (increase for completed years of service, etc.), or which, in accordance with the prescribed, determined or agreed criteria and amounts, are received depending on the achieved business results and work performance (performance incentive, etc.).
The employer shall calculate the allowances in the amount and manner determined by a specific regulation, collective agreement, internal work rules or employment contract, whereby the salary increase for work under difficult working conditions, overtime work and night work, as well as for work on Sundays, public holidays and non-working days established by a specific law may not be calculated on an amount lower than the minimum wage amount in accordance with specific regulations.
Other payments to employees, are payments made by the employer to the employee in cash or in kind based on a collective agreement, internal work rules, an employer’s act or an employment contract.
The salary is the salary in gross amount, consisting of the amount payable to the employee and public charges deducted from the salary in accordance with specific regulations.
The total salary cost, is the gross 1 salary cost increased by the cost of public charges payable on salary in accordance with tax and contribution regulations.
Can any pay components be excluded for the purposes of calculating gross hourly pay (for example, can voluntary benefits, stock options or "pay" components that do not appear on a payslip be excluded?)
Payments that an employee may receive on the basis of the employment relationship and which are not considered salary are:
a) payments which the employer, in accordance with a regulation, collective agreement, internal work rules, an employer’s act or an employment contract, pays to the employee as a material right arising from the employment relationship (long-service award, holiday allowance, Christmas bonus, etc.);
b) payments which the employer, in accordance with a regulation, collective agreement, internal work rules, an employer’s act or an employment contract, pays to the employee and which represent reimbursement of expenses
Within what period of time must the information be provided?
The employer shall, no later than 15 days from the date of payment of salary, compensation of salary, severance pay or compensation for unused annual leave, provide the employee with a calculation statement showing how such amounts have been determined.
How should this information be provided?
The delivery of the salary statement may be regulated by a collective agreement, an agreement concluded between the works council and the employer, or by internal work rules, and if it is not regulated in one of the aforementioned ways, the employer may effect delivery in written or electronic form, provided that they are accessible to the employee, can be printed and stored, and that the employer retains proof that they have been delivered to the employee or that the employee has received them.
Are there any exemptions based on headcount?
Currently N/A
Is a worker entitled to request this information individually and/or through workers representatives and/or through an equality body?
Employees may request the relevant information directly from the employer. Where the employer fails to comply with its statutory obligations, employees may seek protection through the competent court and/or the labour inspectorate, depending on the circumstances.
What rights does a worker have where the information is alleged to be inaccurate or incomplete?
The employee may seek specific performance by directing such a request to the court (please see above) and compensation of damages if applicable. The salary statement is considered enforceable deed based on which employee may request immediate enforcement.
Does an employer need to inform workers of their entitlement to request this information?
No.
Does local law require that employers provide this information in the local language, or can it be provided in English?
It shall be provided in the Croatian language since it constitutes enforceable deed which in order to be enforceable must be in
produced in Croatian.
Prohibitions on workers disclosing pay information
Contractual clauses that prevent employees from disclosing information about their pay are prohibited under the Directive.
Can employers impose any restrictions on workers to prevent them from disclosing their own pay, and/or average pay information obtained pursuant to an information request?
Pursuant to the Labour Act, the basis and criteria for the payment of an employee’s salary may not constitute a business secret. This means that with the exception to restrictions that are explicitly regulated in the law as such, an employer may impose additional rules restricting disclosure of other information pertaining to the salary (e.g. the amount of the salary).
If existing contracts contain pay secrecy clauses, what actions (if any) are required to bring those contracts into compliance (e.g., must such clauses be formally rescinded or is the existing pay secrecy clause simply unenforceable)?
Such clauses shall be deemed unenforceable.
Gender pay gap reporting
Are the pay gap reporting deadlines the same as those set out in the Directive?
N/A. The Labour Act does not provide such deadline
Please confirm what gender pay gap information employers must provide under local law (and include detail on headcount thresholds).
For the purpose of ensuring the right to equal pay for women and men, the employer shall, at the employee’s request, provide the employee with information on the criteria based on which an employee performing work of the same or similar nature has received remuneration, if such an employee exists with the employer.
Does local law specify a uniform reference or “snapshot” date for assessing headcount or pay data for reporting purposes?
N/A
What pay information (if any) is an employer required to publish and where does it need to be published (i.e. on its website).
N/A
Is an employer required to provide the information to an authority and if so when?
No general obligation for employers to systematically report gender pay gap data to a public authority.
Is there any information as to how information held by authorities will be published (i.e. will individual employers be named in annual reports or will published gender pay gap information be sector specific and anonymise employers)?
Authorities (e.g. labour inspectorate) may obtain pay-related information only in specific contexts, such as:
- labour inspections,
- discrimination complaints,
- court proceedings.
There is no centralised public database of employer gender pay gap data.
Does local law specify how employers should consider employees that choose not to identify with a particular gender?
N/A
Dealing with Gaps & Joint Pay Assessments
Where gender pay differences are not justified on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria, in what timescale must an employer remedy the situation?
The employer shall, in writing, inform the Ombudsperson of the measures and actions taken in accordance with warnings, proposals and recommendations, no later than 30 days from the date of receipt of such warnings, proposals and recommendations from the Ombudsperson.
The Ombudsperson is authorised to request reports from the employer, and in the event of non-compliance with such request, or failure to submit the notification within the prescribed time limit, the Ombudsperson may request that the supervisory authority responsible for overseeing their work carry out an inspection.
Does local law specify how an employer should remedy the situation?
Refer to the above response.
How must an employer work in close cooperation with workers’ representatives, the labour inspectorate and/or the equality body in remedying the situation?
Please see above. The matter of equality of genders in respect to conditions of work falls within the competence of consulting with the Works Council.
Does local law define ‘close cooperation’ – is it just in consultation with, or must there be agreement?
Currently consultations.
In what circumstances does local law require an employer to conduct a joint pay assessment?
Under Croatian law, there is currently no general, standalone obligation requiring employers to conduct a “joint pay assessment” with workers’ representatives in the way envisaged under the EU Pay Transparency Directive (EU) 2023/970 (i.e. structured joint pay assessments triggered by specific thresholds of unjustified gender pay differences).
Even under Croatian Labour Act, no explicit duty to carry out a formal joint pay assessment with worker representatives exists, employers must still comply with:
- equal pay for equal work / work of equal value
- non-discrimination rules.
Workers’ representatives may be involved indirectly through:
collective bargaining works councils / trade unions consultations
But there is no mandatory trigger-based pay gap review procedure.
What information must be included in the joint pay assessment?
N/A
To whom must an employer make the joint assessment available?
N/A
Data Protection
Where the provision of information would lead to the disclosure of the pay of an identifiable worker, does local law limit access to the relevant information and if so, how?
Salary information relating to an identifiable employee constitutes personal data and must be processed in accordance with the GDPR and applicable Croatian data protection rules.
Under Croatian law, there is no explicit general prohibition or special limitation rule specifically designed for gender pay gap transparency cases where disclosure would reveal the pay of an identifiable worker. However, the issue is addressed indirectly through data protection and labour law principles.
Key position under Croatian law:
- Personal data protection applies
- Salary information is considered personal data under GDPR
If disclosure would allow identification of a specific employee, the employer must ensure compliance with: GDPR principles (data minimisation, purpose limitation, confidentiality).
Breach of pay transparency and pay gap reporting requirements
What sanctions, penalties or other measures may be imposed on an employer in the event of breach of gender pay reporting or pay transparency requirements under local law?
Under current Croatian law, breaches of pay transparency-related obligations may result in labour inspection measures, administrative fines, and civil claims by employees, including claims for pay differences and damages in cases of unequal pay.
Rights to equal pay – rights of action
What rights of action under local law are available to a worker as a result of any alleged infringement of the right to equal pay?
Under current Croatian law, breaches of pay transparency-related obligations may result in labour inspection measures, administrative fines, and civil claims by employees, including claims for pay differences and damages in cases of unequal pay.
Workers Representatives
How does local law define ‘workers’ representatives?
In a company in which, pursuant to a specific regulation, a body supervising the management of affairs is established (a supervisory board, management board or another corresponding body), one member of the body of the company supervising the management of affairs shall be a workers’ representative.
The workers’ representative in the body shall be appointed and recalled by the works council.
Besides, employees working for an employer who employs at least twenty employees have the right to participate in decision-making on matters relating to their economic and social rights and interests by freely and directly electing, through secret ballot, one or more of their representatives (the works council), who shall represent them before the employer in protecting and promoting their rights and interests.
If the employer does not have any workers’ representatives, what are its obligations in relation to the provisions of the Directive referring to workers' representatives?
N/A
If workers’ representatives have not been engaged in the right way and/or in a timely fashion, what are the consequences under local law?
N/A. To the extent applicable any employer’s decision that is taken by the employer without involvement of the workers’ representative where such involvement is prescribed obligation under the Labour Act shall be null and void.
What obligations exist in relation to workers’ representatives’ rights to be consulted on pay gap information and access to the relevant methodologies applied?
No specific gender pay gap consultation procedure currently exists under Croatian law requiring employers to consult workers’ representatives specifically on gender pay gap information or methodologies used for pay gap analysis.
Workers’ representatives (primarily the works council or, where applicable, trade unions) have general rights regarding:
- information and consultation on matters affecting employees’ economic and social rights and interests;
- access to information necessary for performing their representative role.
The employer must provide the works council with information and consult it in cases prescribed by law, including on certain matters related to:
- employment conditions,
- changes affecting employees,
- employer decisions with significant consequences for employees.
Regarding equal pay, the Labour Act provides that:
- employees have the right to request information on the criteria used to determine pay for employees performing work of the same or similar nature;
- the employer must provide such information to the requesting employee where a comparable employee exists.
The law does not currently require the employer to disclose individual salary data of other employees to workers’ representatives. Any disclosure must comply with:
- GDPR and personal data protection rules,
- confidentiality obligations.
What rights of action are available to a worker or workers’ representatives in event of breach of gender pay reporting or pay transparency requirements under local law?
An employee may initiate court proceedings if they believe that the employer has breached equal pay or non-discrimination rules.
The employee may seek, depending on the circumstances:
- payment of the difference in salary/remuneration,
- compensation for damages,
- protection from discriminatory treatment.
An employee has the right to request information from the employer on the criteria used to determine remuneration for employees performing work of the same or similar nature (where such a comparable employee exists).
Failure to provide required information may be subject to enforcement through competent authorities or court proceedings.
Works councils and trade unions may:
- request information from the employer within the scope of their statutory rights,
- require consultation on matters affecting employees’ rights and interests,
- challenge employer actions where consultation rights are violated.
Employees or workers’ representatives may submit an initiative/complaint to the State Inspectorate (labour inspectorate) regarding breaches of labour law obligations.
The inspectorate may conduct supervision and impose measures or initiate misdemeanour proceedings.
Member State Support
Other/Additional