1. Is there any legislation relating to working from home in your country?
  2. How can working from home be implemented in a company (e.g. through collective bargaining agreements, a unilateral decision, employment contracts)?
  3. Can an employer force an employee to work from home?
  4. Can an employee force an employer to allow him to work remotely?
  5. Does an employer have to provide the employee with office equipment and supplies for remote work?
  6. Does a company have to reimburse an employee for expenses incurred while working from home?
  7. Does an employer have to grant an employee a specific allowance for working from home? If so, under what conditions does an employer not have to pay such an allowance?
  8. For employees who work remotely, is the employer responsible for ensuring proper working conditions from a health and safety perspective?
  9. Are there any other specific obligations for the employer?
  10. Does an employee need to be insured to work from home?
  11. Is an employee who works from home protected by legislation for work-related accidents and illnesses?
  12. Is an employer permitted to charge its employees a “reimbursement for working from home” for costs saved? (Saved expenses could include the employee’s reduced costs for transportation, petrol, lunches in restaurants and dry-cleaning charges for office attire).
  13. Are there any other specific obligations on the employee?
  14. Have there been any legislative changes, or updates to immigration rules, designed to encourage short-term remote working in your country (compared to the rules normally found in other countries)?
  15. What is meant by remote work abroad and do national regulations exist in this regard?
  16. Which labour law provisions are applicable during remote work abroad?
  17. Do employees remain in the previous social security system during remote work abroad?
  18. What applies in terms of tax law to short-term remote work abroad, especially after or before a holiday?
  19. What needs to be considered in terms of residence law?
  20. Any other comments?

1. Is there any legislation relating to working from home in your country?

Yes. In Croatia, work from home is governed by the Employment Act (Official Gazette No. 93/2014, 127/2017, 98/2019, 151/2022, 64/2023), the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Official Gazette No. 71/2014, 118/2014, 154/2014, 94/2018, 96/2018) and accompanying bylaws.

2. How can working from home be implemented in a company (e.g. through collective bargaining agreements, a unilateral decision, employment contracts)?

Work from home must be implemented by an employment contract or an amendment to it. Namely, the Employment Act explicitly prescribes the obligation for employers to expressly include terms regarding remote work in the employment contract (e.g. working time, necessary tools and equipment, reimbursement of costs, employee training, etc.). It is possible (and quite common) to regulate work from home through an employer’s policy, which is a practical approach, but does not exclude the obligation to regulate the matter in the employment contract.

However, in the event of extraordinary circumstances arising from epidemics, earthquakes, floods, environmental incidents and similar occurrences, the employer may, in order to continue operations and protect the health and safety of the employees, agree with the employees to work remotely without amending the employment contract. It should be noted that such remote work may not last longer than 30 days, after which the employer will be obliged to offer the employee a new employment contract, or an annex to the existing employment contract with necessary terms / amendments regarding remote work.

3. Can an employer force an employee to work from home?

No, the employer cannot implement work from home unilaterally since this is subject to an agreement of both parties and must be regulated by the employment contract.

4. Can an employee force an employer to allow him to work remotely?

No, the employee cannot force the employer to allow remote work. However, the employee may, for the purpose of harmonizing work and family obligations as well as his / her personal needs, request that the employer temporarily work remotely, especially in the event of (i) health protection due to diagnosed illness or established disability, (ii) pregnancy or care for a child of up to eight years of age or (iii) care for a sick family member or person living in the same household with the employee. The employer is obliged to consider the employee’s request, taking into account the needs of the employee and the needs of the work organization. Furthermore, if the request is rejected, the employer must explain the reason in writing within 15 days after receiving the request. According to the competent Ministry’s opinion, such written explanation should be related to organizational reasons on the employer’s side (e.g., allowing remote work is not possible within the business processes of the employer or would be too aggravating for the employer etc.). Therefore, it is not sufficient to simply reject the request due to employer’s unwillingness to accept it.

5. Does an employer have to provide the employee with office equipment and supplies for remote work?

Yes, the Employment Act requires the employer to provide the employee with the machines, tools and equipment necessary for remote work.

If the employee uses his / her own machines, tools and equipment for work, the matter of reimbursement of associated costs should be regulated in the employment contract.

6. Does a company have to reimburse an employee for expenses incurred while working from home?

Yes, a company is obliged to reimburse an employee for expenses while working from home if such work was performed for more than 7 working days in a calendar month. However, there is no legal framework or published court practice which would quantify work from home expenses or the manner of determining these costs (e.g. internet costs, electricity, other utilities, etc.), but the highest possible amount that can be paid tax-free is EUR 4.00 per each day of work from home, with a maximum of EUR 70 per month. Therefore, parties need to specify the reimbursement costs in the employment contract.

7. Does an employer have to grant an employee a specific allowance for working from home? If so, under what conditions does an employer not have to pay such an allowance?

No, under the Employment Act there are no special allowances granted for working from home.

In general, the employer is obliged to pay the same wages for employees working from home as they would for employees performing work at the employer’s business premises.

8. For employees who work remotely, is the employer responsible for ensuring proper working conditions from a health and safety perspective?

Yes, the employer must comply with the relevant health and safety measures prescribed under the Occupational Health and Safety Act to ensure a safe working environment, which does not endanger employee health, even in cases of remote work. Employees must also comply with the health and safety instructions of the employer and the relevant health and safety rules.

For the purpose of ensuring a safe working environment (i.e., maintenance of equipment and supervision of working conditions), the employer may enter the employee’s home, but only if contractually agreed and at a time agreed with the employee.

However, employers who implement remote work on an occasional basis (i.e. work of an administrative or similar nature that is deemed low risk) do not have to complete health and safety risk assessments of the homes of employees who are working remotely. This exemption applies solely for specific types of work, which are usually performed at an employer’s premises and remotely only occasionally and which have previously been assessed and documented as low risk.

9. Are there any other specific obligations for the employer?

The employer must properly monitor and keep records of working hours for remote employees. In principle, provisions on work schedules, overtime work, night work, distribution of working hours, etc. apply to the remote employee also, insofar as these provisions are not regulated differently in the applicable labour-law sources (e.g. employment contracts, agreements with works council, collective bargaining agreements, etc.).

10. Does an employee need to be insured to work from home?

Under Croatian law, an employer is not obligated to insure employees.

Notwithstanding the above, the obligation to insure employees may be envisaged in CBAs, bylaws, agreements with the works council or other internal acts of the employer.

In practice, most employers insure their employees for work-related injuries regardless of their place of work.

Yes, the employee is protected for work-related accidents and illnesses in the same manner as employees working at the business premises of the employer.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act determines that a work-related injury includes both injuries that occur at the employer’s business premises and other premises where employees perform work duties.

12. Is an employer permitted to charge its employees a “reimbursement for working from home” for costs saved? (Saved expenses could include the employee’s reduced costs for transportation, petrol, lunches in restaurants and dry-cleaning charges for office attire).

No.

13. Are there any other specific obligations on the employee?

N/A

14. Have there been any legislative changes, or updates to immigration rules, designed to encourage short-term remote working in your country (compared to the rules normally found in other countries)?

There have been no legislative changes nor updates to immigration rules in this respect. However, it is worth mentioning Croatia offers the possibility of temporary stay for digital nomads.

A digital nomad is a third country citizen (i.e., a non-EU / EEA / Swiss citizen) who is employed or performs work through communication technology for a company or his / her own company that is not registered in Croatia and does not perform work or provide services to employers in Croatia. Such temporary stay is granted for up to a year and cannot be extended.

15. What is meant by remote work abroad and do national regulations exist in this regard?

The concept of “remote/distance work abroad” is not explicitly defined in Croatian law. Generally, it refers to situations in which an employee performs his work obligations from an agreed/self-determined location (refer to Point 14 above) outside of Croatia for an employer with its seat in Croatia.

There is no Croatian legislation that specifically regulates remote/distance work abroad, but general rules and regulations should be considered, as well as different obligations of the employer in case of remote and distance work (e.g. the differences in health and safety obligations for remote work and distance work). Furthermore, it should be noted that the competent ministry issued an opinion, which could allow employers to potentially limit the territorial scope of remote/distance work.

16. Which labour law provisions are applicable during remote work abroad?

The question of applicable law during remote/distance work abroad is regulated by provisions of international private law. Two possibilities are most likely to occur: (i) the parties can choose the applicable (labour) law regulating the employment contract; or (ii) if the applicable law has not been chosen, the law of the country in which the employee habitually carries out his work duties shall apply – meaning that the applicable law must be determined based on the length and nature of the remote/distance work.

Notwithstanding the above, overriding mandatory provisions of the foreign country in which remote/distance work is performed (including when work is performed from Croatia) could be applicable. These may include wage, maximum working hours, and health and safety provisions.

17. Do employees remain in the previous social security system during remote work abroad?

The general rule is that employees are subject to the social security system in the country where the work is performed. Exemptions are prescribed in EU social security regulations and in the social security treaties Croatia has concluded with some non-EU countries. When considering EU regulations, two main exemptions include posting and pursuit of activities in two or more EU member states.

If the agreed place of work is abroad (i.e. it has been agreed upon in the employment contract and the employee will work for a certain period of time exclusively from abroad), the employee should enroll in the social security system of that country (which follows the general rule).

In cases where an employee will work abroad on a short-term basis, the employee should pursue activities/work during the observed period of time in two member states alternately. An exemption to the general rule takes place if an employee works at least 25% of the time in the individual’s state of residence. In that case, during remote work abroad the employee should remain in the social security system of the state of residence.

18. What applies in terms of tax law to short-term remote work abroad, especially after or before a holiday?

An individual is a tax resident in a country where they have permanent residence (i.e. domicile) or habitual residence. In this situation, the country has a right to tax the individuals’ world-wide income.

Employment income is generally subject to personal income tax in the country where the work is performed. However, Croatia has concluded double tax treaties with many countries. The treaties usually provide the following exemption: when the employee is present in the other state for a maximum of 183 days over a 12-month period and income is not paid by or recharged to the resident of that other state or employer’s permanent establishment in that other state, the employment income would only remain taxable in the country of the employee’s tax residence.

There are no special provisions or practice regarding the days before or following a holiday.

19. What needs to be considered in terms of residence law?

In the context of a foreign employee performing distance work from Croatia, a distinction should be made between:

  1. European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals – these employees are allowed to reside and work freely in Croatia without a residence/work permit, but are obliged to register their stay in Croatia; and
  2. third country nationals (other than those in point (i) above) – these employees need a valid residence and work permit to be able to reside and work legally in Croatia.

20. Any other comments?

On 1 January 2023, the amendments of the Employment Act entered into force, which introduced, among other things, a distinction between remote work and distance work. In the former case, the place of work is specified (e.g. employee’s home) and the employer is obliged to reimburse the associated costs as specified above. In the latter case, employees can choose from where they will work, and the employer is not obligated to reimburse the employee with any expenses.

However, distance work is only possible for the types of jobs that are always performed through information and communication technology. Since the place from which the employee will perform his / her work is independently determined by the employee, in case of distance work the employer is not fully liable for health and safety matters. Nevertheless, the employer is still obliged to ensure the protection of employee’s privacy and to provide the employee with written instructions regarding the protection of health and safety at work.