Minimum Salary Level Increased

The situation

Effective January 1, 2019, the minimum salary for foreign workers in Croatia has increased as follows:

Although there is no formal salary requirement for the short-term Confirmation on Work category, it may be advisable to guarantee the local minimum wage (now HRK 3,750 per month) depending on the circumstances of the case. 

A closer look

• Existing employees. Employers of foreign nationals must increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule.
• Initial and renewal applications. Employers of foreign nationals seeking to obtain or renew work authorization on or after January 1, 2019 must increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
• Pending applications. Employers of foreign nationals with pending work authorization applications as of January 1, 2019 must increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.

Reminders on other requirements

• Benefits and allowances. As before, benefits and allowances cannot be included in the minimum salary calculation.
• Local salary rate. As before, employers are required under labor law to pay equal salaries for equal work to both foreign and local staff. Consequently, salaries for foreign workers must meet the average local salary rate for the proposed position.
• Currency. As before, employers are required to guarantee the salary in HRK regardless of payroll location and/or exchange rate fluctuations.

Background

In 2017 and 2018, the minimum salary amount went up by five percent.

The minimum annual salary for Key Personnel and EU Blue Card applicants is based on the average gross salary paid in Croatia the previous year, therefore, the increase for these categories occurred when the data from 2017 was made available by the Statistics Bureau in March of 2018.

Looking ahead

The above thresholds are based on average salaries over 2017. The average salaries over 2018 are expected to be published in a few months’ time. Salary requirements for foreign workers will be increased correspondingly in due time once again.

Most European countries have published their new salary thresholds over the past weeks. Countries that have not yet published threshold changes at this time are not expected to implement any changes shortly.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].