This chapter will explain your parental entitlements.

Entitlement to maternity and parental leave (rodiljni i roditeljski dopust) and cash benefits (novčane naknade) are regulated by the maternity and parental support system.

In this chapter we cover the time and cash benefits available to beneficiaries:

• Maternity, paternity and parental leave;
• right to work half your working hours in order to provide your child with more care;
• leave for caring for a child with severe development disabilities;
• adoptive parent leave;
• foster care leave
• cash assistance (income-replacement benefit, lower cash benefit, cash assistance).

In what situation can I claim?

Support for parents, mothers and fathers is regulated in several ways in Croatia. The key social benefits are maternity, paternity and parental leave, income-replacement benefit and lower cash benefits, while parenting is supported by a range of other rights.

Employed and self-employed parents, farmers and parents who earn other income are entitled to maternity and parental support. You are also entitled (if you meet special conditions) if you are outside the labour system, retired or a student.

Entitlement to maternity and parental assistance is the same for adoptive parents, caregivers of a minor child and foster parents as it is for parents of a child (married or cohabitating). Foreign nationals with permanent residence in Croatia, asylum seekers and person under subsidiary protection have the same rights as Croatian nationals.

What conditions do I need to meet?

If you are an employed or self-employed parent, in order to claim income-replacement benefit while on maternity or parental leave, you must have at least 16months pensionable service (see Jargon busters) or at least 9 months in the last 2 years if you had interruptions in your career. If you fail to meet this condition, you are entitled to a reduced amount of income-replacement benefit.

If you are a parent with other income or a farmer outside of the value added tax or income tax system, you must have been permanently residing in Croatia for at least 3 years or have had a permanent residence permit for at least 3 years if you are a foreign national.

If you are a parent outside of the labour system, you must have Croatian citizenship and have permanently resided in Croatia for at least 5 years. Foreign nationals must have had a permanent residence permit for at least 5 years.

All categories of parent must be insured under the mandatory health insurance scheme.

If you are an unemployed parent, you must also have been registered with the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) for at least 9 months without interruption or 12 months with interruptions in the past 2 years prior to the birth of the child. The time of registration as unemployed in case of termination of employment contract, completion or interruption of education is regulated differently.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

The maternity leave claim is  based on a certificate on the expected date of birth issued by your personal gynaecologist. As a rule, cash benefits are claimed from the local office of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO).

Maternity leave (rodilji dopust)

Employed and self-employed pregnant women are entitled to maternity leave 28 days prior to the expected date of birth (in case of complications, it may be taken 45 days prior to the expected date of birth) up to 70 days after the birth of the child. This is mandatory leave used by the mother, and in special circumstances it may also be used by the father (for example, if the mother dies).

Additional maternity leaves lasts until the baby is 6 months old. The mother can return to work in this period and transfer it, in full or partially, to the father.

Paternity leave (očinski dopust)

An employed or self-employed father has the right, after the birth of a child, to paternity leave, depending on the number of children born:

- 10 working days for one child

- 15 working days in case of birth of twins, triplets or simultaneous birth of several children

Provided that he does not use any of his maternity or parental rights, the father  can use the entitlement to paternity leave regardless of the employment status of the mother until the child is 6 months old, and the right is non-transferable.

Parental leave (roditeljski dopust)

An employed or self-employed parent is entitled to parental leave after the child reaches the age of 6 months. Parental leave can be used until the child turns 8 (for the first and second child). This is a personal right of both parents who may take it for 4 (for the first and second child) or 15 months (for twins, third and every subsequent child) each. Two months are non-transferable and the rest can be shared between the parents.

If parental leave is used by only one parent, the duration is six months for the first and second born child  and 28 months for twins, the third and each subsequent child.

If you  are farmers, or earn other income or are unemployed , you are entitled to maternity exemption from work (rodiljna pošteda od rada) until the child reaches 6 months. You are then entitled to parental exemption from work (roditeljska pošteda od rada) until the first or third year of the child's life.

Parents outside the labour market are entitled to maternity and parental childcare (rodiljna I roditeljska briga o djetetu).

Right to work half your working hours in order to provide your child with more care (pravo na rad s polovicom radnog vremena radi pojačane njege djeteta)

After parental leave has been used in its entirety, one of the employed or self-employed parents , , has the right to work half-time if the child needs special care due to health or developmental reasons.

The right can be used up to the third year of the child's life. The right ceases if  the child is permanently or weekly placed in a health or social care institution, or in a preschool institution for more than eight hours every day.

Leave for caring for a child with severe developmental disabilities (dopust radi njege djeteta s težim smetnjama u razvoju)

One of the employed or self-employed parents of a child with severed physical or mental disabilities, has the right to leave for child care until the child reaches the age of  eight. The right can be used to work half-time as long as the needs lasts, even after the child reaches the age of eight.

Adoptive parent leave (posvojiteljski dopust)

Employed or self-employed adoptive parents are entitled to take adoptive parent leave as of the day the adoption becomes legally valid and may last for 6 months for children up to the age of 18. An additional 6 months of adoptive parent leave is granted for an adopted child who is under 8 years of age.

Adoptive parent leave can be extended for 60 days in certain situations.

The second adoptive parent has the right to the leave within six months from the adoption decision , for a continuous period of:

- 10 working days in case of adoption of one child

- 15 working days in the case of the adoption of twins or two or more children at the same time or a child whose adoption makes them the third or subsequent child in the family or a child with developmental disabilities.

The second adoptive parent can use this right regardless of the employment status of the other adoptive parent , and on the condition that they does not use any of his maternity or parental rights .

Cash assistance (income-replacement benefit, lower cash benefits, cash assistance) (novčana potpora)

• Maternity leave: for an employed or self-employed mother who meets the insurance period conditions, it stands at 100% of the base of her wage
• Paternity leave: for an employed or self-employed father who meets the insurance period conditions, it stands at 100% of the base of his wage
• Parental leave: the income-replacement benefit is limited by the calculation base (see Jargon busters). The rate is 100% of the remuneration base with a ceiling of  995,44  for parental leave of 6 or 8 months
• For the remaining parental leave (for twins, third or every subsequent child), the income-replacement benefit is EUR 551,80;
• Maternity and parental exemption from work: the lower cash benefit is  EUR 309,01 a month.
• Maternity and parental childcare: the cash benefit is  EUR 309,01 a month;
• Right to work half your working hours in order to provide more care for your child: the cash benefit to which the parent is entitled stands at  EUR 485,58
• Leave for taking care of a child with severe developmental disabilities: the cash benefit for the parent is 551,80 EUR. For employed or self-employed parents: If all conditions are not met then amount of maternity, paternity, parental leave is 309,01 EUR; if only the insurance period is not fulfilled, then they have 551,80 EUR

Adoptive parent leave: The cash benefit paid during adoptive leave is 100% of the base of the adoptive parent's wage (no with no ceiling. During parental leave, it is limited to 225,5% of the budget base, i.e.  € 995,44

The second adoptive parent's right to leave: 100% of the salary compensation base determined according to the regulations on mandatory health insurance.

Parents, mothers and fathers may also exercise other rights such as breastfeeding breaks, leave for death of the child and suspension of employment until the child turns 3 years old.

Women, before and during pregnancy and after birth are entitled to healthcare under mandatory health insurance (see the topic Health).

Jargon busters

• Pensionable service - the period for which your employer, or you yourself as a self-employed person, has paid mandatory contributions for health and pension insurance.
• Calculation base is the base for calculating assistance, benefits and severance pay.
• Permanent residence is the place and address in Croatia at which a person has permanently settled for the purpose of exercising their rights and obligations associated with their life interests, such as family, professional, economic, social, cultural and other interests. Habitual residence is the term applying to people who are using the right of freedom of movement of workers in EU countries. It conveys permanence - you have been living in an EU country for some time and intend to stay there for the foreseeable future.
• Temporary residence is the place and address in Croatia where a person is temporarily residing, but has not permanently settled at the address. It is registered if it will last longer than 3 months.

Forms you may need to fill in

Complaint form

http://www.hzzo.hr/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/obrazac-zalba.doc?831c2f

Know your rights

You can find out about your legal rights at the links below. They are not European Commission websites and do not represent the views of the Commission:

•  Maternity and Parental Assistance Act;
• Outline of the maternity and parental assistance system;
• Family Act ;
• Mandatory Health Insurance Act.

Commission publications and websites:

• Family benefits: your rights as an EU citizen in other EU countries.

Who do I need to contact?

Croatian Health Insurance Fund
Margaretska 3
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
http://www.hzzo.hr/

Tel. +385 800 7979 (mandatory health insurance)

Tel. +385 800 7989 (supplementary health insurance)

Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy

Ulica grada Vukovara 78

HR-10000 Zagreb

https://mrosp.gov.hr/

Central State Office for Demography and Youth

Trg Nevenke Topalušić 1

HR-10000 Zagreb

Croatia

Tel. +385 1 555 7111

       +385 1 555 7013

Fax. + 385 1 555 7224

web: https://demografijaimladi.gov.hr/

e-mail: info@demografijaimladi.hr