ZAGREB, February 7, 2020 – The government on Thursday sent to the parliament a bill on foreigners with new regulations on their employment in Croatia, and the government will no longer have the duty to set quotas for the employment of foreign nationals.
Under the bill, employers shall contact the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) when planning to recruit new workers, and the HZZ will provide them with its opinion after testing the labour market.
If it is established that there are no jobless people registered with the HZZ with the qualifications specified in the request submitted by the employer, the HZZ will give a green light for hiring foreigners. After that, the employer concerned can submit a request to the relevant police stations to issue permits for the employment and stay of foreigners, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said at the government’s session.
Under the bill, the issuance of a permit can take 45 days at the most, and in the case of professions and occupations in high demand the procedure should not take more than 15 days, while requests for seasonal employment should be granted in 10 days’ time.
The HZZ is also supposed to define the cases that do not require testing the labour market before recruitment.
The new legislation will also introduce the institute of long-term residents who are non-EU citizens.
Also, rules for the temporary or long-term stay of foreign nationals of the Croat ethnic background will be relaxed.
More employment news can be found in the Business section.
