European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
Act on Labor Market: Article 44, 46, 52, 53, 54, 55, 64; Act on Social Welfare: Article 21, 22, 23, 24, 25; 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 49; Decision on Calculation of the Amount of Other Rights from the Social Welfare System: Article 1; Regulation on Conditions and Manner of Unemployment Benefits Paid as a One-time Amount: Article 2-7
Redundant employees can be entitled to two types of social welfare: Unemployment benefit (UB) and Subsistence benefit (SB).
Eligibility
Unemployment benefit (UB) (novčana naknada za vrijeme nezaposlenosti) is received by unemployed people who have worked for at least 9 months during the last 24 months. The job termination should not be voluntary or caused by the employee's violations of working obligations; other conditions apply (Act on Labor Market, article 46).
Subsistence benefit (SB) (pomoć za uzdržavanje, stalna pomoć, zajamčena minimalna naknada) is a means-tested benefit intended for households whose income is below the 'means of subsistence' (Act on Social Welfare, article 26). The latter represent the amount of money necessary to satisfy the basic needs of the particular household. They are obtained as a sum of individual contributions depending on household members’ characteristics. When calculating means of subsistence, children, older people and people with disabilities are automatically counted; individuals between 18 and 65 years of age are not taken into account unless they are registered as unemployed (Act on Social Welfare, article 29)
Benefit amounts
UB - The benefit is proportional to the average income earned in the three-month period prior to unemployment. According to article 52 of the Act on Labour Market, the benefit is equal to 60% of the average income during the first 90 days, it falls to 30% for the rest of the period. Article 53 of the Act on Labour Market stipulates that the maximum amount of UB may not be higher than 70% of the average income for the first 90 days and may not be higher than 50% for the remaining time paid in legal entities of the Republic of Croatia according to the latest officially released statistics. Article 53 of the Act on Labour Market defines that the lowest amount of UB may not be lower than 50% of the minimum wage deducted for mandatory social contributions, unless the amount of UB is determined by the percentage of time spent at work.
SB - a means-tested benefit intended for households whose income is below the 'means of subsistence'. The amount of the benefit depends on the number of members in the family (Act on Social Welfare, article 30).
Duration
UB - The duration of benefit increases with the insurance record: from a minimum of 90 days for fewer than 2 years of employment to 450 days for people who have spent more than 25 years of employment (Act on Labour Market, article 54). For those having worked for more than 32 years and who will satisfy the statutory age condition for retirement in fewer than five years, the duration of benefit is unlimited. At her request, an unemployed person entitled to UB may receive the benefit as lump-sum for the purpose of self-employment (Act on Labour Market, article 55).
Access to paid training (Act on Labour Market, article 64)
Allowance and refund of expenses in the training of unemployed (novčana pomoć i naknada troškova tijekom obrazovanja) is received by unemployed people who are involved in education programmes organised by the public employment service. The benefit includes a cash allowance, which is equal to 50% of net minimum wage in the current year deducted for mandatory social contributions, augmented by compensations for transportation, food and other expenses.
For people who were uninterruptedly unemployed for more than 12 months, the duration of UB was extended by 30 to 120 days. This measure was called the 'extended unemployment benefit' (produžena novčana naknada) and was abolished in January 2014. In September 2022, out of the total number of registered unemployed, 22,817 persons (or 21.6 per cent) claimed the unemployment benefit. If compared to the previous year, the number of unemployment benefit recipients decreased by 2,516 persons or 9.9 per cent.
Eurofound (2017), Croatia: Redundant employees entitlement to public support, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/redundant-employees-entitlement-to-public-support/croatia
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