March 03, 2024
I. INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS
The new Civil Service and Public Service Salaries Act, which entered into force on January 1, 2024, lays the foundations for the wage system including principles, evaluation and evaluation of work, as well as the salary structure itself. This law defines in detail the criteria and mechanisms for determining the salaries of employees in the state and public service in Croatia. The introductory provisions clarify the subject matter of the Act, the method of application, the basic concepts and gender neutrality of expressions, establishing a legal framework for fair and transparent wage management.
II. PRINCIPLES OF THE PAY SYSTEM
The three key principles of the pay system include pay equality, transparency and the prohibition of discrimination, ensuring fair and equal treatment of all servants and employees.
Servants and employees are paid equal pay for equal work or work of equal value. Women and men who perform equal work or work of equal value in the civil service and public services are entitled to equal pay.
Data on the elements for calculating salaries for posts in the civil service are published on the website of the state administration body responsible for civil service relations. Data on the elements for calculating salaries for jobs in public services are published on the website
the state administration body responsible for work.
III. JOB VALUATION
Job evaluation is carried out through standard benchmarks that include competencies, job complexity, responsibility, collaboration, communication and management. This ensures that wages are established on the basis of objective criteria.
Positions in the civil service and public services are valued using standard criteria for the evaluation and classification of jobs. The standard benchmarks for the evaluation and classification of jobs are:
– competences as a level of formal education, work experience and passed exams,
– complexity and diversity of jobs and independence in work,
– responsibility for life, health and safety, and the impact on decision-making,
– cooperation with other persons and communication with clients,
– the level of management and complexity of the area managed,
– special working conditions (danger to life and health and adverse working conditions).
The method of application of standard criteria in the procedure of evaluation and classification of jobs in state bodies and public services is determined by a decree of the Government of the Republic of Croatia.
IV. ASSESSMENT OF WORK EFFICIENCY
The effectiveness of the work is evaluated annually, and the results of the evaluation can affect promotions and financial bonuses. The bill sets rating guidelines, awards for excellence and consequences for unsatisfactory results.
The decision on the assessment of the effectiveness of the work of servants and employees is made by the head of the state body or the head of the public service or the person authorized by them. The leader is evaluated by the head of the body that appointed him to office.
A civil servant and employee who has been assessed as “not satisfied” shall cease his civil service in accordance with the regulations on civil servants.
A civil servant and employee in the public service who has been assessed as “not satisfied” shall be terminated by regular dismissal in accordance with the general labour regulation.
The procedure, criteria and method of assessing the effectiveness of work is prescribed by the Government of the Republic of Croatia by a special decree. The proposal for that regulation shall be submitted for opinion to representative trade unions.
For individual public services, special regulations are adopted in order to establish specific criteria for assessing the effectiveness of work, just as a special rulebook is adopted to assess the effectiveness of the work of police officers. These regulations are also submitted for opinion to representative trade unions.
V. SALARY AND SALARY SUPPLEMENTS
The salary consists of basic salary and allowances, which may include allowances for seniority, efficiency, extraordinary working conditions and special working conditions. Methods of calculation and payment of salary are also explained in detail.
The basic salary is the salary that an employee earns for performing the duties of the position to which he is assigned or for which he has concluded an employment contract for regular full-time work for a period of one month. The basic salary is the product of the coefficient for calculating the salary of the position to which the employee is assigned or for which he has concluded an employment contract and the base for calculating salary. If the officer and the employee work part-time, he is entitled to pay in proportion to the working hours on which he is employed.
The basis for calculating salary is determined by a collective agreement. If the collective agreement does not contract the amount of the base until the adoption of the state budget of the Republic of Croatia for the next year, it will be determined by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, in which case the base may not be lower than the last contracted base.
The coefficients for calculating the salaries of jobs in the civil service and public services are determined on the basis of the conducted evaluation of jobs by applying standard criteria for the evaluation and classification of jobs prescribed by this Act.
The coefficient for calculating the salary of the workplace is determined within the range of coefficients of the pay grade in which the position is classified.
Job titles, conditions for scheduling, classification of posts and the corresponding pay grade and coefficients for salary calculation are determined by the Government of the Republic of Croatia by special regulations, separately for civil services and public services. It is necessary to consult representative trade unions on the adoption of the regulation.
The price of an hour of work is calculated by dividing the basic salary of the clerk and the employee plus the seniority allowance with the monthly fund of hours.
Supplements to the basic salary are:
1. allowance for work experience
2. Supplement for work efficiency
3. supplement for completion of studies at postgraduate level
4. supplement for police vocation
5. allowance for work in extraordinary working circumstances
6. supplements for special forms of work organization.
The salary supplement for the efficiency of work shall be paid to the officer and the employee on the basis of assessments of his or her work efficiency. The amount of the salary supplement is determined by the total number of points achieved on the basis of work efficiency ratings.
VI. PAY SCALE AND PAY GRADES
The pay scale consists of 16 pay grades.
The coefficients for the calculation of salary in the pay scale are determined in the range from 1.00 to 8.00.
The ranges of coefficients in pay grades within the single pay scale for state bodies and public services are determined by a Government decree on the proposal of the state administration body responsible for civil service relations.
The positions of officers and employees shall be classified into pay grades on the basis of job evaluation using standard criteria for evaluation and classification.
Positions in public services are classified into pay grades by a special decree adopted by the Government of the Republic of Croatia.
VII. WAGE PROMOTION BASED ON WORK PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
The clerk and employee are promoted in salary by acquiring the right to a salary supplement for the efficiency of work. The employee and the employee are entitled to a salary supplement when he achieves the required number of points on the basis of work efficiency assessments.
During the service or employment, the employee retains the number of points achieved on the basis of the assessment of the efficiency of work, regardless of the change of position and the change of the state body or public service in which he is employed.
During one calendar year, a maximum of 5% of the total number of employed civil servants and employees of a government body or public service may receive an “excellent” rating. During one calendar year, a maximum of 15% of the total number of civil servants and employees of a government body or public service may receive a “particularly successful” assessment.
VIII. REWARDING OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES FOR ACHIEVED WORK RESULTS
The officer and the employee may be entitled to a one-time cash reward for work results (bonus) achieved during one calendar year. The right to a cash prize is exercised by an employee who has achieved exceptional results during the calendar year.
The criteria for awarding monetary rewards are determined by the rulebook of the head of the state body at the level of division of organizational classification in the state budget for servants and employees of state bodies or public services from its division.
The cash prize may not exceed the non-taxable amount of the cash prize for work results according to tax regulations. Funds for the payment of the award are provided in the state budget, on a special item in the financial plan of the budget beneficiary.
The funds for the payment of cash prizes may amount to a maximum of 0,2 % of the total expenditure for salaries for the regular work of servants and employees in the previous year within all sources of financing of a particular state body or public service. The list of awarded servants and employees shall be publicly published on the website of the state body or public service, in accordance with the regulation on confidentiality of information.
IX. MONITORING AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE PAY SYSTEM IN THE CIVIL SERVICE AND PUBLIC SERVICES
The Council for monitoring and improving the wage system was established, which plays a role in the continuous improvement and adjustment of the wage system.
X. LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPERVISION
Guidelines have been set for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the law, including competencies and procedures to address possible irregularities. Supervision of law enforcement in state bodies is carried out by the state administration body responsible for civil service relations. Supervision of law enforcement in public services is carried out by the state administration body responsible for a particular public service.
XI. TRANSLATION OF JOBS
The Decree of the Government of the Republic of Croatia stipulates the translation of previous job titles in the civil service into new job titles in such a way that, in addition to the job titles established by the previous regulations, new job titles with the corresponding salary grade and the coefficient for calculating wages are listed.
In the period from the date of entry into force of the regulation of the Government of the Republic of Croatia until the schedule of civil servants and employees in accordance with the rulebook on internal order of the state body, the provisions of the aforementioned regulation on the translation of previous job titles into new job titles of civil servants and employees will be applied.
With the entry into force of the regulation of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, it will be considered that the former job titles in the regulations on internal order have been changed to new job titles in accordance with the translation established by the aforementioned regulation.
Within 30 days of the entry into force of the regulation, the state body will notify the officials and employees in writing about the translation of the former job title to which they are assigned and the new coefficient for calculating salaries.
A civil servant and employee who considers that the translation of the job title and the new coefficient for calculating salary has been incorrectly established has the right to request correction within three days from the date of receipt of the notification. If the head of the state body determines that the request is well founded, he will notify the official and employees in writing about the acceptance of his request, and if he finds that the application is not founded, he is obliged to issue a decision establishing the new name of the workplace and the coefficient for calculating salary in the administrative procedure.
In public services, with the entry into force of the regulations of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, it will be considered that the former job titles in the general act establishing the systematization of jobs in the public service have been changed into new job titles in accordance with the translation established in that regulation.
The head of the public service is obliged to offer an amendment to the employment contract within 15 days from the date of entry into force of the Regulation of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. The provisions of the general labour regulation shall apply accordingly to the offer to amend the employment contract to existing servants and employees in public services.
An official and employee in the public service who considers that he has been wrongly established to translate the job title and the new coefficient for calculating salary has the right to request correction. If the head of the public service determines that the request is well founded, he will notify the official and employee in writing of the acceptance of his application, and if he finds that the application is not founded, he is obliged to make a decision on the rejection of the application, and the clerk and employee may seek the protection of the violated right before the competent court in accordance with the general labor regulation.
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