Sick leave by country / Croatia
Sick leave and sick pay in Croatia
Who pays when someone is ill, how much, for how long, and what the certificate rules are — in plain English, whether you run a team in Croatia or work on one.
Croatia puts the first 42 days of sick leave on the employer, at a minimum of 70% of the base calculated from average pay over the previous six months — only seven days where the worker has a recognised work-related disability. From the 43rd day the Croatian Health Insurance Fund pays, subject to a ceiling of 225.5% of the annual budget base, which is €995.45 a month in 2026. A worker who does not meet the prior-insurance condition gets 80% of the budget base, €353.15 a month.
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How it works
Article 40 of the Mandatory Health Insurance Act puts the first 42 days of temporary incapacity on the employer's own funds, cut to seven days where the worker is a person with a work-related disability. Article 54 sets the base from average salary over the six months before the incapacity, and article 55 fixes the floor at 70% of that base while article 55(3) caps the monthly amount at 225.5% of the proračunska osnovica — the budget base, €441.44 for 2026, which produces the familiar €995.45 ceiling. Collective agreements very often improve on the 70% floor, frequently to full pay, so the statutory figure is the minimum rather than the norm. The prior-insurance condition is nine months continuous, or twelve months with breaks in the last two years; without it the benefit drops to a flat 80% of the budget base, €353.15 a month.
Worth knowing: The 225.5% ceiling and the 80% floor are both expressed as percentages of the proračunska osnovica, the budget base set annually in the state budget implementation act — €441.44 for 2026. Because every benefit is pegged to it, one change to that single number moves the sick-pay ceiling, the floor and the parental-leave caps together.
If you run a team in Croatia
Budget for 42 days of sick pay per worker as a direct cost — this is one of the longest employer-liability periods in the EU and it is paid from your own funds, not reclaimed. Check your collective agreement before applying the 70% floor, since many raise it to 100%. From day 43 HZZO takes over, but the ceiling means a higher-paid employee will see a sharp drop unless you top it up voluntarily.
If you work in Croatia
Your employer pays the first 42 days at no less than 70% of your six-month average, and your collective agreement may well require more. From day 43 HZZO pays, but no more than €995.45 a month in 2026 however much you earn. If you have not been insured for nine continuous months, or twelve with breaks over two years, you get a flat €353.15 a month instead.
Sickness and annual leave
Annual leave does not run during certified temporary incapacity, and leave untaken because of sickness carries into the following year under the Labour Act's carry-over rules.
The annual leave entitlement itself is covered on our Croatia annual leave page — 20 working days minimum.
Keeping the record straight
Sick pay rules turn on dates: the day the illness started, the day the certificate was due, the day the employer's obligation ends and the benefit takes over. In Croatia those dates decide who pays and how much, and they have to be provable months later — to a payroll auditor, an insurer, or the employee. A shared spreadsheet rarely survives that; a tracker like Leavo records each absence with its dates and approvals alongside annual leave, so the record exists before anyone asks for it. We compare the options in our leave management software guide, and the policy side — carryover, payout, accrual — in our guides.
Sick leave in Croatia: common questions
Who pays the first 42 days?
The employer, from its own funds, under article 40 of the Mandatory Health Insurance Act — reduced to the first seven days where the worker is a person with a recognised work-related disability.
Is 70% the normal rate?
It is the statutory floor set by article 55, not a standard. Croatian collective agreements commonly require more, and full pay for the employer-funded period is widespread.
Why is the HZZO amount capped?
Article 55(3) limits the monthly benefit for full-time work to 225.5% of the budget base. With the 2026 base at €441.44 that works out at €995.45 a month, regardless of salary.
What happens if I fall ill during my annual leave in Croatia?
Annual leave does not run during certified temporary incapacity, and leave untaken because of sickness carries into the following year under the Labour Act's carry-over rules.
Source
Primary source: Zakon o obveznom zdravstvenom osiguranju, čl. 40, 54 i 55. Rates and caps change — often every January or April — and collective agreements frequently improve on the statutory scheme. Confirm against the current text before acting. See our methodology.