Pay transparency rules in Croatia
No. As of 30 June 2026 Croatia has not passed a law transposing the EU Pay Transparency Directive. The government missed the 7 June 2026 EU deadline. Amendments to the Croatian Labour Act are being drafted by the Ministry of Labour and are expected to be adopted in autumn 2026. Until then there is no Croatian implementing statute, though the Directive's clearest rules can already be relied on directly by workers in some situations.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/970) is an EU law that strengthens equal pay for equal work between women and men by forcing employers to be open about pay. It gives job candidates the right to see pay levels before they are hired, bans employers from asking about salary history, lets current staff request data on average pay by gender for their role, and makes larger employers report their gender pay gap. EU member states had until 7 June 2026 to write these rules into their own national law. Croatia has not yet done this: the duties take real shape for Croatian employers only once the Croatian Labour Act is amended. Some provisions of the Directive that are clear and unconditional may still be invoked directly by workers, but the detailed national obligations, deadlines and fines are not yet set.
What changes for an employer in Croatia
Once Croatia amends its Labour Act, employers will have to be open about pay, share salary ranges with candidates, stop asking about salary history, give staff pay-comparison data on request, and (for larger employers) report their gender pay gap.
The Directive is built on equal pay for equal work or work of equal value. For an employer it means moving from pay kept private to pay that can be explained against objective, gender-neutral criteria. Practically, you will need clear job grades and pay ranges, a way to answer pay-information requests, and records that show how pay decisions are made. In Croatia these duties become enforceable national obligations only when the amended Labour Act (Zakon o radu) is in force. As of 30 June 2026 that law has not been passed; the Ministry of Labour expects adoption in autumn 2026. The smart move now is to prepare - audit pay by gender, document your pay criteria - rather than wait for the final text, because the underlying EU requirements are fixed even if Croatia's exact wording, deadlines and penalties are not yet published.
Pay transparency in job ads and the salary-history ban
The Directive requires candidates to be told the starting pay or pay range before the interview, and bans employers from asking applicants about their current or previous pay. Job criteria must be gender-neutral.
Two candidate-facing rules sit at the heart of the Directive. First, applicants must receive information on the initial pay level or pay range for the role - either in the job advertisement or before the interview - so they can negotiate from an informed position. Second, employers may not ask candidates about their pay history. The aim is to stop old, potentially unequal salaries from being carried into a new job. Croatian commentary notes these are among the clearer provisions that workers may be able to rely on from 8 June 2026 even before the national law lands, but the precise enforcement mechanism in Croatia depends on the Labour Act amendments still being drafted. Treat advertised ranges and a no-salary-history-questions hiring policy as the safe default now.
Right to pay information and gender pay-gap reporting
Workers will be able to request their individual pay and the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for workers doing the same or equivalent work. Employers with 100+ staff must report their gender pay gap, with first reports due by 7 June 2027 (250+ and 150-249) or 7 June 2031 (100-149).
Under the Directive, individual workers can ask for information on their own pay level and on the average pay levels, split by sex, for the category of workers doing the same work or work of equal value - and the employer must respond, normally within two months. On reporting: employers with 250 or more workers report annually with a first report by 7 June 2027; those with 150-249 workers report every three years, first report by 7 June 2027; those with 100-149 workers report every three years, first report by 7 June 2031. These thresholds and dates come from the Directive itself. Croatia's exact reporting rules - including which authority receives reports - will be set by the Labour Act amendments, which had not been enacted as of 30 June 2026.
Joint pay assessment and penalties
If a pay-gap report shows an unjustified gap of 5% or more in any group of workers doing equal work, the employer must run a joint pay assessment with worker representatives. Penalties must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, but Croatia's specific fines are not yet set in law.
The Directive's joint pay assessment is triggered when reporting reveals a difference in average pay of at least 5% between female and male workers in any category of workers doing the same work or work of equal value, that the employer cannot justify on objective, gender-neutral grounds and has not corrected within six months. The employer then works with employee representatives to identify and fix the cause. On penalties, the Directive requires member states to set rules that are effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and references measures such as fines and possible exclusion from public procurement; it also shifts the burden of proof onto the employer where transparency duties were not met. The concrete Croatian penalty amounts and procedures will only exist once the amended Labour Act is passed - which had not happened by 30 June 2026.
At a glance
| Pay shown in job ads | Proposed (Directive requires it; Croatian law not yet passed) |
|---|---|
| Salary-history question banned | Proposed (Directive requires it; Croatian law not yet passed) |
| Gender pay-gap reporting from | 100+ employees (per Directive; not yet in Croatian law) |
| First report due | 7 June 2027 (250+ and 150-249); 7 June 2031 (100-149) - per Directive |
| Penalties | Not yet (to be set by future Labour Act amendments) |
Key figures
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Transposition status (Croatia) | Not transposed as of 30 June 2026 (source) |
| EU transposition deadline | 7 June 2026 (missed by Croatia) (source) |
| National instrument | Amendments to the Labour Act (Zakon o radu), in drafting; expected adoption autumn 2026 (source) |
| Gender pay-gap reporting thresholds and first report | 250+ and 150-249 workers: first report by 7 June 2027; 100-149 workers: by 7 June 2031 (per Directive) (source) |
| Joint pay assessment trigger | Unjustified gender pay gap of 5% or more in any worker category (per Directive) (source) |
| Salary-history ban and pay-in-ads | Required by the Directive; not yet in Croatian law (source) |
| Penalties in Croatian law | Not yet set; to be defined by future Labour Act amendments (source) |
Frequently asked questions
Has Croatia transposed the EU Pay Transparency Directive?
No. As of 30 June 2026, Croatia has not passed a national law transposing Directive (EU) 2023/970. It missed the EU deadline of 7 June 2026. The Ministry of Labour is preparing amendments to the Labour Act, expected to be adopted in autumn 2026.
What is the deadline and when will Croatia's law take effect?
The EU-wide deadline to transpose was 7 June 2026, which Croatia did not meet. Croatian commentary and the Ministry of Labour indicate the amended Labour Act is expected to be adopted during autumn 2026. The exact entry-into-force date is not yet confirmed.
Do Croatian employers have any obligations right now?
There is no Croatian implementing statute yet, so the detailed national duties, deadlines and fines are not in force. However, Croatian legal commentary notes that some clear, unconditional Directive provisions - such as pay information in hiring and the salary-history ban - may be relied on directly by workers from 8 June 2026. Preparing now is strongly advised.
What pay-gap reporting will apply once the law is in place?
Per the Directive, employers with 250+ workers report annually (first report by 7 June 2027); 150-249 workers report every three years (first report by 7 June 2027); 100-149 workers report every three years (first report by 7 June 2031). Croatia's specific reporting process will be set by the Labour Act amendments.
How does this work when an Employer of Record is the legal employer?
Where Teamed acts as the Employer of Record, Teamed is the legal employer in Croatia and carries the statutory pay-transparency duties for the worker - advertising pay ranges, not asking salary history, answering pay-information requests, and any reporting once the Croatian law applies. Because the rules count by the legal employer's workforce, your headcount through an EOR is treated under the EOR's obligations. Teamed will apply the Croatian rules once the amended Labour Act takes effect.
Pay transparency is moving at different speeds across the EU. When Teamed is your legal employer in Croatia, these duties sit with us: compliant pay ranges, the salary-history rule, employee pay-information requests, and reporting where it applies. We track the law as it changes so your hiring stays compliant.
