What is HZZ (Croatian Employment Service) and how they can help you find a job or an employee
HZZ is the Croatian Employment Service, but we call it burza. HZZ is not the same as HZZO. HZZO is the Croatian Healthcare Fund. HZZ is a place to go when getting your first job, looking for a new one, applying for financial support, getting help with self-employment, or seeking qualified workers for your Croatian company.
Whether you are looking for a job in Croatia or want to employ a new employee, this guide you through all the services HZZ offers.
In this post, we cover:
- What is HZZ
- How can HZZ help you
- Foreigners registering to HZZ
- How to register for unemployment
- Work permits and labor market test
- Compensation for the unemployed
- Subsidies for Croatian businesses
The facts are these…
How can HZZ help you find a job or worker in Croatia
What is Croatian HZZ?
HZZ – Hrvatski zavod za zapošljavanje (Croatian Employment Service) is a state institution that regulates supply and demand in the Croatian labor market. We usually call it burza in short.
HZZ is an intermediary between people looking for jobs in Croatia and Croatian employers. They aim to achieve full employment in the state and exercise rights for residents during unemployment.
View HZZ’s regional services and offices here. To find your local HZZ office, find the regional office closest to your city and click on Ispostave. A list of cities and municipalities will appear with their contact information.
Email: burzarada@hzz.hr
Phone: +385 (0)1 6444 000
How can HZZ help you find a job or worker in Croatia
HZZ’s services can help Croatian and foreign citizens get jobs in Croatia. They also assist Croatian business owners in finding their desired workers.
HZZ offers:
- An online job ad repository
- Registration to the unemployment registry
- Labor market testing
- Work permits for third-country citizens
- Workshops for active job search
- Training and employment of people with disabilities
- Financial compensation for the unemployed
- Financial support for employment and self-employment
View all available HZZ’s services for employers and employees here.
HZZ’s online job ad repository allows you to view job ads for the whole country. It enables employers to publish job ads, and job seekers can easily find them. On this page, you can search the current job offers in specific industries, organized by Croatian counties.
[Read: How to find a job in Croatia, including how HZZ can help you find a job]
HZZ also has a registry of unemployed aimed at people who are actively looking for a job in Croatia. It is called evidencija nezaposlenih in Croatian. They help people listed in the registry find a job by consulting on employment, notifying them about new job opportunities, connecting them with employers, sending them to workshops, and providing in-person guidance.
Can third-country citizens register with the unemployment registry?
Third-country citizens without a Croatian work permit may sometimes register with the HZZ’s unemployment registry. This applies to the ones granted international protection, those with temporary residence based on humanitarian grounds, family reunification, or a life partnership with a Croatian citizen, as well as EU/EEA citizens or third-country nationals with permanent residence.
If you are a third-country citizen with a Croatian work permit whose employment has ended without your fault or consent, you may register with the unemployment registry to exercise the right to unemployment benefits. Your registration stops once the benefits have been used or your temporary residence expires.
View some of our residence guides:
- How Croatian diaspora and descendants can apply for temporary residence in Croatia (if you don’t have citizenship yet)
- How EU/EEA citizens can apply for permanent residency in Croatia
- How to apply for temporary residence in Croatia based on family reunification
- How to get asylum and state protection in Croatia
- How to obtain a life partnership for same-sex couples in Croatia
How to register for the HZZ’s unemployment registry
Here is a short guide to registering for the unemployment registry.
#1 Prepare your documentation
You may apply in person at the HZZ local office or by email. The documentation you must submit may vary depending on the application method.
If you apply by email, you can submit the application without your signature, but you must submit the original documentation for inspection and sign it upon HZZ’s invitation.
Applying in person
You must enclose:
- Application form – download here
- Identification document such as:
- Certificate of finished school or faculty diploma – original for inspection or certified copy if you don’t have the original
- Residence certificate if applying outside the place of residence on your ID card
- Proof of address for EU/EEA/Swiss citizens – if you don’t have a registered temporary stay, an application from the e-visitor system can be attached
- Croatian OIB – view a guide here
[Read: How to register or change your address with the Croatian police]
Applying by email
You must enclose scans or photos of:
- Application form – available here
- Identification document such as:
- Residence certificate if applying outside the place of residence on your ID card
- Proof of address for EU/EEA/Swiss citizens – if you don’t have a registered temporary stay, an application from the e-visitor system can be attached
#2 Apply for registration
If you want to apply in person, visit the HZZ office according to the place of your residence in Croatia. A complete list of local offices and their working hours are available here.
If you want to apply by email, you can find all available e-mail addresses here.
#3 Stay connected
HZZ will register you with their unemployment service right after you submit the request and inform you of your obligations. You must stay connected and regularly update them on your activities related to your job search.
Applying for a Croatian work permit and labor market test
A Croatian work permit allows third-country citizens to live and work in Croatia for a specific period, usually up to a year. Croatian companies must pass a labor market test by HZZ to get a seasonal or full work permit in most cases. HZZ checks whether any candidates in their unemployment registry meet the employer’s requirements. If they do find find qualified candidates, a company will be granted 90 days to employ a foreign worker.
Croatia lacks workers in specific industries, including tourism and catering. The state has made it easier for Croatian employers to find workers and third-county citizens to find jobs in these fields. HZZ’s labor market test is not required for occupations declared “deficient”. Companies can immediately skip this step and apply their foreign workers for work permits.
View our guides for foreign workers:
How to get HZZ’s benefit for the unemployed
If you lose your job, you can apply for HZZ’s financial benefit for the unemployed. You must submit the request within 30 days of termination of employment, sick leave, maternity, parental, adoption, or guardianship leave after termination of employment.
If you miss the deadline for justified reasons, you can submit a request within 8 days after the justification, but no later than 60 days after missing the deadline.
You cannot receive compensation if the employment has ended in the following ways:
- You left a job, unless it was due to the termination of the contract due to the employer’s behavior
- Written agreement on the termination of the employment
- By a court settlement that determined the termination of the employment
- You did not pass a probationary period, a test during the internship, or a professional exam within the prescribed period
- Regular dismissal due to your bad behavior or extraordinary dismissal due to a severe work breach obligation
- You served a prison sentence of more than three months
To apply, enclose the following:
- Application form for the unemployment register – available here
- Application form for monetary compensation – available here
- Proof of the reason for the termination of the employment relationship
- Decision to cancel the employment contract
- Notification of the expiration of the fixed-term contract
- Proof of the average gross salary earned in the three months preceding the termination of the employment relationship
- Employer’s certificate
- Payslips certified by the employer
- Proof of current account number
- Agreement on maintaining a transaction account
- Part of the statement showing the IBAN of the transaction account and information about the account owner or a bank confirmation
- If you were employed or self-employed in another EU/EEA country, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland after the last use of the monetary compensation, also enclose:
- Application form on the work abroad – available here
- U1 form issued by the foreign employment office if available
View more information on this compensation here.
View possible amounts of support and how long you may receive it here.
[Read: All types of employment contracts in Croatia]
HZZ’s employment subsidies for Croatian businesses
HZZ offers several types of incentives to businesses or young entrepreneurs. They encourage existing Croatian and foreign business owners in Croatia to employ young Croatian citizens starting their first jobs by giving them financial support.
In addition, they give self-employment incentives to unemployed Croatian citizens registered with their unemployment registry to encourage them to start their own businesses. Another HZZ subsidy is available for the expansion of existing businesses.
Learn more about HZZ’s incentives in our guide to government grants and loans for entrepreneurs in Croatia, which is available here.
View our other work posts
- All the coworking spaces in Croatia (perfect for remote workers and digital nomads)
- How Croatian working time (hours) and schedule is defined
- How to apply for a work permit in Croatia
- How to apply for the digital nomad residence permit in Croatia
- How to find a job in Croatia
- How to get a seasonal work permit in Croatia
- How to get an EU Blue Card in Croatia (EU plava karta)
- How to get residency by opening a Croatian business
- How to hire a foreign worker: Requesting a labor market test and work permit in Croatia
- How to hire or work as a freelancer in Croatia
- Types of employment contracts in Croatia
- What to do if your rights as a worker are violated by your employer
- Your rights as a worker in Croatia
Source:
HZZ – Hrvatski zavod za zapošljavanje
Please note: Information provided by Expat in Croatia is only for the purposes of guidance. It does not constitute legal or financial advice in any form. Croatian laws and bureaucratic rules often change, and each personal case is individual, so different rules may apply. For legal advice, contact us to consult with a licensed Croatian lawyer. For financial advice, contact us to consult with a licensed Croatian tax advisor or accountant.
