State Inspectorate: We have established 7104 violations and 10 criminal offenses

Labor inspectors for labor relations conducted 10,662 inspections of regulatory compliance in nine months, during which 7104 violations and 10 criminal offenses were identified, announced the State Inspectorate of the Republic of Croatia.

The Inspectorate states that inspectors, due to identified illegalities, took all prescribed measures and actions, submitting 3197 indictments to the competent courts, issuing 25 misdemeanor orders amounting to 148,100.00 HRK, 52 mandatory misdemeanor orders amounting to 288,930.65 HRK, and collecting 194 fines at the place of the offense amounting to 1,698,000.00 HRK.

It is also emphasized by the Inspectorate that, by applying Article 58, paragraph 3 of the State Inspectorate Act, an amount of 3,540,000.00 HRK was collected, and by applying the Foreigners Act, an additional 480,000.00 HRK was collected for the state budget. The Inspectorate states that the total measures of labor inspectors for labor relations generated 6,155,030.65 HRK in the state budget in nine months.

It adds that during the same period, misdemeanor courts, based on their indictments, rendered judgments in which employers were found guilty in 1266 completed cases, and in one case imposed a prison sentence, while 1234 monetary fines were imposed amounting to 24,912,245.01 HRK.

It also reminds that the measure of work prohibition for employers for certain violations of regulations has been applied by inspectors for years. Acting in accordance with the law, in nine months of this year, labor inspectors issued 287 oral decisions, and as the Inspectorate emphasizes, most oral decisions are for a specified period until the deficiencies in operations are rectified, with the shortest duration being 30 days. In 118 cases, an amount of 3,540,000.00 HRK was collected, and in 16 cases under the new Foreigners Act, an additional 480,000.00 HRK was collected.

When monitored employers rectified the deficiencies that were the reason for sealing (illegal employment, i.e., working without a labor contract, failure to report workers to pension and health insurance) and paid amounts of 30,000.00 HRK for each illegally employed worker, the execution of the sealing measure was avoided, states the Inspectorate, adding that they had to apply the sealing measure to 81 employers in nine months.

Let us remind you that the announcement from the State Inspectorate comes after media reports that the Government would dissolve the State Inspectorate at the beginning of next year, and about 800 inspectors would be distributed among several ministries, depending on the area they deal with.