Justice for All: HOK and the Ministry of Entrepreneurship Force Craftsmen to Work Illegally

The other day, a former colleague stopped by the editorial office and complained that in this country, the government seems to be trying to suppress entrepreneurial initiative rather than encourage it. He says he wants to open a massage business, to make everything legal, he doesn’t want to take any risks, he completed a professional masseur school at an institution recognized by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, but the state demands even more from him. The Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts, during the tenure of Minister Gordan Maras, introduced a Program for the Examination of Professional Competence for the profession of masseur. The Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts has been authorized by the state to conduct exams for potential craftsmen, which consist of a practical part, i.e., the candidate must demonstrate their massage skills before a commission, and the second part of the exam consists of verifying the knowledge necessary for independently conducting a craft. Both parts of the exam are questionable.

Masseurs Learn Business Communication

The first, practical part of the exam is conditionally questionable in the case of my former colleague because he obtained a diploma from an institution recognized by the state. It is unclear why he must also prove before the HOK commission that he has obtained the title of professional masseur, especially since the same procedure was prescribed by the same state that recognizes his diploma. Only in the case that the candidate does not have such a diploma is it logical for them to take the practical part of the exam. However, that is the smaller part of the problem. The bigger issue is the second part of the exam, which requires verification of knowledge (pay attention now) necessary for independently conducting a craft. In Maras’s program, which was taken over by Minister Martina Dalić, the craftsman masseur must take exams such as Business Management (from idea to business plan, the meaning of communication, types of communication, ethics of business communication), and this part also includes the exam on the Role of Computers in Business Operations. And what is there to say that is particularly smart, I ask the Ministry and HOK, concluding that they are just making fools out of people. It is also unclear what will particularly help the craftsman with exams in which they will babble to the commission about new trends in marketing, sales and communication methods, market strategy, knowledge of competition, market research, types of costs, product and service pricing calculations, and business indicators.

Brochure, Not an Exam

For the exam in the financial-economic field, the candidate for the craftsman masseur must know how to explain to the commission everything about the tax system, tax legislation, the concept of customs, import and export duties, customs procedures, customs supervision, payment methods, and ways to ensure collection and claims. The height of absurdity is the exam on the structure of state authority, the importance of land registries, environmental protection, what individual traders are, partnerships, and capital companies… Such examinations will teach the candidate nothing, and only the members of the commission and HOK will benefit, who will collect 1200 kuna from each candidate, and it seems that this is the only purpose of this nonsense. The Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts did not respond to the inquiry, and HOK, in its response, defends this program, although it would have been more appropriate to try to protect future members from the state’s nonsense and to create a brochure that would educate about everything required in the exams and which would be distributed for free to new craftsmen. My former colleague is pulling his hair out, he doesn’t want to learn this unnecessary nonsense and says that the state is forcing him to start massaging illegally.