Zagreb Restaurateurs Warn of Slow Issuance of Permits for Foreign Workers

The Association of Restaurateurs Zagreb warned on Tuesday that the system for employing workers from third countries based on quotas is not functioning quickly enough, with the issuance of permits in some cases taking up to three and a half months.

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The association states that it is a well-known fact that there is a shortage of labor in the tourism and hospitality sector in the Croatian labor market, and one of the problems, both for Zagreb restaurateurs and those from all over Croatia, is the employment of labor from third countries based on quotas issued by the Government last month, which provide 8,660 work permits for tourism and hospitality.

They note that the mentioned mechanism is predominantly aimed at countries with a significantly lower standard of living than that in Croatia, such as Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Ukraine.

“Although it seems like an ideal solution for employers who are chronically short of labor, the system in this case does not function quickly enough. Employing foreigners is simpler if you already have a worker you want to hire before the season. In that case, from the submission of documentation to the Ministry of the Interior to the issuance of the permit, at least 20 days will pass, and in some cases up to three and a half months. Of course, this time period is too long if the season has already started, and you urgently need someone to work,” the Association of Restaurateurs Zagreb stated.

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The association also cites the example of long-time restaurateur Dražan Marjan Ivančić, who submitted documentation for obtaining residence and work permits for two workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina at the beginning of February this year, and the permits were issued only in mid-May.

The president of the association, Franz Letica, warns that without an adequate number of workers, as a fundamental prerequisite for maintaining service quality, the rates of tourist growth we have seen in recent years will not be sustainable.

“Although the season is already in full swing, restaurateurs in the Zagreb area, as well as throughout the country, are struggling with absurdly long waits for permits for foreign workers. We appeal to the relevant institutions to expedite the bureaucratic process so that the quality of service remains at the level we are proud to highlight,” Letica stated.

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Although it is difficult to determine the exact number of required workers in the tourism and hospitality sector in the Zagreb area, Letica says that it is a fact that labor market fluctuation is very high.

“Today you have a worker, tomorrow that same worker has gone to work the season on the Adriatic. If we were to translate the current situation into numbers, we can roughly say that around 250 people can be employed in the city of Zagreb in jobs ranging from delivery workers to waiters to cooks,” Letica assessed for Hina.

He notes that there are certainly certain pressures regarding wage levels, and that they are in a position to dictate the price of labor.

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Currently, the average net salary for a waiter in Zagreb is five thousand kuna, for a cook ten thousand, and for a kitchen assistant 5,500 kuna.