National Association of Caterers Becomes an Associate Member of HUP

Although there is a formal branch association for hospitality and tourism within the Croatian Employers’ Association, the Executive Board member list shows that it consists exclusively of large hotel companies. Therefore, the cooperation agreement signed on Friday between Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP) and National Association of Caterers could be beneficial for caterers who have not previously had such support from hoteliers.

The agreement was signed by the Vice President of the National Association of Caterers Zdravko Karna and the CEO of HUP Irena Weber.

According to the HUP statement, the purpose of the agreement is to strengthen the role of caterers in the economic system, and the main goals of cooperation include, among other things, initiating legislative initiatives and participating in the drafting of laws and subordinate legislation, representing common interests before public administration bodies, participating in and monitoring the adoption of regulations related to EU legislation, and initiating projects of common interest.

The catering sector has been facing many challenges in its operations for some time, such as numerous administrative procedures, a lack of workforce, excessive tax burdens, and others. Strengthening the voice of caterers contributes significantly to the dialogue between employers and legislators and the executive branch.

Catering in Croatia directly employs more than 60,000 workers, and each job in catering additionally generates three jobs in related activities, leading to a total of 180,000 workers directly dependent on the business conditions in the food and beverage preparation and serving sector. The conditions faced by this branch of the economy today almost exclusively depend on the functioning of local government units and the interest and willingness of individual local government units for constructive dialogue, as highlighted at the signing of the Agreement that made the National Association of Caterers an associate member of HUP.

– The Croatian Employers’ Association is aware of the importance of catering in the economic system and therefore wants to highlight the problems they face through its regular activities and help in resolving them. We are convinced that our cooperation will be a catalyst for many positive changes in areas of common interest such as labor tax burdens, workforce shortages, administrative and bureaucratic obstacles in business, as well as some topics closely related to catering such as the legal regulation of tips, granting permits for foreign workers, and more, said Irena Weber. Karna added that the catering sector has borne a significant burden during the crisis in recent years and that caterers will now more successfully address challenges in cooperation with HUP as a social partner.