New Foreigners Act Threatens the Season: Entrepreneurs Outraged

The new Foreigners Act, which came into effect just one month before the start of the tourist season, has raised significant concerns among small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. Many of them warn of serious problems that could arise from the stringent conditions for employing foreign workers, which threaten to severely jeopardize the pre-season and, consequently, the main tourist season.

The new law introduces a series of restrictive conditions for employing foreign workers, but many entrepreneurs believe that the timing for its provisions is completely inappropriate, and the criteria unrealistic for the actual business circumstances in seasonal activities.

New Rules

According to the new rules, an employer wishing to hire a foreign national must meet several conditions, including a minimum turnover of 10,000 euros per month for legal entities, or 15,000 euros for craftsmen over the last six months. Additionally, the employer must have at least one employee on a permanent contract who has been employed for at least one year.

Entrepreneurs have expressed particular concern over the fact that the law does not provide for the possibility of appealing decisions, leaving everything to administrative disputes. This is an overly expensive and slow process for many micro and small entrepreneurs, especially considering the dynamics of the tourist season that requires quick and flexible solutions.

The Problem of Seasonality

The problem is most pronounced among seasonal entrepreneurs, such as owners of pastry shops, laundries, cleaning services, apartments, restaurants, and construction trades. Due to the seasonality of their business, they find it difficult or nearly impossible to meet the turnover condition expected during the winter months.

– How can one expect someone in Primošten or Njivice to have a turnover of 10,000 euros per month during winter? – entrepreneurs ask. Instead of providing support to these segments of the economy, they are faced with additional burdens that do not take into account the specifics of seasonal business.

Similarly, the provision regarding the employment of employees on a permanent basis, who must have been employed for at least one year, has also proven problematic. Entrepreneurs emphasize that such a condition is extremely unreliable as it entirely depends on the will of the worker, and the employer has no influence over it.

– A worker can resign at any moment. How can the law require an employer to guarantee something over which they have no influence? – warn the craftsmen.

In practice, negative opinions are already arriving from the Croatian Employment Service, particularly in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. Entrepreneurs fear that if the law is not urgently amended, they will be forced to start the season with workers outside the legal framework, as they simply have no other options.

In an appeal directed to the relevant institutions, it is emphasized that no one denies the need for regulation of the labor market and the status of foreigners, but that the timing for such changes – in the midst of intense preparations for the season – could not be worse.

Ministry of Tourism Responds: The Law Aims for a Higher Quality Framework for the Stay and Work of Foreigners

In response to all these concerns, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports stated that the new Foreigners Act is aimed at defining a higher quality legal framework in the area of residence and work of foreigners in Croatia. They emphasize that the law has been harmonized with social partners and that its successful implementation requires close cooperation among a large number of relevant administrative bodies and sectors.

– All the mentioned issues are being considered within the Working Group for Monitoring the Implementation of the Law, and tourism is considered a priority topic due to the upcoming main tourist season when the need for labor from third countries is the highest – states the Ministry of Tourism’s response.

They also note that they will continue to monitor the challenges in implementing the Law and take measures that will enable the most successful implementation, in cooperation with other sectors.