In the year 2022, the Croatian Employment Service will continue to pay grants to employers who reduce their working hours due to business difficulties. During this year, employers will be able to reduce working hours to a maximum of 50%, which means that the amount of support per employee will be reduced from a maximum of HRK 4,000.00 to HRK 2,000.00.
In the measure Support for job preservation – reduction of working hours, the target group are employers who perform economic activity, while non-profit organizations that are not in the corporate income tax system cannot use the measure.
The grant is granted for the temporary introduction of full-time employees for a period shorter than the monthly fund of hours, up to a maximum of 50% of working hours according to the working time calendar. As for the annual level of employees and/or employers, in the measure of reduced working hours, on average it cannot be more than 50% of the annual fund of working hours.
Employers can apply for the measure in the current month for the following month. Those interested can find the Application Form with the corresponding tables on the Croatian Employment Service measures website in the section Documentation for submitting applications. All employers who apply for the support are obliged to submit a Statement on the accuracy of the data and the reason for using the support. The request can be submitted through the web application only.
The basic criterion for applying for this support is the expected decline in the total monthly fund of working hours of all employees employed by the employer full-time by at least 10% in the month for which support is requested.
If the work process is defined by business units, the decline in the total monthly fund of working hours in a particular business unit can be recognized. However, in that case, the measure can be used only for employees who perform activities in the specified business unit. The minimum drop per business unit must be a minimum of 20%. The decline in the total monthly fund of working hours must be associated with certain temporary disturbances in the production and business process. Employers can prove this by a drop in income, i.e., receipts for each month for which support is requested, by at least 20% compared to the same month in the year 2019.
In addition to the decline in income or receipts, the employer is obliged to prove one of the following in comparable periods:
- temporary inability to contract new jobs;
- impossibility of new orders of raw materials, tools, and machines necessary for work;
- drop in orders by terminating or amending the contract with the customer(s), a written statement from customers on the drop in orders for the month for which support is requested;
- drop in orders by terminating or amending the contract with the customer(s), a written statement from customers on the drop in orders for the month for which support is requested;
- temporary inability to deliver finished products or contracted and paid raw materials, intermediate goods, machinery, tools.
Thus, an entrepreneur can prove a drop in income or receipts by submitting VAT forms to the Tax Administration. Then, based on the submitted VAT forms (at the request of the Bureau), the Tax Administration submits data on the actual percentage of decline in revenues/receipts for a certain period. Other reasons can be proven by the entrepreneur through reasoned credible documentation that he submits to the Croatian Employment Service every month for which he seeks support.
If the employer operates for less than a year, it is necessary to prove a decrease in income or receipts by at least 20% in the month for which he seeks support compared to the month preceding the month of application based on the submission of the VAT form for the month for which he seeks support Tax Administration.
