Employing Ukrainians under temporary protection in Croatia in 2026

A person holding temporary protection from Ukraine works in Croatia without a residence and work permit, on the strength of the temporary protection card for foreign nationals, under the Act on International and Temporary Protection. The Croatian Government has extended that status to 4 March 2027. The employer skips the Ministry of the Interior procedure but still registers the worker for pension and health insurance.

What the status means for an employer

Temporary protection was activated by a Council of the European Union decision under Directive 2001/55/EC and carried into Croatian law by the Act on International and Temporary Protection. One difference matters to an employer: the right to work arrives with the status itself rather than through a separate administrative case. There is no labour market test at the Croatian Employment Service, no permit application at the police administration, and no wait for a decision.

The Croatian Government portal hrvatskazaukrajinu.gov.hr lists the status as carrying the right to work, health care, accommodation and schooling for children. The proof of the right to work is the temporary protection card. The card carries a validity date, and that date, not the term written into the employment contract, is the boundary of lawful employment.

The check before signing takes three steps. Inspect the card and file a copy in the personnel record. Read the validity date and compare it against the current extension deadline. Confirm the person holds an OIB, the Croatian personal identification number, because the insurance registration will not clear without one. Temporary protection holders receive an OIB when the status is granted, yet individual files still stall at exactly this point.

Extension deadlines in 2026 and 2027

Temporary protection previously ran to 4 March 2026 under the Council of the EU decision taken on the basis of Directive 2001/55/EC. The Ministry of the Interior announced in 2026 that the Croatian Government had extended the status to 4 March 2027. Endorsement of the extension on the temporary protection card starts on 26 February 2026 and is done at the police administration or station covering the holder's registered place of residence.

The endorsement is free of charge and the holder attends in person. An employer cannot file it on the worker's behalf, but can plan the absence and remind the worker of the date. By comparison, the ordinary residence and work permit carries an administrative fee of 74.32 euro for issuing the permit under the Ministry of the Interior price list, with the biometric card billed separately, as covered in the guide to permit renewal deadlines and fees.

If the status ends one day while the worker stays in the same job, the move runs through the ordinary permit procedure, which takes weeks. Plan it in advance rather than in the week of expiry.

The duties that do not change

Skipping the permit does not shorten the rest of the file. Before the first working day the employer registers the worker for pension insurance with the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute and for health insurance with the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, exactly as for a domestic worker. The forms and deadlines are set out in the guide to pension and health insurance registration.

The employment contract is concluded in Croatian, on the same pay and the same conditions that apply to a domestic worker in the same post. Equal treatment is a legal duty rather than a recommendation, and the labour inspectorate looks first at the gap between the contract and the payroll record. Residence registration and any change of address follow the general rules for foreign nationals, described in the guide to address registration deadlines.

Keep in the personnel file a copy of the card showing the validity date, the endorsement of the extension once it is done, the employment contract, and proof of both insurance registrations. That is the file an inspector asks for, and the file that protects the employer if the status changed while the employment continued.

Temporary protection removes the permit procedure, but it is tied to a date. The 4 March 2027 deadline belongs in the HR calendar alongside ordinary permit expiry dates, because any further extension rests with the Council of the EU and the Croatian Government rather than with the employer. Where workforce planning runs past that date, prepare an alternative legal basis early. Our service scope for employers is set out on the employers page.