As a father, can I take paid leave after my child is born — and can my employer refuse it?
Yes — every employed or self-employed father has 20 working days of paternity leave, and the employer may not refuse it. For twins or multiple births it is 30 working days. It must be taken between the birth and the child's 6-month birthday, and it is paid at 100 % of the salary base with no upper cap at all, directly by the health fund HZZO — the employer pays not a single euro of it. Three beliefs collapse at once: the employer does not approve the leave (he only receives 15 days' written notice), it does not eat your annual leave, and it does not shorten parental leave. Refuse it, and the employer faces a fine of EUR 1,320–6,630.
📋 The rules
- Duration and window (Maternity and Parental Benefits Act, Art. 16, NN 152/22 as amended by NN 34/25): 20 working days continuously for one child, 30 working days for twins, triplets and multiple simultaneous births, usable from the day of birth until the child turns 6 months. The right is non-transferable (para. 4) and independent of whether the mother is employed (para. 3).
- The pay: 100 % of the salary base determined under health-insurance rules, with no ceiling, from day one, paid directly by HZZO out of the state budget — the employer bears no wage cost.
- Procedure: the father only notifies the employer in writing at least 15 days before the intended start and files his claim with HZZO. The law knows no employer consent: denying or postponing the leave is a misdemeanour under Art. 71 carrying a fine of EUR 1,320.00–6,630.00.
- Paternity leave is separate from and additional to parental leave: parental leave for a first or second child totals 8 months when shared (4+4; 6 months if only one parent uses it; 30 months for twins or a third child onward), with 2 months per parent non-transferable (Art. 18). Annual leave is untouched.
- The parental-leave benefit cap (which matters if the father continues on parental leave): since 1 March 2025 (NN 34/25) the cap for the 6/8-month parental leave rose from 225.5 % to 680 % of the budget base — from roughly EUR 995 to EUR 3,001.79 net per month — with the floor raised to 159 % of the base.
🔓 Exceptions
- A hard deadline: unused paternity leave lapses irretrievably when the child turns 6 months — there is no carry-over and no payment in lieu.
- No parallel use: the father may not take paternity leave at the same time as another right of his own under the same Act (Art. 16(2)) — while he is on parental leave, for example. He must take them one after the other.
- Stillbirth or death of the child (NN 34/25, Art. 5): the father keeps and continues the right within the same 6-month window, counted from the day after the stillbirth or the child's death.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
For the employer: a misdemeanour fine of EUR 1,320–6,630 (Art. 71) for preventing the use of paternity, maternity or parental leave, plus exposure to discrimination claims under labour law. For the father the "penalty" is not money but forfeiture: miss the 6-month window, or fail to give proper 15 days' notice, and a fully state-funded, uncapped 100 % benefit simply evaporates. That is dearer than it sounds, because the parental leave that follows is capped — at EUR 3,001.79 net a month.
📎 Official sources
- narodne-novine.nn.hr · front page of the official gazette — the 2025 amendment (NN 34/2025) is published here →
- hzzo.hr · front page of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund — paternity leave and the benefit →
- zakon.hr · front page of the statute register — look up the Maternity and Parental Benefits Act →
❓ Frequently asked
How many days of paternity leave do I get in 2026?
Twenty working days for one child and thirty for twins or a multiple birth, usable until the child turns six months. Pages still quoting 10 and 15 days describe the rule that applied only until 28 February 2025.
Can my employer refuse my paternity leave?
He cannot — the law knows no employer consent, only your written notice given at least 15 days before you start. Denying or postponing the leave is a misdemeanour carrying a fine of EUR 1,320 to 6,630.
Does paternity leave eat into annual leave or parental leave?
It eats into neither: it is a separate right, additional to the eight months of parental leave, and annual leave stays untouched. The only limit is that you cannot take it at the same time as another right of your own under the same Act.
How much is the benefit and who pays it?
It is 100 % of the salary base with no upper cap, paid by HZZO from the state budget from the very first day. The employer carries no wage cost at all, so he has no economic reason to make the leave difficult.
What happens if I miss the six-month window?
Unused paternity leave lapses for good — there is no carry-over to a later period and no payment in lieu. That is why the notice to the employer and the claim to HZZO should be prepared as soon as the child is born.
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