🩺 Can I be dismissed while I am on sick leave?

With conditions

Quick answer

Yes — ordinary sick leave does not prevent dismissal, though the employer still needs a legally permitted reason. An absolute ban exists only during treatment or recovery from a work injury or occupational disease (čl. 38. of the Labour Act, ZOR). Your real protection lies elsewhere: the notice period does not start running while you are unfit for work (čl. 121. st. 2.), and sick leave suspends a period already running (st. 5.) — for at most 6 months from the day the period started (st. 8.). The myth "on sick leave I am untouchable" was never true: Croatian law protects only incapacity from a work injury or occupational disease.

📋 The rules

Sick leave in itself is no shield: during ordinary sick leave the employer may serve notice, but only for a legally justified reason (business, personal or fault-based) — sick leave neither prevents dismissal nor is a valid reason for it.
The absolute ban: a worker who has suffered a work injury or contracted an occupational disease may not be dismissed during treatment or recovery for as long as that incapacity lasts (čl. 38. ZOR); the injury or illness may also not harm their promotion or other rights (čl. 39.).
The notice period: if you are on sick leave when notice is served, the period starts only once the incapacity ends (čl. 121. st. 2.); sick leave interrupts a period already running (st. 5.), unless notice was served before the sick leave and the worker was released from the duty to work (st. 6.). The hard cap: employment ends no later than 6 months from the day the notice period started (st. 8.).
Pay compensation: the first 42 days of sick leave are paid by the employer out of its own funds, at least 70% of the base (the average of the last 6 months' pay); collective agreements often set more (e.g. 85% in the state and public services). From day 43 the burden shifts to HZZO (the health insurance fund): 70% of the base, with a cap of 995.45 euros a month since 1 August 2025 and a floor of 353.15 euros for full-time work (NN 105/2025).
Sick leave for a work injury or occupational disease is paid at 100% of the base from day one and with no upper cap; the 100% rate (subject to the 995.45 euro cap) also applies to, for example, pregnancy complications and care for a sick child up to age 7 (the age limit was raised from 3 to 7 on 1 August 2025).

🔓 Exceptions

Work injury and occupational disease: dismissal is banned for the whole of treatment and recovery (čl. 38.) — with such incapacity the notice period does not run either (čl. 121. st. 3. t. 3.).
Extraordinary dismissal remains possible during any sick leave for a particularly serious breach of employment obligations — the classic example is abuse of sick leave (working for someone else, or acting against the doctor's instructions).
Terminations by lapse of time are untouched: a fixed-term contract expires on its date even in the middle of sick leave, and in liquidation or the simplified winding-up of a company the notice periods run normally (čl. 121. st. 4.).

⚠️ Penalties & fines

Dismissing a worker on sick leave due to a work injury or occupational disease is among the employer's most serious offences (čl. 229. ZOR): the fine for a legal person is 8,090.00–13,270.00 euros, and for the responsible person 920.00–1,320.00 euros. Such a dismissal is also unlawful in civil terms, so the employer risks a court order to reinstate the worker together with back pay and contributions. For the worker the second-order consequence is quieter: notice served during sick leave moves the date employment ends, which shifts when severance, unemployment benefit and health cover begin — and from day 43 your income drops to the HZZO cap of 995.45 euros, whatever your salary is.

📎 Official sources

Last verified: 2026-07-12

❓ Frequently asked

Can my employer dismiss me while I am on sick leave?

On ordinary sick leave it can, provided it has a legally justified reason — sick leave is not protection against dismissal. The ban applies only to incapacity caused by a work injury or an occupational disease (čl. 38. ZOR).

Does the notice period run while I am on sick leave?

It does not: if you are on sick leave when you receive notice, the period starts only once the incapacity ends, and sick leave suspends a period already running. Employment still ends no later than 6 months after the notice period began.

Are those six months counted from the day notice was served?

No. Čl. 121. st. 8. ZOR counts six months from the day the notice period started running, not from the day the decision was handed over. Older commentaries that mention service of notice are out of date.

How much is sick pay paid by HZZO?

Seventy per cent of the base, with a maximum of 995.45 euros a month since 1 August 2025 and a minimum of 353.15 euros. Before that change the cap was 565.04 euros, which is why older texts still quote that figure.

Does the employer pay 42 days of every period of sick leave?

The first 42 days are borne by the employer, at no less than 70% of the base. The claim that those 42 days are added up cumulatively across a calendar year appears only on blogs and is not confirmed by any official source.

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