Can I work for less than the minimum wage?
No. For 2026 the minimum wage is 1,050.00 euros GROSS per month for full-time work (Regulation on the minimum wage for 2026, NN 132/2025), and any agreement to work for less is null and void (čl. 3. st. 8. of the Minimum Wage Act). For part-time work the figure is scaled proportionally — half the hours means half of 1,050 euros. The myth sits in the number itself: "the minimum is 1,050 euros in hand" is not true — 1,050 euros is GROSS, and payroll calculators put the net at about 799 euros in Zagreb (roughly 800–807 euros elsewhere), depending on local tax rates; only the gross figure is official. The other trap is stale numbers: 970 euros applied in 2025 and 840 euros in 2024.
📋 The rules
- The minimum wage for 2026 is 1,050.00 euros GROSS per month for full-time work (Regulation NN 132/2025, adopted 24 October 2025, in force from 1 January 2026) — 8.25% above the 970 euros of 2025. The regulation is issued every year by 31 October and the amount may never be lower than the previous year's (čl. 5. and čl. 6. st. 2. of the Minimum Wage Act).
- The net figure is not set by law: payroll calculators turn 1,050 euros gross into roughly 799 euros net in Zagreb (about 800–807 euros in other places), because tax rates differ by municipality; the personal allowance used is 600 euros. Those numbers come from calculators, not from an official act — only the gross amount is official.
- Part-time work: the minimum wage is owed in proportion to the contracted hours (čl. 3. st. 6.); the same proportional rule applies to months worked only partly (čl. 3. st. 7.).
- Supplements for overtime and night work, Sundays, public holidays and difficult conditions are not part of the minimum wage (čl. 3. st. 4.) — an employer may not squeeze them inside the 1,050 euros; where an extended collective agreement applies, the increased pay is calculated on a base no lower than the minimum wage (čl. 3.a).
- An agreement by which a worker waives the right to the minimum wage is prohibited and null and void (čl. 3. st. 8.), and the minimum wage must be agreed, set or prescribed as a gross amount (čl. 3. st. 3.).
🔓 Exceptions
- The Act does not apply to a person who is the employer's only worker and at the same time a management board member, executive director, cooperative manager or liquidator (čl. 4. st. 2.) — a director who is their own boss may lawfully pay themselves less.
- Genuinely self-employed people (sole traders, freelancers, independent professions) are not workers in an employment relationship, so the minimum wage does not apply to their own income — it protects employees only (čl. 4. st. 1., regardless of where the employer is based).
- If an extended collective agreement for a whole sector sets a lowest wage by job complexity, that higher figure is the minimum wage for those workers (čl. 3. st. 2.) — the ministry cites construction, where the lowest agreed rate has exceeded the general figure from the Regulation.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
A legal-person employer that fails to pay the minimum wage as prescribed faces a fine of 7,960.00 to 13,270.00 euros per offence (čl. 10. st. 1. of the Minimum Wage Act), and a responsible person, natural-person employer, sole trader or self-employed person 920.00–1,320.00 euros. Second order: the waiver clause is void, so the worker can still claim the full difference retroactively, and because contributions were calculated on too small a base, the pension and sick-pay bases quietly shrink — the employer owes the contribution difference too. Supervision is by both the State Inspectorate and Porezna uprava, the tax administration (čl. 9.).
📎 Official sources
- Narodne novine (NN) · the official gazette (Regulation on the minimum wage for 2026, NN 132/2025) →
- Zakon.hr · statute register (consolidated text of the Minimum Wage Act) →
- Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy · home page (news on the 2026 minimum wage) →
❓ Frequently asked
Is 1,050 euros gross or net?
Gross. Regulation NN 132/2025 sets 1,050.00 euros gross per month for full-time work, and the net depends on your place of residence and your allowances. Payroll calculators for Zagreb give roughly 799 euros in hand.
Can my employer pay me less if I signed such a contract?
No. An agreement by which a worker waives the minimum wage is null and void under čl. 3. st. 8. of the Minimum Wage Act, so the employer still owes you the full difference together with the corresponding contributions.
What is the minimum wage for half-time work?
It is proportional to the contracted hours, so roughly half of 1,050 euros gross for half of full-time hours (čl. 3. st. 6.). The same proportional rule applies to months that were only partly worked.
Do overtime and Sunday work count towards the minimum wage?
They do not. Supplements for overtime and night work, Sundays, public holidays and difficult conditions are excluded from the minimum wage under čl. 3. st. 4., so they are paid on top of it, never inside it.
Will the minimum wage keep rising?
Under the government programme and the minister's statement of 24 October 2025, the target is at least 1,250 euros gross by 2028. The regulation for 2027 must be adopted by 31 October 2026, so that figure is still to come.
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