Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121) - Croatia (Ratification: 1991)

Article 14(3)–(5) of the Convention. Permanent partial incapacity. In response to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government reiterates that the minimum degree of incapacity for the purpose of exercising the rights arising from pension insurance stands at 51 per cent. The legislation on pension insurance does not establish lump sum payments. However, in case of physical damages following an employment injury and accounting for at least 30 per cent of the employment injury consequences, the victim receives a lifelong supplementary allowance, the amount of which depends on the degree of physical damage and represents a percentage of a base amount established by law (from 140 Croatian kuna (HRK) to HRK468 in 2012).

The Committee observes that, in the current situation, a worker who lost between 30 and 50 per cent of his or her working capacity due to an employment injury would, in accordance with section 56 and following the Act on Pension Insurance, only be entitled to receive the above supplementary allowance for physical damages. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide additional explanations concerning the practical implementation of this provision in case of employment injury. It recalls in this respect that the Convention requires periodical payments to be made in case of partial invalidity, defined as a substantial partial loss (usually above 25 per cent) of earning capacity or corresponding loss of faculty, to represent a suitable proportion of the permanent total disability pension. The Committee therefore once again asks the Government to compare the amounts of cash benefits paid to the standard beneficiary with total incapacity to the amounts of all cash benefits received for occupational incapacity of more than 30 per cent, 50 per cent and 70 per cent.

In addition, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the provisions of national legislation guaranteeing that persons who come to lose part of their earning capacity or faculty which is not considered substantial but is in excess of a prescribed degree following an employment injury are allocated a periodical payment or a lump sum.

Article 16. Benefit for the constant help of another person. The Committee again asks the Government to supply details regarding the types of services and cash benefits that may be provided to persons with disabilities who need the constant help of another person through the social welfare system.