World Bank2013-03-252013-03-252011-07https://hdl.handle.net/10986/12902In response to prolonged recession, in April 2010 the Croatian Government adopted an Economic Recovery Program to safeguard macroeconomic stability and support faster recovery of the private sector. A central element of the program is revision of labor regulations to create a more dynamic labor market by ensuring labor force flexibility and job security. The goal is to increase the labor force participation rate and ensure that it has the skills and competencies required by the evolving and dynamic private sector. The Croatian Ministries of Finance and labor asked the World Bank for support in design of possible labor legislation reform. The objective of this note is to benchmark Croatia's legislation and help identify legal constraints on achieving a more dynamic and flexible labor market. Changes to employment protection legislation (EPL) can be politically difficult. They therefore need to be preceded by a public information campaign explaining their rationale and by dialogue with social partners. The central message to be conveyed to the public is that relaxing the most rigid provisions of the labor law will eventually lead to better employment prospects, shorter spells of unemployment, less informality, and higher productivity and ultimately incomes. This involves moving from protecting jobs to protecting workers an idea known as flexicurity.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACTIVE LABORACTIVE LABOR MARKETACTIVE LABOR MARKET POLICIESAGGREGATE EMPLOYMENTAGGREGATE UNEMPLOYMENTANNUAL LEAVEAVERAGE WAGEBARGAINING POWERBUSINESS CYCLECOLLECTIVE AGREEMENTCOLLECTIVE AGREEMENTSCOLLECTIVE BARGAININGCOLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTSCOLLECTIVE DISMISSALCOLLECTIVE DISMISSALSCOMPENSATION PACKAGECOMPETITIVENESSCONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENTCONTINGENT WORKERSDISADVANTAGED GROUPSDISADVANTAGED WORKERDISADVANTAGED WORKERSDISCUSSIONSDISMISSALDISMISSED WORKERDISMISSED WORKERSECONOMIC CONDITIONSECONOMIC EFFECTSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC RECOVERYECONOMIC THEORYEFFICIENCY WAGESEMERGING MARKETEMPLOYEEEMPLOYERSEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT CONTRACTSEMPLOYMENT DYNAMICSEMPLOYMENT GROWTHEMPLOYMENT LEVELEMPLOYMENT OFFICESEMPLOYMENT OUTCOMESEMPLOYMENT OUTLOOKEMPLOYMENT PROSPECTSEMPLOYMENT PROTECTION LEGISLATIONEMPLOYMENT RATEEMPLOYMENT RATESEMPLOYMENT STABILITYFEMALE EMPLOYMENTFIRINGFIRING COSTSFIRM ENTRYFIRM LEVELHIRINGINDEXATIONINDUSTRIAL RELATIONSINEXPERIENCED WORKERSINFLATIONINFLEXIBLE LABORINFORMAL EMPLOYMENTINFORMAL SECTORINNOVATIONJOB CREATIONJOB DESTRUCTIONJOB LOSSESJOB OPENINGSJOB SEARCHJOB SECURITYJOB SEEKERSJOBSLABOR COSTSLABOR DEMANDLABOR ECONOMICSLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR LAWLABOR LAWSLABOR LEGISLATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET FLEXIBILITYLABOR MARKET INDICATORSLABOR MARKET INSTITUTIONSLABOR MARKET OUTCOMESLABOR MARKET PERFORMANCELABOR MARKET POLICIESLABOR MARKET REFORMSLABOR MARKET REGULATIONSLABOR MARKET RIGIDITIESLABOR MARKET RIGIDITYLABOR MARKET SEGMENTATIONLABOR MARKET SITUATIONLABOR MARKETSLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTHLABOR REGULATIONSLABOR RELATIONSLABOR RESOURCESLABOURLABOUR MARKETLABOUR MARKET OUTCOMESLABOUR MARKET POLICIESLABOUR MARKET REFORMSLONG TERM UNEMPLOYMENTLONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENTLONGTERM UNEMPLOYMENTMANDATORY SEVERANCEMANDATORY SEVERANCE PAYMARKET VOLATILITYMASS LAYOFFSMINIMUM WAGEOLDER WORKERSON-THE-JOB TRAININGPAYROLL TAXESPERMANENT EMPLOYMENTPRIVATE SECTORPRODUCTIVE FIRMSPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPROTECTING WORKERSPUBLIC SECTOR WORKERSREAL WAGESRECOMMENDATIONSREDUNDANCYREDUNDANT WORKERSREGULAR CONTRACTSREGULAR JOBSREGULAR WORKERSRIGID LABOR MARKETRIGID WAGESSEASONAL FLUCTUATIONSSEVERANCE PAYMENTSSICK LEAVESKILLED WORKERSSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL SECURITYSTAFFSUBSTITUTETEMPORARY EMPLOYMENTTEMPORARY WORKTEMPORARY WORKERSTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRADE UNIONSTRIPARTITEUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCEUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUNDUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNEMPLOYMENT SPELLSUNINTENDED EFFECTSUNION ACTIVITYUNION DENSITYUNION MEMBERSHIPWAGE BARGAININGWAGE BARGAINING SYSTEMWAGE BILLWAGE DETERMINATIONWAGE GROWTHWAGE RIGIDITIESWAGE STRUCTUREWORKER RIGHTSWORKING CONDITIONSWORKING HOURSYOUNG WORKERSYOUTH EMPLOYMENTYOUTH UNEMPLOYMENTWorld Bank10.1596/12902