Health & insurance
Once you work legally, you are in the health system. A doctor is your right.
When you work legally in Croatia, your employer must register you for health insurance, and that gives you the right to see a doctor and be treated. Being a foreigner, or being afraid of your employer, does not remove your right to care — especially if you are hurt at work.
Key facts
- Your employer must register you for health insurance (HZZO).
- With insurance you have the right to a family doctor (obiteljski liječnik).
- Emergency care must be given to anyone — including in a crisis.
- A work injury must be reported and properly treated.
- Being a foreign worker is never a reason to refuse you care.
In detail
Insurance and seeing a doctor
Once registered, you are covered by Croatian health insurance (HZZO) like any worker. You can register with a family doctor who becomes your first point of contact for illness. Keep your health card and insurance details; if your employer never registered you, that is itself a violation you can report.
Injuries and unsafe work
You have a right to safe working conditions and proper equipment. If you are injured at work, it must be reported as a work injury and you must be treated — you should not be pushed to stay quiet or "say it happened at home". Your health matters more than any shift, and hiding work injuries is illegal for the employer.
Warning signs
- Your employer never registered you for health insurance.
- You are refused a doctor when you are sick.
- After an injury, you are told to hide it or lie about it.
- You are made to work in clearly dangerous conditions.
What you can do
- Ask for your HZZO health insurance number and card.
- For any work injury, insist it is reported and seek a doctor.
- In an emergency, call 112 — care cannot be refused.
- Report unsafe work or denied care to the Labour Inspectorate.