At 23.4% in 2023, the employment rate of people with disability in Croatia is the third lowest in the European Union and well below the EU average of 40.9%. Improving employment inclusion of people with disability is a priority for the Government of Croatia. Croatia has already introduced various reforms to its disability system in the last two decades to improve the social and economic inclusion of people with disability, but labour market outcomes for this group remain concerning, warranting further reform including to the way in which disability and work capacity is assessed. Disability reform is also necessary to align disability assessment and determination in Croatia with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Croatia ratified in 2007. Reform is also needed to strengthen early intervention and provide timely support to workers on sick leave to reduce the number of people dropping out of the labour market via long-term sick leave or long-term unemployment and disability benefits.
This report is the outcome of a 1.5‑year long project aimed at supporting Croatia in its reform journey. The project was funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the OECD, in co‑operation with the European Commission. The report brings together the main outputs of the project under the perspective of providing a vision and reform strategy for Croatia for the next decade.
The report recommends the introduction of a new disability assessment instrument in Croatia, which looks at performance and functioning capacities of people driven by the environment in which they live, i.e. their actual lived experience, in addition to their health conditions and impairments, and which could replace or complement several of the assessments currently in place. Recognising that disability assessment reform in and of itself is insufficient to improve the labour market inclusion of people with disability, the report also includes key elements of a strategy to strengthen early intervention for people on sick leave or unemployed because of longer-term health issues. The conclusions and recommendations in this report build on both an in-depth analysis of the current situation and recent reforms in Croatia, a cross-country comparison of functioning-based assessment tools in selected OECD and non-OECD countries, and several exchanges with the relevant stakeholders in Croatia.
The preparation of the report involved several steps that contributed to shaping its conclusions:
A series of online and face to face meetings with key stakeholders and institutions responsible for the management and implementation of disability and sickness policy in Croatia; notably the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family, and Social Policy, the Institute for Disability Assessment, Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, the Pension Insurance Institute, the Institute for Social Work, the Ministry of Health, the Health Insurance Institute, the Croatian Employment Service, the Professional Rehabilitation Centres, and the disability organisations.
Administrative data prepared and shared with the OECD by Ultima Labs and the Institute for Disability Assessment, Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities.
A study visit to Latvia to discuss Latvia’s attempts and challenges in reforming its disability policy and in particular its system of disability assessment and determination.
While the report analyses the situation in Croatia, many of the conclusions and recommendations are equally relevant for other OECD countries. Many countries are struggling with necessary reforms of still predominantly medical disability assessment systems, and many countries are lacking the necessary focus on prevention, early identification and early intervention in their sickness and disability policies.