The Republic Trade Union of Workers was the first in Croatia to stand up for the rights of kindergarten teachers due to the non-payment of the difference in salary, which they are entitled to because employers did not comply with legal regulations.
Members of the Republic Trade Union of Workers have free legal aid and full representation before the competent courts.
Republic Trade Union of Workers, through legal representatives from the law firm Olujić, Pezić & partneri d.o.o. from Zagreb, filed more than a hundred lawsuits for non-payment of the difference in salary from the period of the adoption of the Regulation on job titles, conditions for scheduling and coefficients for calculating salaries in public services until the signing of the Collective Agreement for employees of the Varaždin Kindergarten, and judgments recognizing this right have begun to arrive at the addresses of the kindergarten educators of the Varaždin Kindergarten. Some kindergarten employees will thus receive close to 7,000 euros, with interest and costs, if the judgments become final. This development of the situation could lead to an avalanche of lawsuits from numerous kindergarten educators throughout Croatia.
The judgments of the Court in Varaždin state that “kindergartens public institutions which perform preschool education activities as a public service and the fact that the salaries of kindergarten workers are financed from local budgets must not be a reason for not applying the coefficient of 2.01 determined by the Government for kindergarten teachers, as well as the corresponding base, to the calculation of salaries. “Therefore, the court considers that the Act on Salaries in Civil Service and Public Services, as well as the Regulation on Job Titles (…), as regulations regulating the salaries (…) of employees in primary education, regulations more favorable for calculating the plaintiff's salary in the disputed period."
The Republic Workers' Union has been of the opinion from the very beginning that kindergarten teachers are entitled to the coefficients and salaries they are entitled to according to the Regulation, which has been in force since March 1, 2024. All employees of all kindergartens they should have larger bases and a coefficient of 2.01. However, kindergarten founders are still lagging behind in complying with legal regulations, and the Varaždin rulings could trigger an avalanche of lawsuits if they become final. In the Koprivnica-Križevci County, only Križevci has harmonized coefficients and salaries, while other cities are proceeding with the so-called gradual harmonization.
In this case, the Republic Workers' Union first sought the difference in wages from the City of Varaždin and filed more than a hundred lawsuits for its members from the Varaždin Kindergarten and won the dispute.
"No other union in Croatia has done this. With the first-instance verdict of the Municipal Court in Varaždin, our members won the dispute and the Founder and Employer are obliged to pay them amounts exceeding 5,500 euros, considering their years of service and other benefits," said Ivan Majdak, president of the Republic Workers' Union.
Now, the verdict is awaiting confirmation by the second-instance court, which could be the biggest day for all kindergarten workers in Croatia since independence.
"All cities that have not adjusted salaries from March 1, 2024 until they do, either through regulations or the Collective Agreement, will be obliged to pay the salary differences with default interest," concludes Majdak.
From Media https://danica.hr/doznajemo-vrtici-odgojiteljicama-moraju-platiti-razliku-placa-od-2024-godine
Foto: RSR