The payslip (so-called "platna lista") is your most important financial document received every month. Unfortunately, despite the use of advanced software, human error is still extremely common in accounting. It is important to know how to independently check if all items are entered correctly. These five errors frequently take significant amounts of money out of workers' pockets month after month.
Months do not have a fixed number of working hours. Depending on how many working days (Monday - Friday) a month has, the hour fund can range from 160 to 184 hours.
Most Common Error: When a public holiday falls on a working day, the employer must count that day as "worked" (8 hours) even if you didn't work. If you worked on that public holiday, that work must be additionally paid with a prescribed holiday pay supplement, which legally cannot be zero. Some systems treat holidays as unpaid leave and do not record your regular hours, resulting in a base salary lower than contracted.
The Tax Administration raises the amounts that an employer can pay out completely tax-free every year (e.g., rewards for work results, meal costs).
It is very common when being hired to agree on a "fixed net amount" (which is bad practice in itself) and for the employer to "fill" that fixed amount with tax-free items up to the maximum limit so they pay less tax to the state while providing you the agreed net amount. If the meal allowance limit rises this year, your net might stay the same while your gross (and pension contributions) decreases as a result.
Check if your employer is paying out the maximum allowed amount of tax-free rewards offered by the state to legally boost your net.
Initial sick leave days are usually at the employer's expense, and a prescribed percentage of sick pay applies (often 70-85% of the base salary). On the other hand, sick leave at the state's expense (HZZO) has a different tax treatment (no additional contributions apply upon payout; it is a clean amount).
Error occurs when accounting calculates the average three-month hourly rate incorrectly or mixes state-covered days with the employer's burden.
The personal deduction directly reduces the tax you pay, increasing your final net amount. Dependent family members (children finishing full-time education, unemployed spouses with income below the prescribed limit) are the most common "factors" for personal deduction.
Common Error: The birth of a child or a child becoming employed (losing student status/dependent status) is not recorded in time in the system (e-Građani). The employer either deducts tax you shouldn't pay or pays you a higher net that you will have to return to the state at the end of the year, with interest. The responsibility for updating the tax card always lies with the employee, not the company's accounting department.
Paying for overtime hours through the "rewards" category or tax-free incentives is an extremely unfavorable practice for the employee. Legally, an overtime hour is paid +50% more than a regular hour and is fully taxable income. This means money paid for overtime increases contributions to your Pension and Health funds.
Employers may "mask" this by transferring hours to "Occasional Rewards" because no such contributions are paid on them, and only the net sum goes to the worker. This leads to a lower pension in the long run and false reporting to labor inspections.
Do you doubt the correctness of your salary?
Use our precise calculator to enter your gross base, additions, and status to check if the final calculated amount matches the figure you actually receive in your bank account.