{"id":24298,"date":"2026-06-17T16:35:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/?p=24298"},"modified":"2026-06-19T16:38:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T14:38:36","slug":"round-table-laws-tailored-to-life-adapting-labour-legislation-to-the-real-needs-of-oncology-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/round-table-laws-tailored-to-life-adapting-labour-legislation-to-the-real-needs-of-oncology-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"Round Table \u201cLaws Tailored to Life: Adapting Labour Legislation to the Real Needs of Oncology Patients\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 17 June 2026, Ombudswoman Tena \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter participated in the round table \u201cAdapting Labour Legislation to the Real Needs of Oncology Patients\u201d<\/em>, held in the Croatian Parliament. The round table was organised by Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Sabina Glasovac, in cooperation with the Association of Women Diagnosed with and Treated for Cancer Nismo same<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ombudswoman \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter recalled the problems raised with her by oncology patients, which she reported to the Croatian Parliament in the Ombudswoman\u2019s Report for 2025. In the Report, this topic was specifically highlighted, given that additional attention needs to be paid to oncology patients, who face numerous problems. The situation is particularly difficult for those who live alone and lack the support of family and their surroundings, as well as for those living in poverty. It is also significantly affected by the part of Croatia in which they live, including due to the unequal availability of social services.<\/p>\n

The problems faced by oncology patients in the area of work and employment include termination of employment contracts after diagnosis or treatment, lack of information on all their rights while in employment, while young persons face significant barriers to employment when, due to treatment, they were unable to complete their education.<\/p>\n

Oncology patient Ivana O\u017evati\u0107 shared her personal experience. Before her diagnosis, she worked as a cleaner in a polyclinic. She explained that, while she was still absent due to therapy, her employer informed her that, after the expiry of her fixed-term employment contract, she would not be offered a new contract, even though she had previously been told that she would sign an open-ended employment contract, that is, enter into permanent employment. At the same time, she is concerned whether other employers will want to employ her once they learn that she is an oncology patient and that she occasionally needs to be absent from work due to therapy.<\/p>\n

The Ombudswoman also recalled that the Anti-Discrimination Act is in force in Croatia and that, since its entry into force in 2009, it has prohibited discrimination on the ground of health status, including in the area of work and employment. In practice, this means that other laws must be harmonised with the Anti-Discrimination Act, which is an organic law, in order to ensure that they do not have a discriminatory effect on persons with illnesses. It also means that procedures need to be adapted to groups at risk of discrimination, precisely so that equal rules do not lead to less favourable treatment. Furthermore, citizens may submit complaints of discrimination to the Ombudswoman, and they may also seek protection before the courts, both under the Labour Act and under the Anti-Discrimination Act.<\/p>\n

Finally, the state also has an obligation to work on preventing discrimination against oncology patients, through awareness-raising and destigmatisation. In this respect, this initiative, and precisely a round table on this topic, is highly useful.<\/p>\n

In addition to Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Sabina Glasovac and President of the Association Nismo same<\/em> Ivana Kalogjera, contributions to the round table through presentations and personal experiences were also made by Member of the Croatian Parliament and Chair of the group Members of Parliament in the Fight against Cancer<\/em> Andro Krstulovi\u0107 Opara; Member of the Croatian Parliament Branko Kolari\u0107; Director of the Directorate for Legal Affairs in Healthcare at the Ministry of Health Bojan Vidovi\u0107; Head of the Labour Sector at the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy Josipa Kli\u0161anin; Head of the Service for the Implementation of Contractual Obligations at the Croatian Health Insurance Fund Ljiljana Mili\u0161i\u0107 \u017ddralovi\u0107; Bojana Kne\u017eevi\u0107 from the University Hospital Centre Zagreb; and President of the Coalition of Associations in Healthcare Ivica Belina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 17 June 2026, Ombudswoman Tena \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter participated in the round table \u201cAdapting Labour Legislation to the Real Needs of Oncology Patients\u201d, held in the Croatian Parliament. The round table was organised by Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Sabina Glasovac, in cooperation with the Association of Women Diagnosed with and Treated for Cancer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":24289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24299,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24298\/revisions\/24299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}