The objectives of the Croatian Employment Service (CES) are to provide effective labour market mediation, to develop clients' competencies, knowledge and skills, to promote partnerships with labour market stakeholders and to develop high quality services according to clients' needs.

CES has targets to increase the employability and participation rate of young people and older workers in the labour market; reduce long-term unemployment; strengthen support for self-employment and self-employed persons; increase investment in human resources through better education and reducing skills mismatch; promote employment through development projects focused on the activation of vulnerable groups; and improve the adaptability of workers and enterprises.

The tasks of CES are to provide mediation for unemployed job seekers; to ensure competent workers to employers according to their needs; to increase the employability of the unemployed especially for people with disabilities and other hard-to place groups; to provide career guidance focused on developing career management skills (CMS). In addition, the tasks of CES are to develop its capacities to increase the competitiveness of the labor force and meet the needs of the labor market; develop its own human resources and administrative capacity and achieve a leading position within the labour market by establishing partnerships and acquiring greater influence on the adoption and implementation of public policies.

CES is organised on three levels – national, regional and local with 5 regional centres, 17 regional offices and 99 local offices across Croatia thus making its services available on the entire territory of the Republic of Croatia. The central office creates a unified methodology for the technical and operational implementation of procedures in CES activities, develops and implements national employment policies and gives guidelines to the regional and local offices. Policy decisions are made on the national level and are distributed to regional and local levels. The implementation of policies and agreed measures and services are delivered by regional and local offices. Monitoring is usually done by the central office on a national level and by regional offices on the local level. Regional centres and offices deliver services and cooperate with businesses and local authorities.

The Croatian Employment Service is a public institution established pursuant to the Employment Act. The CES is a legal person having the rights, obligations and responsibilities as defined under the Act on Employment Mediation and Unemployment Rights and the Statute adopted by its Managing Council. The CES is required to submit a report on its work and activities to the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the competent ministry at least once a year. The lawfulness of the activities performed by the CES and its general acts are monitored by the Ministry of Labour and Pension System. CES is a separate legal entity with its own budget. Although the budget is allocated from the state budget, CES can make adjustments within the budget.

The CES is headed by a Director General who has the authority to represent it and act on its behalf and is responsible for the lawfulness of its operatons. The Director General of the CES is appointed by the Government of the Republic of Croatia and has a deputy and assistants. The scope, authorities and responsibilities of the Managing Council, Director General, Deputy Director General and Assistants are defined under the CES Statute. The CES includes the following organisational units: Director General’s Office, Labour Market and Employment Policy Sector, Financial Management Sector, Legal Affairs Sector, Analytics and IT Sector and other independent departments.

The CES is governed by the Managing Council consisting of seven members appointed by the Government of the Republic of Croatia, including 2 members proposed by the Minister of Labour, 3 members proposed by the Economic and Social Council, a representative of the CES employees and a representative proposed by the associations of unemployed persons.