Role of the social cooperatives in overcoming problems of the unemployed in Poland

Transcription

1 Karolina Majdzińska PhD student at Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Socio-Economics, Institute of Social Economy Research area: [M] Social economics Role of the social cooperatives in overcoming problems of the unemployed in Poland Introduction Social cooperatives have existed in Poland since 2004 (specific legislation on social cooperatives is the Act on Social Employment from 2006), and by August 2012, 529 of these had been entered in the National Court Register. What is important social co-operatives are filling the gaps in government policies on social exclusion and long-term unemployment since 2004, through ensuring social education, career training and permanent jobs. This text is aimed at discussing the theoretical and legal basis for existence of social cooperatives in Poland, their operation and significance in the social and economic life of Poland, taking into account their role in overcoming the problem of unemployment. First of all, however, the social cooperative concept will be depicted against the background of the field of social economy. Afterwards, a short analysis of the act of April 27 th, 2006 on social cooperatives (Social Cooperatives Law Act of April 27 th, 2006 Journal of Laws of 2006 no. 94, item 651 as amended). The final part of the text is based on empirical research on the present condition of social cooperatives in Poland. The data that has been used in the empirical research is based mainly on own analysis, prepared on the basis of entries in the National Court Register (state as of August 30th,

2 and August 6th, 2011) and the most recent available research on social cooperatives, entitled Monitoring of social cooperatives, conducted in 2011 by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy 1. I would like to express my thankfulness here for being granted access to this data. 1. A social cooperative as a subject of social economy In the aspect of social cooperatives, the early 21st century can be associated with the socalled second wave of social economy (also known as the new social economy or simply social economy) and change of direction of the social policy in the countries of Europe 2. The changes taking place in response to the crisis of the welfare state have proven a strong bond between the concept and subjects of social economy and the active social policy (further referred to as ASP). These changes have also resulted in social economy being interpreted mainly in the context of sectors 3 and from the perspective of the market-failure theory. In addition, strengthening of the role of social economy and ASP can be associated with the European Social Model, implemented in the European Union member states. The trends listed above are particularly well visible in terms of approach towards supporting of socially marginalized or excluded groups. Putting it simply, the main common feature are activation tasks, planned within the framework of the ASP, for instance, addressed to the unemployed, which can be conducted within the framework of such subjects of social economy as in particularly, in Poland social cooperatives. Generally speaking, the social economy concept, also referred to as social entrepreneurship, is based on activities undertaken jointly by groups of persons. Such activity fulfills the principle of reciprocity or participating democracy in terms of decision-making. Therefore, it can be indicated that within the framework of social economy undertakings, such form of business activity as cooperatives is preferred. The main example and subject of social economy is a social enterprise. The most popular and most widely recognized definition is the one established by EMES - European Research Network 4 within the framework of analysis of 1 During the research was taken into consideration 288 active cooperatives, but 112 of them agreed to participate in the research. 2 See: M. Rymsza, The Second Wave of the Social Economy in Poland and the Concept of Active Social Policy, in: M. Rymsza, T Kaźmierczak (eds.), Social Economy in Poland. Past and present, Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw 2008, pp The social economy is thus identified with the so-called the third sector and non-governmental sector. 4 The definition was created as part of a research project in the years under the name "L'Emergence des enterprises sociales en Europe". The EMES acronym, with completion of the "European Research Network", became name of the organization. 2

3 social enterprises in European countries. This definition refers to Weber s ideal type, consisting of four economic criteria and five social criteria. The economic criteria define the business, market mission of such entities that is, the core of an enterprise as an entity engaged in business operation. These are: continuous operation in the field of production of goods or sale of services; high degree of autonomy; a significant level of economic risk; a certain amount of payable work 5. The social criteria pertain to the social aspects of the enterprise, or commitment to a group of persons or the local community. These indicate that the initiative is a result of joint action, often initiated by a group of citizens; the decisionmaking power is not based on capital ownership; the organization is participation-based in twofold meaning: as a representation of clients, who participate in its management, and as an organization characterized by democratic style of management, which is often aimed at strengthening democracy on the local level; a clearly defined objective, beneficial to the community; limited distribution of profits or no distribution of profits 6. In simple words, a social enterprise may be compared to a coin, which has two sides. A social enterprise should ensure a balance between two aspects of activity: economic and social. As it has been mentioned above, a very good example of a social enterprise is a cooperative, particularly, a social cooperative. Of course, cooperatives had played a significant role in economy prior to the second wave of social economy. Also in Poland, we have a rich tradition of cooperative activity, originated before the second world war 7. However, the effort made at the time has been largely lost due to the socialist rule in Poland after the second world war. In the period of centrally planned economy, the sense of cooperative activity was distorted, for instance, by subjecting the cooperatives to the state authorities, as a result of which they lost their authenticity, autonomy and independence 8. Nevertheless, it has to be underlined that cooperatives fit fully the quoted definition of a social enterprise. Social cooperatives in the Polish legal order are, in fact, the only type of a social enterprise, entered in the legal system by a separate act. The Polish legislative body followed 5 L. Hulgård, T. Bisballe, Work Integration Social Enterprises in Denmark, Working Paper no. 04/08, EMES European Reasearch Network, p L. Hulgård, T. Bisballe, op.cit. p See: E. Leś, Co-operatives in Poland: from state-controlled institutions to new trends in co-operative development, in: C. Borzaga, R. Spear (eds.), Trends and challenges for co-operatives and social enterprises in developed and transition countries, Trento Italy, 2004, p M. G. Brodziński, Spółdzielnie, członkowie, samorządy. Z problematyki więzi oraz rozwoju spółdzielczości wiejskiej, ALMAMER Higher School, Warsaw 2007, p

4 the model of social cooperatives type B, operating in Italy 9. Polish social cooperatives, due to the fact that they aimed at occupational and social integration, are an example not only of a social enterprise, but, like their Italian equivalent, they are enterprises of a special kind: the so-called WISEs (work integration enterprises) 10. They are also a perfect ASP tool to actively counteract unemployment according to the principle Jobs instead of benefits, which is the implementation of workfare. Due to this aspect, social cooperatives can also be interpreted in two ways firstly, as a place of social employment (or supported employment) and secondly simply as a subject of social economy. Worth quoting here is the description of a social cooperative, proposed by Anna Sobol. She points out that a social cooperative, as a component of social economy, is aimed at fulfillment of needs of persons, who are threatened by social exclusions, who have little chance to find a job on the labor market. The concept of a social cooperative is to create institutional instruments and privileges for economic activity conducted to support those, who find it difficult to cope with the social reality. 11. Summing up, the main purpose of existence and operation of Polish social cooperatives is to restore to the labor market (through a joint enterprise) of persons threatened by or subjected to social exclusion, who have little chance to get employed. 2. The nature of social cooperatives according to the Polish law The Act of April 27th, 2006 on social cooperatives (further referred to as AoSC) 12 clarified the legal provisions on these entities, existing since August 2004 in various legal acts. Social cooperatives were introduced in the Polish legislation in 2004 on the basis of the act of April 20 th, 2004 on promotion of employment and labor market institutions 13 and by 9 Italian social cooperatives type A work in the area of health, social services and education, while type B act in the area of the integration of people disadvantaged in the labor market. See: C. Borzaga, A. Santuari, Przedsiębiorstwa społeczne we Włoszech. Doświadczenie spółdzielni społecznych, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Warsaw 2005, C. Borzaga, M. Loss, Work Integration Social Enterprises in Italy, Working Papers no. 02/02, EMES European Reasearch Network. 10 WISE, or social enterprise vocational integration or integration through work, are independent operators, whose main aim is reintegration in a professional way people experiencing serious difficulties in the labor market. See: C. Davister, J. Defourny, O. Gregoire, Work integration social enterprises in the European Union: an overview of existing models, Working Paper no. 04/04, EMES European Reasearch Network, p A. Sobol, Społeczne aspekty działalności spółdzielni socjalnych, Polish General Revisory Union for Social Cooperatives and National Council of Cooperatives, Warsaw 2009, p Dz.U. of 2006, no 94, item. 651, as amended. 13 Dz.U. of 2004, no 99, item 1001, as amended. 4

5 adding Section V to the Cooperative law act of September 16 th, From the perspective of more than eight years, it can be concluded that as a result of implementation of this solution, initially, the role of cooperatives was interpreted only instrumentally, in the context of social employment, and they were perceived as a certain type of labor cooperatives 15. This shows that from the very beginning, these cooperatives were supposed to become a tool mainly in counteracting unemployment. Now, six years from passing of the AoSC, this interpretation of significance of social cooperatives can hardly be supported, in particular, the assumption that they represent a certain kind of labor cooperatives. The main differences, which indicate the existence of two separate types of cooperatives (social cooperatives and labor cooperatives) include: the prohibition of division of balance sheet surplus among the members of the social cooperative and the obligation to implement social objectives by acting on behalf of social and occupational reintegration. Both these differences pertain to the nature of the social cooperative, making it a special kind of a cooperative, without amending its primary objective as a tool for activation and counteracting unemployment. A social cooperative, unlike most types of Polish cooperatives, can be considered to be the in-between model according to the classification of the four co-operative models 16 or a specific example of a multi-stakeholder co-operative. At present, according to AoSC, social cooperatives in Poland are, in fact, the only type of cooperative, which can be considered fully a social enterprise (the form of cooperative and obligatory activity in the field of economy and reintegration meets all criteria of the EMES definition see Table 1). Thus, a social cooperative is a hybrid 17 combining the components of a cooperative and a non-governmental organization, which results in emergence of a corporation of people working together to meet the economic, as well as the non-economic objectives. 14 The consolidated text of the Act: Dz.U. of 2003, no 188, item See: M. Gersdorf, Spółdzielnie socjalne, in: Z zagadnień współczesnego prawa pracy. Księga jubileuszowa Prof. Henryka Lewandowskiego, ed. Z. Góral, Wolters Kluwer, Warsaw 2009, pp oraz H. Izdebski, Spółdzielnie socjalne a organizacje pozarządowe przewidywane skutki Ustawy o spółdzielniach socjalnych, Trzeci Sektor 2006, no 7, pp See: G. Galera, The evolution of the co-operative form: an international perspective, in: C. Borzaga, R. Spear, Trends and challenges for co-operatives and social enterprises in developed and transition countries, Trento Italy, 2004, pp See: J. Defourny, M. Nyssens, Social enterprise in Europe: Recent trends and developments, Working Paper no. 08/01, EMES European Reasearch Network, p. 5. 5

6 The social criteria: The economic criteria: continuous operation in the field of production of goods or sale of services high degree of autonomy a significant level of economic risk a certain amount of payable work the initiative is a result of joint action, often initiated by a group of citizens the decision-making power is not based on capital ownership the organization is participation-based in twofold meaning: as a representation of clients, who participate in its management, and as an organization characterized by democratic style of management, which is often aimed at strengthening democracy on the local level a clearly defined objective, beneficial to the community limited distribution of profits or no distribution of profits Social cooperative must obligatorily do business. This comes generally from the nature and forms of cooperatives. The necessity of economic activity (members are responsible for the extent of their shares). Social cooperative operates based on the work of its members - the existence of an employment relationship. Social cooperative is a group of at least five people and can be established as a result of their own actions. Rule one person, one vote. Social cooperative works on behalf of its members, and members participate in its governance. In addition, social cooperative society can operate in the broad sense to its members and their local environment. First of all, obligatory social and occupational reintegration of members of the cooperative social. Prohibition of distribution of the assets among the members of a social cooperative. Table 1. A breakdown of economic and social criteria of a social enterprise according to EMES, pointing to the modes of their implementation by a social cooperation Source: Own study. A social cooperative, according to art. 2 of AoSC, must or may operate in three dimensions. The first one can be referred to as the economic dimension, and it consists of obligatory activity aimed at management of a joint enterprise based on personal effort of its members 18. In other words, it refers to the necessity to undertake and engage in business operation, or in paid work, in a continuous and organized manner. This component is thus borrowed from a classical enterprise, operating to make profit. The second area of activity of social cooperatives can be referred to as the reintegration dimension. It refers to obligatory activity aimed at achievement of social objectives, including: social reintegration and occupational reintegration of the cooperative members Art. 2 para 1 AoSC. 19 Art. 2 para 2 AoSC. 6

7 Like in the economic dimension, the reintegration activity is obligatory, and it cannot be performed within the framework of business operation conducted. This restriction separates the two necessary fields of operation of social cooperatives. The third aspect of operation of a social cooperative 20 is like in all other cases of cooperatives the possibility of engaging in social, educational and cultural activity on behalf of its members and their families. It seems proper to refer to this field of activity as being strictly social. Social cooperatives may also engage in social activity as public benefit organizations, since AoSC extends the scope of this optional activity of social cooperatives by adding socially useful operation with regard to public tasks specified in the act of April 24 th, 2004 on public benefits and voluntary work 21. Therefore, the third dimension of activity of social cooperatives can be referred to as its social dimension sensu largo, and it encompasses the activity referred to above as social dimension sensu stricto and public benefit activity. A social cooperative in Poland, according to art. 4 of AoSC, may be established by natural persons from socially excluded groups 22 and other natural persons (constituting less than 50% of the founders and then members of the cooperative) and legal persons 23 ; in practice, most social cooperatives are established by the unemployed. Members of social cooperatives may include natural and legal persons. It is worth noting here that upon establishment of a social cooperative and becoming a member of a social cooperative, an unemployed person becomes an employee, and thus loses their status. This is one of the most significant arguments, supporting the role of social cooperatives in counteracting the problem of unemployment. 20 Art. 2 para 3 AoSC. 21 Dz.U. of 2003, no 96, item 873, as amended. 22 The unemployed, the homeless, alcoholics, drug addicts, refugees, released from prison, mentally ill or disabled people. 23 Changes to other natural persons and legal persons was introduced in

8 People from groups no threatened by social exclusion Homeless Alcoholics Drug addicts Refugees Released from prison Local government units Church legal persons Legal persons NGOs Natural persons People from groups threatened by social exclusion Disabled people Unemployed Mentally ill Bodies General Meeting Supervisory Board Management Founders Social cooperative Reintegration dimension Occupational reintegration Economic dimension Economic activity Activity Activity based on the statute (paid and unpaid) Social, educational and cultural activity (social dimension sensu stricto) Social dimension sensu largo Social reintegration Public benefit activity Drawing 1. A simplified diagram of a social cooperative Source: Own study. On the basis of provisions of the AoSC, as it has been stated above, unlike other types of cooperatives, social cooperatives are able to conduct broader social activity. In addition, the legislative body has allowed the social cooperatives to apply certain legal solutions, which are applicable to non-governmental organizations on the basis of the act on public benefits and voluntary work. According to Art. 8 of the AoSC, the activity of a social cooperative aimed at reintegration and social tasks sensu largo is not a business activity and it can be conducted as either paid or unpaid activity, based on the statute. Similarly, art. 14 of the AoSC allows social cooperatives to hire volunteers, however, only for purposes associated with public benefits. The provisions of the AoSC had been amended three times in the period from 2006 to 2012, once through amendment of the act itself and twice through amendment of its individual provisions. Amendment of the act as such took place on the basis of the act of May 7 th, 2009 on amendment of the act on social cooperatives and amendment of some other legal 8

9 acts 24. Groups of provisions that were amended in the AoSC pertained to: founders and members of social cooperatives, the National Court Register, the board of supervisors, the relationship of employment, support from state budget and liquidation of a social cooperative 25. It is worth noting here that these amendments were a response to the postulates of NGOs and social cooperatives 26, and they pertained mainly to inclusion as potential founders and members of a greater number of entities, or facilitating of establishment of the relationship of employment otherwise than on the basis of a cooperative contract of employment. This amendment was also one of the stages of creation of the Polish social enterprise, aimed at integration. In year 2010, on the other hand, only the provision of art. 14 of the AoSC was amended, pertaining to work of volunteers in social cooperatives. The rules of hiring volunteers were defined more precisely. In 2011, amendments pertained to art. 8 and 9 (extending of the scope of types of activity in terms of reintegration and social activity sensu largo by adding unpaid activity based on the statute) and art. 19a was added (the obligation to monitor the functioning of social cooperatives). Summing up, the legal framework of operation of social cooperatives evolved after year 2006 from the social cooperative introduced in 2004 in the legal system, as the place of social employment in a cooperative entity, to a special form of a social enterprise, which is the social cooperative of today. It should also be taken into account that at present, social cooperatives in Poland are flagship entities of social economy, which fully fit the formula of a social enterprise. They combine the components of a classical enterprise, operating for profit, and a non-profit or not-for-profit entity, aimed at achievement of broadly understood social objectives, and thus operating as a new, special type of a cooperative. The provisions passed after year 2006 with regard to activity of an integrating social enterprise a social cooperative strengthened the social dimension of operation, which resulted in shifting of direction of operation of social cooperatives towards the social objectives at the expense of business activity. Unfortunately, in practice 27, some entities are 24 Dz.U 2009, no 91, item 742, as amended. 25 More about amendment of the AoSC in 2009 see: J. Brzozowska: Rozwój spółdzielni socjalnych w Polsce na tle nowelizacji Ustawy o spółdzielniach socjalnych, Trzeci Sektor 2010, no 21, pp See: E. Leś, M. Ołdak, Kondycja i perspektywy rozwoju podmiotów gospodarki społecznej w Polsce. Konkluzje i rekomendacje, in: Obszary gospodarki społecznej. Doświadczenie Partnerstwa na Rzecz Rozwoju Tu jest praca, P. Chodyra, E. Leś, M. Ołdak (eds.), Ministry of Labour and Social Policy Department of Public Benefit and The Institute of Social Policy of the Warsaw University, Warsaw 2008, p. 225 and pp This confirmed the results of the Monitoring of social cooperatives. 9

10 only formally social cooperatives, since they have failed to undertake activity in at least one of the obligatory dimensions, listed above. Therefore, it should be underlined that according to the Polish law, in order to be a social cooperative, an entity must engage in business activity and in activity on behalf of social and occupational reintegration, while social activity sensu largo is optional. 3. Activity of social cooperatives in Poland and their role in overcoming unemployment The number of social cooperatives entered in the National Court Register Chart 1. The number of social cooperatives entered in the National Court Register in years Source: own study on the basis of data from the National Court Register. In the period from 2004 until the end of 2011, 429 social cooperatives were registered in Poland; in year 2012, their number has been growing dynamically as well in August 2012, there were as many as 529 of these, entered in the Register. By August 2012, entries of 12 social cooperatives had been removed from the National Court Register. Chart 1 shows a change in the number of social cooperatives in Poland in years There is a noticeable increase in the number of these in years 2007, 2010 and It seems that the increase in the number of social cooperatives established after year 2009 should be associated with amendment of the AoSC and the additional external support, offered by EU programmes, particularly the Human Capital Operational Programme. 10

11 Analysis of entries in the National Court Register also indicates that social cooperatives are being established and managed by younger and younger people. At first, most of them were managed by persons aged 45 to 50. In the last two years, there has been a growing tendency to enter representatives of age group of 25 to 35 as members of the management board. This may indicate an increase in the level of knowledge on cooperatives among the younger generations as well as the bad condition of the labor market, suffered by young people. Province Population (2010 r.) Registered unemployment (2010 r.) Number of s. c Percentage of s. c Dolnośląskie 7,5 % 13,0 % 20 6,6 % Kujawsko-pomorskie 5,4 % 16,6 % 17 5,6 % Lubelskie 5,6 % 13,0 % 13 4,3 % Lubuskie 2,7 % 15,6 % 15 5 % Łódzkie 6,6 % 12,1 % 22 7,3 % Małopolskie 8,7 % 10,4 % 21 6,9 % Mazowieckie 13,7% 9,4 % 32 10,6 % Opolskie 2,7 % 13,1 % 8 2,6 % Podkarpackie 5,5 % 15,8 % 11 3,6 % Podlaskie 3,1 % 13,2 % 6 2 % Pomorskie 5,9 % 12,2 % 17 5,6 % Śląskie 12,2 % 9,9 % 43 14,1 % Świętokrzyskie 3,3 % 14,7 % 5 1,7 % Warmińsko-mazurskie 3,7 % 20,0 % 23 7,6 % Wielkopolskie 9,0 % 9,2 % 38 12,5 % Zachodnio-pomorskie 4,4 % 17,4 % 12 4 % POLAND 100 % 12,3 % % Table 2. Number of social cooperatives in individual provinces in Poland in years Source: own study on the basis of data from the National Court Register and from the Central Statistical Office based on the Small statistical yearbook for Poland Table 2 shows an interesting distribution of social cooperatives (marked as s.c.) in individual provinces in Poland. Taking into account the results of the research project Monitoring of social cooperatives (further referred to as MSS), it should be stated that social cooperatives are established mostly by the unemployed. Therefore, it seems that there should be a correlation between the size of the population of a given province, the percentage 11

12 of social cooperatives registered and the registered unemployment rate. However, data presented in Table 1 does not support this thesis. However, this indicates that varying dynamics of establishment of social cooperatives in individual provinces have other causes. We can also assume that the greater number of NGOs in a province means that the region is more open to social activity. Taking into account the available data 28 on the number of NGOs registered per 10 thousand inhabitants, we can see that most of the NGOs are registered in mazowieckie (22), then pomorskie (20), warmińsko-mazurskie, (19), lubuskie (19), dolnośląskie (19), zachodnio-pomorskie (18), małopolskie (18), wielkopolskie (17); and the least NGOs in podkarpackie (16), podlaskie (16), lubelskie (15), łódzkie (15), kujawskopomorskie (15), śląskie (14), opolskie (14) and świętokrzyskie (13). Thus, such comparison does not explain the distribution of social cooperatives, presented below. It can be noted, however, that, in particular, the śląskie province is characterized by a high number of social cooperatives, while the level of social activity remains low. The issue surely requires further research. It is interesting that in three (or in four, if this group is to include Gorzów Wielkopolski) province capitals, that is, in the largest cities of each region, no social cooperatives were registered in years Such phenomenon was observed in Białystok, Opole and Rzeszów (and Gorzów Wielkopolski, respectively). In the remaining provincial capitals the number of social cooperatives established was as follows: Poznań 16, Warsaw 13, Łódź 11, Kraków 10, Olsztyn 10, Bydgoszcz 4, Katowice 3, Zielona Góra 3, Kielce 2, Lublin 2, Wrocław 2, Szczecin 1 and Toruń 1. Taking into account the type of city or town, it can be stated that almost one half (147) of all social cooperatives entered in the National Court Register since year 2004 is found in cities with poviat rights. In poviat capitals, 59 social cooperatives had been registered since 2004, in cities 37 (including 36 in cities being commune capitals), in villages 58 and in smaller settlements 2. The MSS research shows the present condition of social cooperatives. Questions contained in the questionnaire pertained mainly to operation of social cooperatives in year Among the 112 cooperatives included, which provided answers, 40 % were cooperatives established in 2010, 20% in 2009, 7% in 2008, 16% in 2007, 7% in 2006 and 10% in Data from

13 The preliminary data obtained during research showed that among those cooperatives, which provided answers, less than 10 had been established by legal persons, and none of them by a legal person representing a church. In most cases, natural persons were the founders of these cooperatives. Among this group, most cooperatives were established on the initiative of the unemployed (83% cooperatives), while the second largest group, smaller by more than one half, were the disabled (38,4%). No social cooperatives established by drug addicts, former convicts or refugees were found. Taking into account the size of social cooperatives, it should be noted that most of these are small, with less than 10 members (on the average, 7 to 8 members), while those with more than 10 members constitute a small group (about 10 %). The relationship of employment in social cooperatives, in more than a half of all cases, is based on the cooperative contract of employment (55%), the second largest group consists of contracts of specific work (22%), mandate agreements (20%), while the least popular are contracts for home-based work. In year 2010, 44 of all cooperatives considered hired the unemployed, while a small group (21) took advantage of voluntary work. On the basis of MSS, it can be stated that most (92) of the social cooperatives considered engaged in business activity, although some of those examined conduct their activity within the framework of paid activity based on the statute. Among the types of business activity conducted, services are dominant; similar situation has been reflected by the programme conducted in years Monitoring of the act on social cooperatives 29. At the time, the following services were the most popular: renovation, construction and cleaning, demolition of construction facilities, plumbing works, electrical and other technical works, including repair of bicycles and computers; catering; in the field of social assistance care of the elderly and the disabled; copying, sewing, laundering; maintenance of clubs and day-care centers for children and the youth. In production, the following were represented: processing of fruit and vegetables; production of fireplace wood; production of memory lights and garden decorations; nurseries of decorative and fruit-bearing plants; breeding of hens, goats, cattle and swine. Summing up, it can be stated that social cooperatives perform simple jobs within the framework of their business activity. 29 Sprawozdanie z realizacji zadań ustawy z dnia 27 kwietnia 2006 r. o spółdzielniach socjalnych, Druk Sejmowy no 930, Warsaw 2008, p

14 Table 3, on the other hand, presents the distribution of types of business activity in year 2010 according to indications of the MSS. It can be noted that services still dominated over production. It is worth underlining, however, that the number of services requiring higher qualifications increased, including services in such fields as education, business, economy, computers and the Internet. Services included both simple and specialized works. These were: hosting, geological services, urban monitoring, artistic and literary activity, forestry, management of changing rooms, chess courses for young people, retail sales of vegetables and fruit, sewing services, rental of carnival dresses, rental of training space, trade, care of homeless dogs, cost estimation for construction works, collection of used clothes, sale of parking tickets, maintenance, photography. It is worth noting that social cooperatives find recipients for their services and products mainly among natural persons, and then private companies, public administration offices and NGOs. One of the social cooperatives examined declared a foreign company to be its client. Areas Polish Classification of Activities Home and Garden 43, 0% Cleaning services 32,1 % Architecture (construction) 33,3 % Repair services 24,1 % Gastronomy 27,9 % Catering 20,5 % Business and Economy 25,8 % Training 15,2 % Education 23,7 % Painting services 15,2 % Table 3. Selected type of business activity conducted by social cooperatives Source: own study based on data from the MSS. In order to depict the activity of social cooperatives more comprehensively, it should be noted that the optional activity in the field of social work sensu largo with regard to the social or educational/ cultural dimension was undertaken by 70 cooperatives, while 58 entities are engaged in public benefits. It is equally important that to strengthen the obligatory social and occupational reintegration, many of the cooperatives examined established special reintegration funds. In addition, it should be underlined as a positive aspect that among employees of 37 social cooperatives, about 100 people were next able to find jobs on the labor market outside the cooperative. A significant number among the cooperatives examined assessed their financial condition to be at least average, while 25 attained a positive financial result in year As for their financial independence in year 2010 in comparison with the previous year 2009, 14

15 19% cooperatives declared it increased, 50% - that it remained the same, and 31% - that it decreased. Finally, in the context of the above analysis of changes brought by amendment of the AoSC of 2009, it should be verified how these were received by social cooperatives. Most of them responded positively to: lengthening of the period of reimbursement of social insurance premiums, increasing of the possibility to employ cooperative members not only on the basis of the cooperative contract of employment and regulation of the principles of employment at cooperatives persons not being their members. The possibility of establishment of cooperatives by legal persons was the least appreciated aspect of these changes. Strongly positive Rather positive Rather negative Strongly negative I do not know Possibility of setting up a social cooperative by legal persons 27,7% 41,1% 7,1% 1,8% 22,3 % Regulate employment in social cooperative nonmembers of the cooperative 57,1% 30,4% 4,5% 0% 8% Enable the employment of members of a social cooperative, not only on the basis of a cooperative contract 67,9% 26,8% 0,9% 0,9% 3,6% Extending the period of reimbursement of insurance premiums 78,6% 11,6% 0% 2,7% 7,1% Table 4. Assessment of selected amendments to the Act on social cooperatives, introduced in 2009 Source: own study on the basis of data from the MSS. Taking into account the empirical data examined, it should be stated that the number of registered social cooperatives increased after year In years , the structure of activity also changed from simple tasks to activities requiring greater qualifications and specialization. In addition, the financial condition of social cooperatives is not bad. I believe that, particularly towards the end of this period, we can speak of firm establishment of social cooperatives in the Polish economy and the institutional and legal system. It should be noted, however, that the available materials are not sufficient for formulation of further statements and further research is strongly recommended. 15

16 Summary On the basis of the short legal analysis, presented above, and the empirical data available, it can be stated that social cooperatives have become a constant component of the Polish economy. We have been observing a dynamic increase in the number of newly registered social cooperatives. In the recent years, the role of social cooperatives in business practice has strengthened, which is indicated by development of services rendered, as well as by existence of persons, who, after being employed by such cooperatives, found jobs on the open labor market, and the fact that the financial condition of these entities has not worsened despite the economic crisis. As it has been pointed out above, the main objective of existence of social cooperatives is to reinstate persons from groups threatened by exclusion on the labor market. Thus, it can be assumed that a social cooperative is a specific APS tool, used only to counteract the problem of unemployment and social exclusion. Analysis of empirical data has shown that social cooperatives are most often established by the unemployed. As they become cooperative members, these persons lose their status of the unemployed, which, on one hand, suggests a purely formal solution to the problem by a change of their legal status. However, taking into account the fact that the Polish social cooperatives can engage in any legal type of activity, their members and employees may include persons, who are not threatened by exclusion, and the fact that social cooperatives are obliged to engage in both social and occupational reintegration, it should be stated that their activity is not limited to formal solving of the problem of unemployment. The research results, presented above, have also confirmed this thesis. Summing up, social cooperatives contribute to real change in the status of the unemployed, improving their professional and financial condition. Activity undertaken within the framework of social cooperatives influence not only the economic condition of individual, but also the social dimensions of their lives. It is also worth noting that the number of these entities has been increasing, which allows us to assume that the role of social cooperatives in overcoming unemployment will be growing year after year. 16

17 Literature Borzaga C., Loss M., Work Integration Social Enterprises in Italy, Working Papers no. 02/02, EMES European Reasearch Network. Borzaga C., Santuari A., Przedsiębiorstwa społeczne we Włoszech. Doświadczenie spółdzielni społecznych, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Warsaw Brodziński M. G., Spółdzielnie, członkowie, samorządy. Z problematyki więzi oraz rozwoju spółdzielczości wiejskiej, ALMAMER Higher School, Warsaw Brzozowska J., Rozwój spółdzielni socjalnych w Polsce na tle nowelizacji Ustawy o spółdzielniach socjalnych, Trzeci Sektor 2010, no 21, pp Davister C., Defourny J., Gregoire O., Work integration social enterprises in the European Union: an overview of existing models, Working Paper no. 04/04, EMES European Reasearch Network. Defourny J., Nyssens M., Social enterprise in Europe: Recent trends and developments, Working Paper no. 08/01, EMES European Reasearch Network. Galera G., The evolution of the co-operative form: an international perspective, in: C. Borzaga, R. Spear, Trends and challenges for co-operatives and social enterprises in developed and transition countries, Trento Italy, Gersdorf M., Spółdzielnie socjalne, in: Z zagadnień współczesnego prawa pracy. Księga jubileuszowa Prof. Henryka Lewandowskiego, ed. Z. Góral, Wolters Kluwer, Warsaw Hulgård L., Bisballe T., Work Integration Social Enterprises in Denmark, Working Paper no. 04/08, EMES European Reasearch Network. Izdebski H., Spółdzielnie socjalne a organizacje pozarządowe przewidywane skutki Ustawy o spółdzielniach socjalnych, Trzeci Sektor 2006, no 7. Leś E., Co-operatives in Poland: from state-controlled institutions to new trends in co-operative development, in: C. Borzaga, R. Spear (eds.), Trends and challenges for co-operatives and social enterprises in developed and transition countries, Trento Italy, Leś E., Ołdak M., Kondycja i perspektywy rozwoju podmiotów gospodarki społecznej w Polsce. Konkluzje i rekomendacje, in: Obszary gospodarki społecznej. Doświadczenie Partnerstwa na Rzecz Rozwoju Tu jest praca, P. Chodyra, E. Leś, 17

18 M. Ołdak (eds.), Ministry of Labour and Social Policy Department of Public Benefit and The Institute of Social Policy of the Warsaw University, Warsaw Rymsza M., The Second Wave of the Social Economy in Poland and the Concept of Active Social Policy, in: M. Rymsza, T Kaźmierczak (eds.), Social Economy in Poland. Past and present, Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw Sobol A., Społeczne aspekty działalności spółdzielni socjalnych, Polish General Revisory Union for Social Cooperatives and National Council of Cooperatives, Warsaw Sprawozdanie z realizacji zadań ustawy z dnia 27 kwietnia 2006 r. o spółdzielniach socjalnych, Druk Sejmowy no 930, Warsaw Abstract The aim of the article is to show the role of the social cooperatives in economy of Poland, especially in overcoming problems of the unemployed. Unemployment is relevant not only to the economy, but also to society and human life. It is connected with the fact that unemployment accompanies the poverty as well as the marginalization and the social exclusion. Unemployment causes also problems for individual people which are not only economical, but social and psychological. At the end of the twenty century the idea called social economy (especially social enterprise) was proposed as a tool of the active social policy to integrate or reintegrate social excluded individuals. One of the examples of social enterprise is social cooperative. Polish social cooperative has been created by law in 2004 mainly to integrate or reintegrate the unemployed. In a nutshell saying social cooperatives should help the unemployed not only deal with economic problems (e.g. providing places of work), but also with social problems (e.g. reintegrate marginalized individuals with society). This article is showing how do the social cooperatives work in favor of the unemployed and what role do they play in overcoming problems of the unemployed. Author presents the information and data about actual position of the social cooperatives in Poland. Gathered information refers to the whole group of the social cooperatives founded before 2011 and data includes authors own research on the basis of the National Court Register and research of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. 18