UNDEREMPLOYMENT IN SOCIAL ENTERPRISES – SOCIAL COOPERATIVES AS A CASE IN POINT

The aim of this article is to analyze work conditions in the social economy using the example of social cooperatives, and to determine whether there is a category of their employees affected by underemployment. For this purpose, three sources of data are presented: the nationwide cooperative study conducted by the MPiPS (the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy), the study of the Wielkopolska province cooperatives carried out under the direction of J. Tittenbrun and the study on social economy entities conducted by the Research Institute of Public Affairs. In conclusion, it can be said that the inability to ensure the sustainability of the operation, and thus the stability of employment and adequate income, is a major prerequisite to define a job in social cooperatives as underemployment, despite many noble objectives accompanying the Act of social cooperatives.