Addressing social,\neconomic and societal challenges is becoming a common feature of the ongoing\ndiscussions on social entrepreneurship. In view of the current developments in\nthe labour market, with particular emphasis on the number and structure of disadvantaged\ngroups of the population, social enterprises represent one of the key elements\nin the area of inclusive growth. Particular attention is paid to social\nenterprises for labour integration. Through the employment and social inclusion\nof disadvantaged or vulnerable people, social enterprises for labour\nintegration contribute to overall social cohesion and inclusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The adoption of Act No.\n112\/2018 Coll. On Social Economy and Social Enterprises in 2018 created a\ncomprehensive regulation of the social economy sector, which introduced a\nlong-absent system of financial assistance to support the activities of the\nsocial economy. A clear set of rules and instruments thus creates a legislative\nframework for the entire social economy sector in Slovakia, within which it\nfacilitates not only the creation but also the development of social\nenterprises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Act in question\namended a number of other important laws such as the Income Tax Act, the Value\nAdded Tax Act, the Public Procurement Act, the Commercial Code, and others. On\nthe positive side, the law contains a number of measures to prevent abuse of\nthe social enterprise status (e.g. wage ceilings, disclosure of ultimate\nowners, limited transactions with related companies, ceilings on interest,\nrestrictions on transfers of assets, prohibition of duplication of support). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This law is also\nsignificant because it defines basic terms such as social economy, social\neconomy entity, social enterprise, social impact enterprise, registered social\nenterprise, and others. For this reason, the concept of social enterprise<\/strong> has its\nlegal embodiment<\/strong> in the law effective from 1 May 2018, compared to the\nlegislation of neighbouring countries. Due to the fragmented legal regulation\nof social entrepreneurship in several laws, neighbouring countries (Czech\nRepublic, Poland, Hungary and Austria) are striving to enact the legal concept\nof social enterprise as well as to enact legal forms of social enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social enterprises\ncontribute to strengthening regional and local development in the country by\naddressing these challenges on the one hand and by bringing social innovation\non the other hand. Many social enterprises through sustainable business\nconcepts, not only in Slovakia but also abroad, have valuable experience in\ncreating positive social impact and addressing local social and environmental\nissues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The results from the\ninterviews conducted with selected registered social enterprises showed that\nthe success of a sustainable approach cannot be achieved without striking a\nbalance between financial sustainability and maximising social impact. The\nregistration of social enterprises is helpful in the stabilisation process,\nwhich also allows them to be formally integrated into the social economy\nsector. However, striking a balance between financial stability and achieving a\npositive social impact cannot be done without social enterprises being\nproactive in finding their own financial resources as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the same way, the\nquality of middle management is one of the other elements for the successful\ndevelopment of social enterprises. It is defined by a high level of human\ncapital in terms of the social, emotional and moral endowment of individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the basis of the\nadopted law, social enterprises also offer a special space for the integration\nand social inclusion of disadvantaged persons with disabilities. This opens up\nnew opportunities for the potential target group to enter the open labour\nmarket. Another identified prerequisite for the development of the social\neconomy sector as a whole is the relatively high allocation of financial\nresources from the EU as well as the state budget of the Slovak Republic for\nthe support of social enterprises. The growing awareness of social enterprises\nin society as innovative and potentially sustainable contributors to job\ncreation and development is another of the identified prerequisites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the one hand, the\ndevelopment of the social economy sector, as well as the very existence of\nsocial enterprises, represents an opportunity to integrate marginalised groups\ninto the labour market and strengthen overall social inclusion. On the other\nhand, it is also an opportunity for business development through the creation\nof new entities as well as the transformation of existing entities into social\nenterprises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the key factors on\nwhich the fulfilment of the aforementioned prerequisites will depend is the\nintroduction of all statutory instruments to support social enterprises into\napplication practice. The question for the future also remains some constraint,\nfocusing on the moral consideration of the nature of the core business of the\nsocial enterprise, which in some cases may present an ethical conflict in the\npursuit of positive social impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the identified\nchallenges in the development of the social economy sector is the linking of\nsocial investors with social enterprises, which can be an essential element in\nobtaining financial resources for sustainable social enterprise concepts. At\nthe same time, there is a need for more dynamic support in the area of\neducation and training in the field of social entrepreneurship, which would\nallow for a continuous assessment of the needs of social enterprises in their\ndifferent organisational forms. In this way, more effective integration across\nlocalities would be possible. By sharing knowledge and interacting with other\nsocial enterprises, there is room for learning new practical as well as\nbusiness skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It will be important for\npublic policy to continue to make progress in adopting support measures for\nsocial enterprises that will increase the effectiveness of the enterprises\nthemselves in delivering inclusive growth. At the same time, it is necessary to\nstimulate through support measures the establishment and development of social\neconomy entities and to eliminate obstacles that would hinder the expected\ndevelopment of the social economy sector in the conditions of the Slovak\nRepublic. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Addressing social, economic and societal challenges is becoming a common feature of the ongoing discussions on social entrepreneurship. In view of the current developments in the labour market, with particular emphasis on the number and structure of disadvantaged groups of the population, social enterprises represent one of the key elements in the area of inclusive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\n