This paper compares the way of perceiving and implementing social innovations in companies and social enterprises in Poland with those in Europe. Special attention is paid to internal social innovations, so-called workplace innovations (WPI), and the reasons and outcomes of their introduction in companies, both in Poland and in other European countries. Moreover, the paper investigates the relationship between the need for internal social innovations and positive employment relations in analyzed entities. The research findings prove that introducing innovations, including social innovations, is mainly driven by the need to improve a company’s performance. Among social innovations which both companies and social enterprises value is investment into improving employees’ work conditions. Moreover, for more than half of Polish companies and social enterprises the need for innovations is related to creating development opportunities, higher work flexibility, better social and life conditions of employees, as well as supporting employee’s reconciliation between work and family life. These reasons for introducing social innovations were also noted by both managers and employees in other European companies. The paper also shows the links between issues of internal social innovations and positive employment relationships. The presented research findings prove that positive relationships among employees are significantly and positively correlated with a broad approach to the need for introducing social innovations. Moreover, the paper points out that positive employment relations are perceived as an important outcome of workplace innovation practices in European companies.

Streszczenie: Opieka długoterminowa w Polsce w ramach systemu zabezpieczenia społecznego zarezerwowana jest dla osób najbardziej potrzebujących i rozczłonko-wana pomiędzy dwa systemy -system opieki społecznej i system ochrony zdrowia. Rosnące potrzeby opiekuńcze polskiego społeczeństwa wymuszają dyskusję na temat publiczno-prywatnego modelu fi nansowania opieki, w którym kryterium publicznej pomocy opierałoby się na stopniu niesamodzielności osoby starszej. Celem artykułu jest analiza aktualnych i projektowanych rozwiązań w obszarze opieki długotermino-wej oraz sposobów jej fi nansowania w Polsce.Słowa kluczowe: fi nansowanie opieki długoterminowej, urynkowienie usług, niesamodzielność. Klasyfi kacja JEL: J140, H510. THE DIRECTIONS OF DEVELOPMENT OF LONG-TERM CARE SERVICES IN POLANDAbstract: Formal long-term care in Poland is reserved for the most deprived and is divided between two systems: a system of social welfare and a health care system. Growing care needs in Polish society have created a discussion of a public-private funding model of care in which the criterion of public support would be based on the degree of dependence of an elderly person. Th e aim of the article is to analyze the current and planned solutions for long-term care and the manner of fi nancing it in Poland.

The possibility to balance work and eldercare in the Netherlands is determined by legal and institutional factors (such as special employment entitlements for a career in the form of leaves and a flexible working arrangement). In our paper we compare the Dutch legislation in this field with the HRM practice of four Dutch public and private (non-profit and for-profit) organizations. The aim is to check what kind of workplace eldercare assistance is provided by the organizations and what forms are applied due to legal regulations and what goes beyond these regulations and why. The results show that the relationship between employer and employee is based on mutual trust. Dutch employers are – as far as circumstances permit – more generous in practice than the specific legislation requires, mainly due to the minimum rights in the legislation. A reason for the generosity is self-interest. The Dutch regulation of sick pay can be seen as an incentive to prevent sickness as it obliges employers to continue paying the wages during sickness for a long period. Moreover, they want to build loyalty and motivation among their employees by developing a formof corporate social responsibility.

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