Last update:
24-May-2014

OBJECTIVE Employment is one of the main goals of psychosocial rehabilitation of the mentally ill. Social firms (known in Greece as KoiSPE) constitute one of the sources of employment opportunities for people with mental illness. The aim of this study was to investigate the job satisfaction of employees with mental illness working for a social firm in Corfu, and the associated factors.

METHOD The sample consisted of 35 mentally ill employees working for the Corfu social firm during the period March−April 2012. Data were collected using a questionnaire covering demographic information, designed according to the relevant literature, and the Employee Satisfaction Inventory (ESI), adapted for Greek use by Koustelios and Bagiatis.

RESULTS Most of the participating employees reported satisfaction with the working conditions, the work itself, the organization as a whole and the supervision provided, while they were dissatisfied with the pay and their prospects of promotion. The employees with higher income were significantly more satisfied with their work, and women were significantly more satisfied than men with the organization as a whole.

CONCLUSIONS The high level of job satisfaction with most of the work factors in KoiSPE confirms the importance of employment for mentally ill people, especially that provided by social firms. The employment provided should correspond to the particular needs of this group of people.

Key words: Mentally ill, Rehabilitation, Satisfaction, Social enterprises.