Working on the front line with benefit claimants during social security reforms: benefit advisor experiences of emotional labour

Benefit advisors working in front-line roles with benefit claimants in the United Kingdom perform an emotionally challenging role which has changed significantly since the Welfare Reform Act (2012). This thesis argues that claimant difficulties due to these social security reforms have impacted the interactions they have with public sector benefit advisory staff who are seen as the face or voice of the reforms, and third sector benefit advisors providing advice and support for claimants struggling to navigate the system. Interview and diary data is used to explore the experiences of current and former Department for Work and Pensions, local authority and third sector staff who work in face-to-face or voice-to-voice advisory roles. Emotional labour is defined as work that requires staff to evoke or suppress emotions in line with organizational expectations (Hochschild 1983). This thesis utilises emotional labour as a lens through which to understand the complexity of benefit advisory roles which require advisors to manage both their own and claimant emotions. It identifies how advisors skilfully mediate their own emotions, performing the required emotional display alongside using strategies intended to defuse difficult interactions with upset and angry claimants. The effects of this work on advisors both inside and outside of the workplace are discussed, concluding that benefit advisors can struggle with negative impacts on wellbeing and blurred boundaries between work and home life. This thesis also provides an insight into the variety of strategies advisors use to alleviate negative impacts of their emotional labour and contends that there are multiple workplace factors which influence the extent to which they can draw upon such strategies. Examining these day-to-day challenges has implications for trade unions, employers and policy makers. An important contribution is also provided to existing commentary on social security reforms by illuminating the previously underrepresented perspectives of front-line advisors.