They do what they must: caseworkers at the public employment service in Vienna

Abstract

PurposeConcerning the decision-making of frontline bureaucrats, research has suggested that caseworkers take into account a broader range of legal, organisational, professional and personal aspects. Their decision-making can offset social rights, when it neglects policy goals, but it can support social rights if the decisions consider clients' perspective.Design/methodology/approachBased on a factorial survey experiment with 197 Viennese caseworkers of the employment service, the caseworkers were asked how likely they would be to refer nine different typical clients to the introductory session for the programme “Women into Technical and Craft Professions”, whereby different dimensions were altered to grasp regulations and clients' perspective.FindingsIn the multilevel analysis, the interest of the clients in a technical-educational programme demonstrates the strongest positive effect, which complies with the programme's political intention. Other pertinent criteria may support clients' interests and the organizational performance goals, but neglect clients' position, when they counteract performance goals. Primarily, caseworkers do what they must and follow mandatory and performance criteria.Research limitations/implicationsOn the caseworker's level, further research should aim to reach larger samples. Furthermore, the impact of performance goals on caseworker's decision making has to regard different professional groups beside personnel and labour market experts.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that a focus on the micro-level is needed to evaluate the impact of social policies. The practitioner's position is crucial to juggling legal goals and client's need.Social implicationsPerformance goals ought to better reflect social rights on a broader scale.Originality/valueThis article provides new evidence on the level of discretion caseworkers execute.