Assessing sick-listed clients’ work ability: A moral mission?

Judging the extent to which sick-listed clients’ disabilities qualify them for sickness benefits is increasingly part of frontline work. However, we lack knowledge about discretional process assessing work ability. Institutional ethnographic research caseworkers in Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration revealed that they emphasised residual ability – meaning what clients could perform despite their medical diagnoses as well inner motivations ethic. We argue praxis influenced by efforts fit into a category deserving ‘sick-listed yet work-capable client’. Because guidelines combine health work, apply ‘moral selves’ assessment resulting scepticism towards feigning, or exaggerating symptoms obtain financial avoid question whether our findings represent shift universalistic welfare model more liberal incentive-strengthening type.