This article combines theories on emotional labor in public service and dirty work to argue that organizations should adopt an ethic of care to support their workers. The economics of public services undermine the consumer-sovereignty narrative in government, particularly where public servants are agents of social control and enforcement. Public servants cannot and should not behave according to a customer-service ethos in many important areas of public service. Emotional labor is the process by which workers manage the identity-damaging aspects of public service. This article critiques individual-level human resource management (HRM) approaches and recommends dismantling customer service expectations that are inappropriately applied in public-service contexts.

本文结合了有关公共服务和肮脏工作中的情感劳动的理论，认为组织应采取关怀伦理来支持其工人。公共服务的经济学破坏了政府对消费者主权的叙述，特别是在公务员是社会控制和执法的推动者的情况下。在许多重要的公共服务领域，公务员不能也不应按照客户服务的精神行事。情感劳动是工人管理损害公共服务身份的过程。本文批评了个人级人力资源管理（HRM）的方法，并建议拆除在公共服务环境中不适当地应用的客户服务期望。