The research problem had its origin because of the uneasiness of the researchers about the diversity and complexity of the problems related to the participation at work, hard to be always explained via objective elements. This understanding of the problem guided the option for a quality featured study based on Qualitative Epistemology (GONZÁLEZ REY, 2005), and the analysis were substantiated from the meaning of the subjective sense (GONZÁLEZ REY, 2003, 2005). The objective of this article is to analyze the treasury server subjective senses in the light of the participation at work. The theoretical reference is the subjectivity theory in González Rey's (2003, 2005) historical-cultural perspective, which proposes a subjectivity conception from a man's historical-cultural comprehension, a theory that breaks with the dichotomy between social and individual. It was associated national and international studies about participation at work, such as O'Donoghue, Stanton and Bartram (2011), Zani and Spinelli (2010), Neves and Castro (2010); Palgi (2006), Cox, Zagelmeyer and Marchington (2006), Demo (1988), Coutinho (2006) and Leal Filho (2009). The adopted concept of participation is associated to the ways and means by which workers and directors of an organization can influence their destinies (MOTTA, 1999).The subjects researched are seven tax auditors from the Secretaria de Estado da Fazenda do Espírito Santo (Sefaz). The data collection took place in four empirical moments between July 2009 and February 2010. The interpretations exposed relevant subjective senses in each of the subjects researched in the light of the participation at work, and also in the light of: ideological points of view; family core and self-esteem; the new and changes; formality and family. The outcomes made possible the identification of remarkable elements of the social subjectivity prevailing in the institution, highlighting: control based culture; miscomprehension between friendship and professional relations; lack of participation space. In the end, measures were suggested in order to better the institution-worker relation and the participation of workers at work, gaps and limitations in the study, and future questions for a future study were also approached.
Participation at work; Subjectivity; Subjective senses; Tax auditor; Public Administration