This paper is part of a study that examines how managers within the Norwegian police and legal profession view employees’ use of parental leave. Data comprises qualitative interviews with 34 managers. These are police managers, as well as partners in private law firms and heads of legal departments or offices in the public sector.
The paper contributes to recent years’ debate on effects of family policies. Whereas some researchers have highlighted the positive effects for gender equality, others have pointed at utilising family policies having negative consequences for women’s careers. This debate contains implicit assumptions about how managers perceive of employees’ use of parental leave, but few studies have examined managers’ views directly.
Managers’ perspectives are important because they assign tasks, decide bonuses and promotions, and address the organisation’s goals. Thus, they play an important role in setting the criteria for good work and professional expectations, as well as expectations vis-à-vis employees’ work/family reconciliation. The managers were interviewed about everyday work practices and family policies, and the interviews analysed with regard to how the managers describe, argue for, or justify practices in their organisations, and with regard to their underlying assumptions and expectations towards the employees, professionally and vis-à-vis parental commitments.
Interviewing managers about possible negative consequences from employees exercising their statutory rights can be challenging, as the matter is politically delicate. The paper discusses these challenges as well as advantages and disadvantages to different ways of approaching the subject in the interviews.
