Arbeidsgivers ansvar for likestilling i arbeidslivet

The article explores how managers facilitate the use of care rights by employees. The purpose is to investigate how managers consider gender equality when facilitating employees’ use of care rights, which they are committed to through their statutory duty to actively promote gender equality and through the equality and discrimination legislation. The data comprises qualitative interviews with managers in the police and legal profession focusing on how they approach employees exercising the right to parental leave and the right to work reduced hours. The analysis show that few managers focus fully on gender equality. Most managers provide minimal facilitation by granting leave or reduced hours, while the workload of those who actively promote gender equality increases. The social landscape in which the statutory duty and care rights are supposed to function is explored based on the managers’ approach to facilitation, various institutional logics in organisations and managers’ gendered expectations. The main findings show that managers do not consider gender equality when facilitating. Furthermore, they have different expectations towards women and men, as parents and as employees. These expectations colour the managers’ approach. Gendered use of care rights constitutes a dilemma because gender equality is rarely present in the managers’ approach to facilitation.