– In the past, I have taken it for granted that “I don’t have children, I don’t have to go home to anyone, of course I can work an hour over today”, says Skjeldal. – It has not struck me until now that this has been going on for many years. Sandra (30) has felt an expectation that she will take on, for example, inconvenience guards because she has chosen not to have children yet. – I have experienced this several times. Both when it applies to public holidays and holidays, but also in everyday life. For example, colleagues have to leave work because they have to pick them up from the nursery, or because the children have fallen ill. She emphasizes that she fully understands that parents have to travel if such things happen. – But it will be more difficult for us without children, because we have nothing to defend ourselves with. LEI: In a post Skjeldal shared on LinkedIn, she criticizes attitudes that exist in the working life of those who do not have children. It is not concrete workplaces that she criticizes, but rather attitudes that exist in working life. Photo: Kjetil Samuelsen / news Positive response A LinkedIn post Skjeldal has shared has received over a thousand reactions and close to a hundred comments. Many of the comments are expressions of thanks. AGREE: Skjeldal shared his frustration on LinkedIn and received an enormous response. Photo: Skjermdump / LinkedIn Organizational psychologist Gunhild Bjaalid believes the response is a sign that there are more people who have experienced the same expectations in the workplace. – As an employee, there are expectations of you, depending on what is in your job description, what kind of profession you have and what you are appointed to do, says Bjaalid. EATING ON: Gunhild Bjaalid is an organizational psychologist at the University of Stavanger. Photo: Asbjørn Jensen / UiS She says there are broad and formal guidelines for what is expected of you as an employee. – What many who do not have children have probably experienced is meeting informal expectations and attitudes in working life. This informal pressure can come from both peer colleagues and managers. Such attitudes could be, for example, that “you who don’t have children probably don’t need 17 May off”. Or “can you finish this, I have to go to collect from the nursery now”. – If some employees feel that they receive such comments, then it often eats away at the working environment. Room for differential treatment From a purely legal point of view, everyone in the workplace has the same rights, regardless of life situation. Nevertheless, there are exceptions that may seem discriminatory for those who do not have children. If it is something special, time-limited or completely special, the employer can impose overtime on the employee. However, employees can be exempt from this if they have health or weighty social reasons for doing so. – Small children can be a weighty social reason if you have parental responsibility. In the legislation, a manager can actually charge someone who is not in that situation more than someone who has children, says Bjaalid. – So there is a basis for a certain differential treatment in the legislation, and it can seem discriminatory to those who have children. She emphasizes that being required to work overtime is not something that should or can happen every day. Encouragement to say from Women today are waiting longer to have their first child than in the past. According to Statistics Norway, the average age at first birth was 30.1 years in 2021. 20 years earlier, the average age was 27.3 years. At the same time, there are many who never have children, either voluntarily or not. 14 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men born in 1975 were childless at the age of 45. Bjaalid encourages those who feel the same pressure as Skjeldal to speak out. – If it happens over a long period of time, and it doesn’t get better, it won’t get better either if you don’t speak up. – Even if you don’t have small children, you may have obligations, agreements or want to strike a balance between work and leisure. At the same time, Bjaalid underlines that she thinks the vast majority of parents of young children feel discomfort when they have to leave a little earlier or stay home with a sick child. – We are all trapped to a certain extent in our own perspectives, and prefer to see the challenges that are in our own lives best, but I don’t think that parents of young children are ignorant and don’t see this problem, she says. Dialogue is needed – Now I’m in a working environment where you work more individually and are closed on weekends and holidays, so this is the first time I’ve experienced being seen on an equal footing with my other colleagues, regardless of my life situation, says Skjeldal. A LOT OF RESPONSE: Sandra Cailyn Skjeldal got a lot of response to the post she published on LinkedIn. She believes it is important to show understanding for each other and to have an open dialogue in the workplace. Photo: Kjetil Samuelsen / news She has never spoken about the problem before, but she will do so now, if she feels such pressure again. – One has different needs and interests, and that is part of the reason for the choice I have made and why I do not have children to this day, says Skjeldal. – I would like to help if needed at work, but it is more about that it is considered a natural consequence and that it happens several times.
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Sandra Cailyn Skjeldal felt she had to work more because she does not have children – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
