1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«In this research, we dwelt on the perceptions of organisational support to work-life balance in a police service in the Canadian Province of Quebec. Our objectives were not only to assess the perception of formal and informal support to work-life balance in a demanding work environment, but also to identify more precisely the processes through which colleagues and supervisors can provide, or not provide, informal support to work-life balance.» (p. 76)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Qualitative data was gathered from fifty-three semi-structured 60-minute interviews with police service employees who had volunteered to participate.» (p. 79) «For the questionnaire, a total of 200 answers were returned by 104 men and 96 women.» (p. 81)

Instruments :
- Guide d’entretien
- Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

«The police service under study showed that a mostly male work environment can address work-life balance issues and the progress is remarkable; particularly as it is pressed by young fathers themselves.[...] Qualitative data allowed us to look at how colleagues supported each other by exchanging work hours and days, and how supervisors only need to acknowledge the change without much effort on their part. Therefore, while some quantitative research has shown that informal support is important, this particular case study shows how this actually occurs.[...] While quantitative data reveal that the police service is surprisingly open to work-life balance, some in-depth interviews show that this is often due to the personal mindset of supervisors and not necessarily to organisational policy. The latter should be asserted in order to make organisational support into a more steady resource throughout organisations such as the police sector and in other predominantly male work environments. Moreover, where parental leave is acknowledged and deemed acceptable, leaves for family reasons such as caring for ailing relatives are not necessarily recognised as legitimate.» (p. 89-90)