The paper suggests that due to the difficult nature of their work public family law caseworkers are to be included in the definition of emotional labour even though they are omitted by Hochschild. Based upon a review of the structures involved in emotional labour an explorative qualitative study is put forth among 25 Danish public family law caseworkers. The study points to personal, professional, and social zones of emotional labour through which the caseworkers carry out their work. Emotional labour zones mark emotion structures that may be challenging due to complex emotional intersections between zones.