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BALANCING WORK AND FAMILY: WHAT POLICIES

BEST SUPPORT AMERICAN FAMILIES?

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS 

COMMITTEE ON 

EDUCATION AND LABOR

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, JUNE 21, 2007

Serial No. 110–49

Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor

(

Available on the Internet: 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/house/education/index.html 

(II)

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR 

GEORGE MILLER, California, Chairman

Dale E. Kildee, Michigan, Vice Chairman 

Donald M. Payne, New Jersey 

Robert E. Andrews, New Jersey 

Robert C. ‘‘Bobby’’ Scott, Virginia 

Lynn C. Woolsey, California 

Rube ́n Hinojosa, Texas 

Carolyn McCarthy, New York 

John F. Tierney, Massachusetts 

Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio 

David Wu, Oregon 

Rush D. Holt, New Jersey 

Susan A. Davis, California 

Danny K. Davis, Illinois 

Rau ́l M. Grijalva, Arizona 

Timothy H. Bishop, New York 

Linda T. Sa ́nchez, California 

John P. Sarbanes, Maryland 

Joe Sestak, Pennsylvania 

David Loebsack, Iowa 

Mazie Hirono, Hawaii 

Jason Altmire, Pennsylvania 

John A. Yarmuth, Kentucky 

Phil Hare, Illinois 

Yvette D. Clarke, New York 

Joe Courtney, Connecticut 

Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire 

Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon, California, 

Ranking Minority Member 

Thomas E. Petri, Wisconsin 

Peter Hoekstra, Michigan 

Michael N. Castle, Delaware 

Mark E. Souder, Indiana 

Vernon J. Ehlers, Michigan 

Judy Biggert, Illinois 

Todd Russell Platts, Pennsylvania 

Ric Keller, Florida 

Joe Wilson, South Carolina 

John Kline, Minnesota 

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington 

Kenny Marchant, Texas 

Tom Price, Georgia 

Luis G. Fortun ̃ o, Puerto Rico 

Charles W. Boustany, Jr., Louisiana 

Virginia Foxx, North Carolina 

John R. ‘‘Randy’’ Kuhl, Jr., New York 

Rob Bishop, Utah 

David Davis, Tennessee 

Timothy Walberg, Michigan 

Dean Heller, Nevada

Mark Zuckerman, Staff Director 

Vic Klatt, Minority Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS 

LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California, Chairwoman

Donald M. Payne, New Jersey 

Timothy H. Bishop, New York 

Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire 

Phil Hare, Illinois 

Joe Wilson, South Carolina, 

Ranking Minority Member 

Tom Price, Georgia 

John Kline, Minnesota 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

Hearing held on June 21, 2007 ............................................................................... 1

Statement of Members: 

Biggert, Hon. Judy, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

Illinois ............................................................................................................ 9

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 11

DeLauro, Hon. Rosa L., a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Connecticut ................................................................................................ 6

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 8

Wilson, Hon. Joe, ranking minority member, Subcommittee on Workforce 

Protections ..................................................................................................... 4

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 5

Woolsey, Hon. Lynn C., Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Workforce Protections ................................................................................................................ 1

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 3

Statement of Witnesses: 

Lindsay, Melissa, bookkeeper, Marlin Steel Wire Products ......................... 18

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 20

Quarberg, Missy, former Wal-Mart employee ................................................ 13

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 15

Rowe-Finkbeiner, Kristin, cofounder, MomsRising ....................................... 22

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 24

Wankoff, Barbara, director, Workplace Solutions, KPMG ............................ 16

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 17

(1)

BALANCING WORK AND FAMILY:

WHAT POLICIES BEST SUPPORT 

AMERICAN FAMILIES? 

Thursday, June 21, 2007

U.S. House of Representatives 

Subcommittee on Workforce Protections 

Committee on Education and Labor 

Washington, DC

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 1:30 p.m., in Room 

2175, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Lynn Woolsey [chairwoman of the subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Woolsey, Payne, Bishop of New York, 

Shea-Porter, Hare, Wilson and Kline. 

Also present: Representative McKeon. 

Staff Present: Aaron Albright, Press Secretary; Tylease Alli, 

Hearing Clerk; Lynn Dondis, Senior Policy Advisor for Subcommittee on Workforce Protections; Jody Calemine, Labor Policy 

Deputy Director; Michael Gaffin, Staff Assistant, Labor; Joe 

Novotny, Chief Clerk; Michele Varnhagen, Labor Policy Director; 

Robert Borden, Minority General Counsel; Cameron Coursen, Minority Assistant Communications Director; Steve Forde, Minority 

Communications Director; Ed Gilroy, Minority Director of Workforce Policy; Rob Gregg, Minority Legislative Assistant; Richard 

Hoar, Minority Professional Staff Member; Jim Paretti, Minority 

Workforce Policy Counsel; Molly Salmi McLaughlin, Minority Deputy Director of Workforce Policy; and Linda Stevens, Minority 

Chief Clerk/Assistant to the General Counsel. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. A quorum is present. The hearing of the 

Workforce Protections Subcommittee on Balancing Work and Family; What Policies Best Support American Families? will come to 

order. Pursuant to committee rule 12(a), any Member may submit 

an opening statement in writing, which will be made part of the 

permanent record. 

I now recognize myself followed by Ranking Member Joe Wilson 

for our opening statements. 

First, I want to thank everybody who is here for coming today 

for what will be the first of a series of hearings before this subcommittee on balancing work and family. This is a very important 

topic. It is a serious one for our country because most of us work, 

and our lives revolve around work and family. That was certainly 

the case with me. It has been many, many years, but I was a single 

mother, raising four children. I worked full time, at first, for 3 

2

years as the sole breadwinner for three of those four children. Then 

I was remarried, but I kept on being a full-time worker, and we 

were a blended family, so I was the mother of four children. 

I was also a human resources professional for over 20 years, so 

I know not because of my own experience; I know how hard it was 

for the people who work in our company, the families, not just the 

mothers, but the mothers and fathers—how hard it was for them 

to balance coming to work and taking care of their children and not 

having to give one up for the other. 

Today, in about 80 percent of families with two parents, both 

parents work, and 75 percent of all mothers, single and married, 

are in the workplace today. Parents work long hours, they commute long distances, and they do that to put food on the table, and 

too often they are not even there to sit at the table to eat that food 

with their children. 

As a result, balancing work and family has become an important 

challenge not just for myself, not just for this subcommittee, but for 

our Nation in general. This is made all the more difficult because 

of the lack of family-friendly policies in the United States of America, and by family friendly, I am talking about paid sick leave, family and medical leave that is paid, affordable childcare, flexible 

schedules, just to name a few. 

To appreciate the uphill battle faced by working families, here 

are some statistics to consider. Forty-six million people lack health 

care coverage in this country, including 9 million children, or 12 

percent of all children in this country do not have health care. At 

least 40,000 kindergartners each day go home to an empty house 

when school is over because we lack after-school programs. Only 28 

percent of full-time workers have flexible schedules that allow 

them to vary the time that they begin and end work, and one-half 

of private-sector employees in this country do not have a single day 

of paid sick leave. 

Our country, while great in many, many ways, is stuck in a time 

warp when it comes to providing workers with help in balancing 

work and their families, and it lags far behind other countries in 

this arena. It is a shame, too, because studies have told us that 

family-friendly policies work. They increase recruitment and retention rates, they decrease absenteeism, and they improve productivity. For example, Corporate Voices for Working Families did a 

study on work flexibility and found that workers with flexible work 

schedules were 40 to 50 percent more committed to their work and 

30 percent less likely to leave their current employer within a 2-

year period. 

There are many good employers in this country, many, and they 

realize that family-friendly policies actually help, they do not hurt, 

their bottom line. Bank of America has a program that reimburses 

workers for childcare. It has found that workers who use the program are twice as likely to stay with the company as those who do 

not. At KPMG, the company that Ms. Wankoff, one of our witnesses today, works for has great benefits for workers, including 

backup care for children or elderly relatives if there is a need, and 

KPMG’s retention rates are up. 

But employers need to be encouraged. They need to be encouraged to step up to the plate, and we in Congress and in other parts 

3

of the government have very important roles to play in making 

sure our workers can balance their lives. That is why I have introduced the Balancing Act, which puts into place a whole host of 

family-friendly policies, such as paid family and medical leave, benefits for part-time workers, improved childcare, universal voluntary 

preschool, before- and after-school programs, school meals, and a 

pilot program to explore telecommuting. 

That is why Representative Rosa DeLauro is here today and has 

introduced her Healthy Families Act, which will provide workers 

with 7 days of paid sick leave to care for their own medical needs 

and the needs of family members. That is why Carolyn Maloney 

from New York has introduced a bill that would allow 

breastfeeding at the workplace. That is why many others have introduced legislation, legislation that proves that we know parents 

should not be put in a situation where they are forced to choose 

between their jobs and their families. We know you can, we know 

you must bridge work and family, and I am so anxious to hear from 

our witnesses today. This is the beginning of a series of important 

hearings we are going to be having. 

[The statement of Ms. Woolsey follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Lynn C. Woolsey, Chairwoman, Subcommittee 

on Workforce Protections 

I want to thank everyone for coming here today for what I hope will be the first 

of a series of hearings before this Subcommittee on balancing work and family. This 

is a very important topic and a serious one for our country, because most of us work. 

And our lives revolve around work and family. 

That was certainly the case with me. I was a single mother raising four children 

and worked full-time at first as the sole breadwinner and then after a second marriage. 

And it was hard. 

I was also a human resource professional for 20 years, so I not only know how 

hard the balance was for me, but how hard it was for the people I dealt with over 

the years. Today, in about 80 percent of families with 2-parents, both parents work. 

And 75 percent of all mothers—single and married—are in the workplace today. 

Parents work long hours and commute long distances to put food on the table, and 

too often they aren’t there to sit down and eat with their kids. As a result, balancing 

work and family has become a real challenge. This is made all the more difficult 

because of the lack of ‘‘family-friendly’’ policies in this country. 

To appreciate the uphill battle faced by working families, listen to some of these 

statistics: 

• 46 million people lack health care coverage in this country, including 9 million 

children—or 12 percent of all children in this country; 

• At least 40,000 kindergartners each day go home to an empty house when 

school is over for lack of after-school programs; 

• Only 28 percent of full-time workers have flexible schedules that allow them to 

vary the time that they begin and end work; and 

• One-half of private sector employees in this country do not have a single day 

of paid sick leave. Our country, while great in many ways, is stuck in a time warp 

when it comes to providing workers with help in balancing work and family. 

And it lags far behind other countries in this arena. It is a shame too, because 

studies have told us that ‘‘family-friendly’’ policies work. They increase recruitment 

and retention rates, decrease absenteeism and improve productivity. For example, 

Corporate Voices for Working Families did a study on work flexibility and found 

that workers with flexible work schedules were 50 percent more committed to their 

work and 30 percent less likely to leave their current employment within a 2-year 

period. There are many good employers in this country who realize that ‘‘familyfriendly policies’’ actually help, not hurt their bottom line. 

Bank of America has a program that reimburses workers for child care. 

It has found that workers who use the program are twice as likely to stay with 

the company as those that do not. And KPMG, the company that Ms. Wankoff—

one of our witnesses here today—works for has great benefits for workers, including 

4

backup care for children and elderly relatives. And KPMG’s retention rates are up. 

But more good employers need to step up to the plate, and we in Congress and other 

parts of government have very important roles to play in making sure our workers 

can balance their lives. That is why I have introduced the Balancing Act, which puts 

into place a whole host of ‘‘familyfriendly’’ policies, such as paid family medical 

leave, benefits for part-time workers, improved 

That is why Representative DeLauro has introduced her Healthy Families Act, 

which will provide workers with 7 days of paid sick leave to care for their own medical needs or the needs of a family member. 

And that is why others have introduced legislation to make the workplace more 

‘‘family friendly.’’

Again thank you for coming today and I look forward to hearing from our witnesses. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Now, Mr. Wilson. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I would like to 

thank you for having this hearing today. 

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to our witnesses, and 

I have to tell you that I was particularly pleased to see the first 

two witnesses. A few minutes ago when I saw Representative 

Biggert, I thought certainly that she was going to be sitting up 

here, and she said, ‘‘No. I am a witness.’’ So this is wonderful. Both 

of you, thank you for being here today. 

I want to thank the other two employees who will appear on our 

second panel for taking time out of their busy schedules or time 

away from their families, as the case may be, to share their experiences of work/family balance with members of this subcommittee. 

The issue of work/family balance is one confronting most workers. The reality of today’s workforce is that many workers feel 

pressed for time, time for themselves to further their education or 

to improve their job-related skills, to take up a hobby or to volunteer. Others need time to be with their children and to be involved 

in their children’s school activities, while others need time to care 

of a sick or an elderly relative. 

While the pressures of time fall heavily on working parents, particularly those with childcare responsibilities, the vast majority of 

workers face the dilemma of how best to balance the demands of 

work and still have time for personal or family commitments and 

responsibilities. 

In today’s competitive economy, companies who want to attract 

and to retain valuable employees recognize that progressive, family-friendly policies and flexible work arrangements are an important tool. In return for increased flexibility, employees are more 

productive and committed to their work. Some workers, primarily 

those who are management or who are salaried employees, are able 

to benefit from having greater flexibility in their weekly work 

schedules to juggle work and family responsibilities, but the Federal law that was put in place, that of a 40-hour workweek back 

in 1938, frequently acts as an obstacle to private-sector, hourly 

paid workers who desire regular flexibility in their schedules. 

For example, most of these employees are prohibited under the 

law from choosing to bank overtime hours worked as paid time off 

to be saved up and taken at a later date to tend to the needs of 

their families, yet oftentimes these are the people who need flexible 

work options the most. 

5

The question is then what can we do to encourage and to facilitate a work environment that is family friendly and flexible? We 

must keep in mind—and we will no doubt hear today from our witnesses—that employees themselves have different needs on different days, just as employers have different business considerations depending on the nature and size of the company. A onesize-fits-all approach to mandating certain benefits or leave programs would have the effect of stifling or otherwise limiting innovative methods of helping workers better balance work and family 

responsibilities. 

I am concerned that government interference may produce unintended negative consequences, so I look forward to hearing today’s 

testimony, and, again, I thank the witnesses for agreeing to appear 

here today. 

I yield back the balance of my time. 

[The statement of Mr. Wilson follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Joe Wilson, Ranking Republican Member, 

Subcommittee on Workforce Protections 

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to thank you for having this hearing 

today. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to our witnesses, particularly 

the two employees who will appear on our second panel, for taking the time out of 

their busy schedules or time away from their families, as the case may be, to share 

their experiences on work-family balance with the Members of this Subcommittee. 

This issue of work-family balance is one confronting most workers. The reality of 

today’s workforce is that many workers feel pressed for time: time for themselves 

to further their education or improve their job-related skills, take up a hobby or volunteer; others need more time to be with their children and be involved in their 

children’s school activities; while others need time to care for a sick or elderly relative. And while the pressures of time fall heavily on working parents, particularly 

those with child care responsibilities, the vast majority of workers face the dilemma 

of how best to balance the demands of work and still have time for personal or family commitments and responsibilities. 

In today’s competitive economy, companies who want to attract and retain valuable employees recognize that progressive family-friendly policies and flexible work 

arrangements are an important tool. In return for increased flexibility, employees 

are more productive and committed to their work. 

Some workers—primarily those who are management or salaried employees—are 

able to benefit from having greater flexibility in their weekly work schedules to juggle work and family responsibilities. But the federal law that put in place a 40 hour 

workweek back in 1938 frequently acts as an obstacle to private sector hourly-paid 

workers who may desire greater flexibility in their work schedules. For example, 

most of these employees are prohibited under the law from choosing to bank overtime hours worked as paid time off, to be saved up and taken at a later date to 

tend to the needs of their families. Yet oftentimes, these are the people who need 

flexible work options the most. 

The question is then, what can we do to encourage and facilitate a work environment that is family-friendly and flexible? We must keep in mind—and we will no 

doubt hear today from our witnesses—that employees themselves have different 

needs, just as employers have different business considerations, depending on the 

nature and size of the company. A ‘‘one-size-fits-all’’ approach to mandating certain 

benefits or leave programs could have the effect of stifling or otherwise limiting innovative methods of helping workers better balance work and family responsibilities. 

And so I look forward to hearing today’s testimony and again thank the witnesses 

for agreeing to appear today. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Now I would like to introduce our very 

distinguished first panel of witnesses who will speak, but we will 

not be going through questions and answers, because, as I said, we 

6

do not put our Members of Congress in front of us and make them 

go under the scrutiny we put our other witnesses under. 

Rosa DeLauro, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, has represented 

Connecticut’s Third District since 1990. She currently serves as the 

cochair of the House Steering and Policy Committee. She is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairs the committee’s Ag-FDA Appropriations Subcommittee. Congresswoman 

DeLauro first introduced the Healthy Families Act nearly 10 years 

ago and has actively sought to help families balance their work and 

family lives. Congresswoman DeLauro earned her bachelor’s degree 

with honors from Marymount College and a master’s degree in 

international politics from Columbia University. 

I am going to introduce Congresswoman Biggert, too. Then we 

will start with Congresswoman DeLauro. 

Congresswoman Judy Biggert is in her fifth term as a Representative from the 13th District of Illinois. She currently serves on the 

full Education and Labor Committee as well as on the Financial 

Services and Science and Technology Committees. She is also 

Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on 

Housing and Community Development. Representative Biggert 

served as the cochair of the Congressional Caucus on Women’s 

Issues in the 107th Congress. She graduated from Stanford University and received her law degree from Northwestern University of 

Law. 

Welcome, both of you. Thank you for being here. 

Ms. DeLauro. 

STATEMENT OF THE HON. ROSA DeLAURO, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT 

Ms. DELAURO. Thank you very much, Chairwoman Woolsey. 

What an honor to be here before you and Ranking Member Wilson 

and to share this table with my colleague Judy Biggert and her 

commitment to balancing work and families these days. 

I would just say that this is—and you mentioned that you sometimes lose track of the time when you have introduced legislation, 

but it has been 10 years, and I just want to say thank you. This 

is the first hearing we have been able to have on the opportunity 

for paid sick days in the United States. So I am very, very pleased 

of that. 

I just would add one more item to your list of what we can do 

for working families today, and that is to have a Paycheck Fairness 

Act which says that women should be paid 100 cents on the dollar 

and not just 75 cents on the dollar. It would go a long way to helping those families balance their economics. This is a very, very important issue, and I applaud your leadership, and I thank you for 

holding the hearing. 

It is a battle every day, as you know, to put working families 

center stage. In recent years the shape and role of America’s working middle-class families have changed. So have their economic 

prospects. In 1975, less than half of mothers of school-aged children 

worked outside the home. Now it is nearly 70 percent. Today, one 

in four households are caring for an elderly relative, and that number is expected to rise. We have today the rising cost of living, the 

need to balance work and family, parents stretched thin, struggling 

7

just to make sure that their kids get the attention and the care 

that they deserve. 

There is simply no answer, no simple answer, as to how we 

strengthen our working and middle-class families, but there are a 

number of critical steps that we can take, initiatives which have 

proven successful in making opportunity real for families and for 

children, and that is why I really am so proud of the Healthy Families Act. I believe it is important. I believe that paid sick days are 

a basic right for people in the workplace. More than half of the 

workforce already has the right to take time off when they are sick 

or when they need to stay home to care for a sick child or for an 

elderly relative. 

The truth is, though, 57 million people in our workforce do not 

have that right. It is something that I think most Americans would 

find shocking. I think most Americans believe that being a working 

parent should not mean having to choose between your job, taking 

care of yourself and taking care of your family. Paid sick days are 

a matter of common sense and a matter of values. Yet unlike 145 

other nations, the United States does not guarantee a single paid 

sick day to workers, not 1 day. We do have family and medical 

leave, as you have pointed out. It provides leave for serious illnesses, but it is unpaid, and it only covers about 60 percent of the 

workforce. As a result, nearly half of private-sector workers, including more than three-quarters of low-income workers, have no paid 

leave of any kind. They have no paid sick days, no paid vacation 

and no paid personal days. Zero. Nothing. 

The Healthy Families Act, which I introduced with Senator Kennedy, would help to alleviate this injustice. It requires employers 

with 15 or more workers to provide 7 days of paid sick leave annually for their own medical needs or to care for a family member. 

It is about setting a floor on what we can all agree is good corporate citizenship. Ensuring that employees are productive and 

healthy helps businesses as well. Many businesses already know, 

as the Journal of Managerial Issues found, offering workers the option of taking time off to care for a sick family member has a positive effect on morale and on profits. 

Last month we had a National Summit on America’s Children, 

which the Speaker put together. Jody Heymann, with the Project 

on Global Working Families, spoke about paid sick days and its integral role in maintaining our competitive edge in a global economy. She reported that all of the 20 most competitive countries, 

with the exception of the United States, guaranteed paid sick days. 

In fact, 18 of them provide 31 or more days. This includes Lesotho 

and Papua New Guinea. It would seem to me that if they could do 

it, we could do it. 

When working parents have to go to work sick, they risk infecting the entire workplace. Then we all pay the price for denying employees paid sick days, especially if they work in health care, 

childcare or food service. As an interesting fact, well below every 

other major industry, only 15 percent of workers in food service 

have paid sick days, endangering hundreds, even thousands of patrons. 

Let me mention working women, and I will conclude. 

8

Working women and their families in particular would benefit 

from our bill. We all know that the brunt of the responsibility for 

caring for our children still falls upon women. That is just the way 

it is. Half of all working mothers report that they must miss work 

when a child is sick. Half of them do not get paid. When nearly 

a third of all working mothers fear their job evaluations might suffer from missing work, imagine what this legislation could mean to 

them. It is about peace of mind. 

I would just say paid sick days will make a difference. It is not 

a silver bullet. We need to embrace the comprehensive, profamily 

agenda, Chairwoman Woolsey, that your legislation, the Balancing 

Act, shows us as having the right path forward. 

Today’s families’ fortunes are increasingly tied to a more volatile 

economy. We have a weak safety net, stretched thin. Those who 

bear the brunt have a difficult time bouncing back, and we have 

a responsibility, I believe, to confront the unique challenges that 

income insecurity places on working and middle-class families, and 

whether it is raising the minimum wage, expanding the EITC, supporting childcare, paid equity or paid sick days, I believe that our 

decisions and actions must reflect a broader world view that begins 

with equal opportunity and giving people who strive to better 

themselves the tools that they need to succeed. It is about honoring 

work and responsibility, and it is the basis of our shared community. 

Thank you for the good work that you are doing. I thank you and 

your Ranking Member and my colleagues sitting here today for listening, and I appreciate the opportunity to testify. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you, Congresswoman. 

[The statement of Ms. DeLauro follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Rosa L. DeLauro, a Representative in Congress 

From the State of Connecticut 

Good morning. Chairman Woolsey, thank you very much for the opportunity to 

testify before the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections today. I appreciate your 

leadership on this issue and thank you for holding this important hearing on work 

and family. 

As you know, it is a battle everyday to put working families center stage. In recent years, the shape and role of America’s working and middle class families have 

changed. So have their economic prospects. In 1975, less than half of mothers of 

school-age children worked outside the home, now it is nearly 70 percent. Today, 

one in four households are caring for an elderly relative and that number is expected to rise. 

These days, with the rising cost of living and the need to balance work and family, parents are stretched thin, struggling to make sure their children get the attention and care they deserve. 

There is no simple answer when it comes to strengthening our working and middle class families. But there are a number of critical steps we can take—initiatives 

which have proven successful at making opportunity real for families and children. 

And that is why legislation like the Healthy Families Act is so important. Paid 

sick days are a basic right for people in the workplace. More than half of the workforce already has the right to take time off when they are sick, or when they need 

to stay home to care for a sick child or elderly relative. 

But the truth is that 57 million people in our workforce do not have that right—

something I think most Americans would find shocking. I think most Americans believe that being a working parent should not mean having to choose between your 

job, taking care of yourself, and taking care of your family—that paid sick leave is 

a matter of common sense—of values. 

Yet unlike 145 other nations, the United States does not guarantee a single paid 

sick day to workers—not one day. We do have the federal Family & Medical Leave 

9

Act, which provides leave for serious illnesses. But that is unpaid and only covers 

about 60 percent of the workforce. 

As a result, nearly half of private sector workers, including more than three-quarters of low-income workers, have no paid leave of any kind—no paid sick days, no 

paid vacation, and no paid personal days. Nothing. 

The Healthy Families Act, which I introduced with Senator Kennedy, would correct this injustice, requiring employers with 15 or more workers to provide 7 days 

of paid sick leave annually for their own medical needs or to care for of a family 

member. This is really about simply setting the floor on what we all can agree is 

good corporate citizenship. 

Ensuring that employees are productive and healthy helps businesses too. As 

many businesses already know and as the Journal of Managerial Issues found, offering workers the option of taking time off to care for a sick family member has a 

positive effect on morale—and profits. 

Last month, here at our National Summit on America’s Children, Jody Heymann, 

with the Project on Global Working Families, spoke about paid sick days’ integral 

role in maintaining America’s competitive edge in a global economy. She reported 

that all of the 20 most competitive countries, with the exception of the United 

States, guarantee paid sick days. In fact, 18 of them provide 31 or more days. 

When working parents must go to work sick, they risk infecting their entire workplace, then we all pay the price for denying employees paid sick days—especially 

if they work in health care, child care, or food service. Indeed, well below every 

other major industry, only 15 percent of workers in food service have paid sick 

days—endangering hundreds even thousands of patrons. 

Working women and their families, in particular, would benefit from our bill. We 

all know that the brunt of the responsibility for caring for children still falls upon 

women—that is the way it is. Half of all working mothers report that they must 

miss work when a child is sick—and half of them do not get paid. When nearly a 

third of all working mothers fear their job evaluation might suffer from missing 

work, imagine what this legislation could mean to them: peace of mind. 

Of course, while paid sick days will make a tremendous difference, it is no silver 

bullet. We must embrace a comprehensive pro-family agenda. Chairman Woolsey, 

your legislation ‘‘The Balancing Act’’ shows us the right path forward—paid leave 

for parents to care for newborns and attend school events, quality and accessible 

child care, in-school nutrition, after-school assistance, expanded funds for voluntary 

universal preschool. 

Today, families’ fortunes are increasingly tied to an ever more volatile economy. 

Yet with a weak safety net stretched thin, those who bear the brunt have a very 

difficult time bouncing back. We have a responsibility to confront the unique challenges that INCOME INSECURITY places on working and middle class families. 

And there is no limit to what we can do to improve the odds for their success. 

Whether it is raising the minimum wage, expanding the EITC, or supporting child 

care, pay equity and, yes, paid sick days—I believe our decisions and actions must 

reflect a broader worldview that begins with equal opportunity and giving people 

who strive to better themselves the tools to succeed. It is about honoring the work 

and responsibility that is the basis of our shared community. 

Thank you again, Chairman Woolsey, for the opportunity to testify this morning. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Congresswoman Biggert. 

STATEMENT OF THE HON. JUDY BIGGERT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 

Mrs. BIGGERT. Thank you, Madam Chairman and Ranking Member Wilson and members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to testify. 

I must say I think I like sitting on the other side of the table, 

where you can ask the questions, a little bit better, but it is nice 

to be here with Congresswoman DeLauro. I do not have a chance 

to serve with Congresswoman DeLauro on other committees, so it 

is nice to have the opportunity to be with you. 

The issue of work/family balances is an important one that impacts most, if not all, workers at some point in their lives. The 

American workplace has certainly undergone a dramatic change in 

10

composition, character and demands. What was previously a static 

agricultural- and manufacturing-based economy with a mostly male 

workforce—and I do know that for a fact because I was told by professors in law school that I was taking the place of someone who 

should be there, a man, but that is a subject for another hearing. 

The workforce has evolved into a fast-paced, global services and 

high-technology environment with nearly equal numbers of men 

and women in the workforce. The movement of mothers into the 

workplace has brought new challenges for the American families. 

Families with two working parents now make up a majority of the 

American families. Nearly two-thirds of all mothers with children 

under the age of 3 are currently in the workforce. Yet these 

changes in the workplace and the workforce have not been reflected 

in the law. 

As you will no doubt hear from the second panel of witnesses, 

Americans feel very strongly about trying to achieve a reasonable 

balance between the demands of a job and the responsibilities of 

a family. While these challenges, perhaps, confront working mothers to a greater degree, many workers, male and female, are willing to make sacrifices in their jobs, in their careers and education 

to achieve more balance in their personal lives. 

Providing working men and women with more control over their 

work schedules should be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, the privatesector employees and employers alike are constrained by the 1938 

Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, and I think it is fair to say 

that FLSA does not permit a great deal of flexibility because it was 

designed for a different workforce with different needs. 

This subcommittee previously held a number of hearings on 

FLSA. Out of those hearings came a number of proposals, perhaps 

the most significant of which was the Family Time Flexibility Act, 

or the so-called ‘‘comp time bill.’’ The concept behind the bill was 

simple. It was designed to help working men and women better 

manage work and family pressures by providing them with increased flexibility to spend quality time with their families. The bill 

proposed a common sense solution to allow private sector employees a choice that their colleagues working in the Federal, the State 

and local governments have had for a long time. That choice is the 

option of cash wages or paid time and a half off as compensation 

for working overtime hours. I am not suggesting that employees 

should be required to take compensatory time instead of overtime 

pay nor am I suggesting that we alter the way that overtime pay 

is calculated or that we alter the 40-hour workweek. 

What I am suggesting is that we allow private sector employers 

and employees to have an agreement to have the option of using 

comp time, paid time and a half off in lieu of overtime pay. Employees could then decide, based on their needs and that of their 

families, whether to choose paid time off or extra pay for working 

overtime. Obviously, there will always be working men and women 

who want and need the extra pay that comes from working overtime hours. Likewise, there may be some employers who decide 

that comp time just does not work for their particular business, but 

in situations where employers and employees can agree, Congress 

ought to allow hardworking men and women to choose for themselves either having overtime pay or paid time and a half off. I 

11

would note that this is an issue which was previously enjoyed bipartisan support through the 104th Congress. Then President Clinton transmitted his own comp time proposal to Congress. The 

chairman of the full committee, George Miller, offered his own 

comp time substitute amendment on the House floor when the 

issue was considered and passed by the whole House. 

In closing, I would encourage the subcommittee to consider a 

comp time option for private-sector workers. It would be good for 

workers, good for women, and especially good for families because 

it would help them to better manage their personal and professional obligations. I would hope my colleagues can agree that employees and employers should not be prevented by an outdated law 

from 1938 from agreeing upon options that provide additional flexibility in work schedules. 

Thank you again, Madam Chairman, for the opportunity to testify. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you very much, Congresswoman. 

[The statement of Mrs. Biggert follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Judy Biggert, a Representative in Congress 

From the State of Illinois 

Thank you Madam Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to testify. I commend you 

for holding this hearing today. The issue of work-family balance is an important one 

that impacts most, if not all workers, at some point in their lives. 

The American workplace has undergone a dramatic change in composition, character, and demands. What was previously a static, agriculture and manufacturingbased economy with a mostly male workforce has evolved into a fast-paced, global 

services and high technology environment with nearly equal numbers of women and 

men in the workforce. 

The movement of mothers into the workplace has brought new challenges for 

American families. Families with two working parents now make up the majority 

of American families. Nearly two-thirds of all mothers with children under age three 

are currently in the workforce. Yet, these changes in the workplace and in the workforce have not been reflected in the law. 

As you will no doubt hear from the second panel of witnesses, Americans feel very 

strongly about trying to achieve a reasonable balance between the demands of a job 

and the responsibilities of a family. While these challenges perhaps confront working mothers to a greater degree, many workers—both men and women—are willing 

to make sacrifices in their jobs, careers and education to achieve more balance in 

their personal lives. 

Providing working men and women with more control over their work schedules 

should be a ‘‘no brainer.’’ Unfortunately, private sector employees and employers 

alike are constrained by the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act or ‘‘the FLSA.’’ I think 

it’s fair to say that the FLSA does not permit a great deal of flexibility, because 

it was designed for a different workforce with different needs. 

This subcommittee previously held a number of hearings on the FLSA. Out of 

those hearings came a number of proposals, perhaps the most significant of which 

was the ‘‘Family Time Flexibility Act,’’ or the so-called ‘‘comp time’’ bill. The concept 

behind the bill was simple: it was designed to help working men and women better 

manage work and family pressures by providing them with increased flexibility to 

spend quality time with their families. The bill proposed a common-sense solution: 

to allow private sector employees a choice that their colleagues working in federal, 

state and local governments have had for many years. That choice is the option of 

cash wages or paid time-and-ahalf off as compensation for working overtime hours. 

I’m not suggesting that employees should be required to take compensatory time 

instead of overtime pay. Nor am I suggesting that we alter the way that overtime 

pay is calculated or the 40-hour workweek. 

What I am suggesting is that we allow private sector employers and employees, 

where there is agreement, to have the option of using comp time—paid time-anda-half off—in lieu of overtime pay. Employees could then decide, based on their 

needs and that of their families, whether to choose paid time off or extra pay for 

working overtime. 

12

Obviously, there will always be working men and women who want and need the 

extra pay that comes from working overtime hours. Likewise, there may be some 

employers who decide that comp time just doesn’t work for their particular business. 

But in situations where employers and employees can agree, Congress ought to 

allow hardworking men and women to choose for themselves either overtime pay or 

paid time-and-a-half off. 

I would note that this is an issue which has previously enjoyed bipartisan support. During the 104th Congress, then-President Clinton transmitted his own comp 

time proposal to Congress. The Chairman of the Full Committee, George Miller, offered his own comp time substitute amendment on the House floor, when the issue 

was considered and passed by the whole House. 

In closing, I would encourage the Subcommittee to consider a comp time option 

for private sector workers. It would be good for workers, good for women, and especially good for families because it would help them to better manage their personal 

and professional obligations. I would hope my colleagues can agree that employees 

and employers should not be prevented—by an outdated law from 1938—from 

agreeing upon options that provide additional flexibility in work schedules. Thank 

you again, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to testify. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Panel number two will be seated. While 

we are seating the second panel, I want the Finkbeiner kids to 

know that your mother’s going to be last, not first, so be patient. 

It appears, just so everybody knows what is going on, that we 

will have votes in just a few minutes, but we will have time first 

to go through the witness statements, 5 minutes each. Let me first 

introduce our witness panel, panel number two. 

Missy Quarberg, thank you for coming. Missy lives in Amery, 

Wisconsin, with her husband and two children, ages 3 and 5. She 

grew up in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She graduated from Grand 

Rapids High School. She also attended the Brown Institute of Minneapolis. 

Barbara Wankoff is a television star. I turned on my television 

this morning, and she was on Good Morning, America. Barbara is 

the director of workplace solutions at KPMG, managing work-life 

programs and other initiatives, including building a mentoring culture and KPMG’s Networks for Women. She has 25 years of professional experience in human resources. She joined KPMG in the 

year 2000. She has been at her current position since 2003. Prior 

to joining KPMG, she worked in human resources at Swissair and 

at the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies. Ms. Wankoff received 

her B.A. From Brandeis University. 

Melissa Lindsay lives in Maryland—hello, Melissa—with her 

husband and 6-month-old daughter. She grew up in Massachusetts 

and attended the public schools there. She attended Fitchburg 

State College where she majored in early childhood education. Ms. 

Lindsay is currently a bookkeeper at Marlin Steel Wire Products 

in Baltimore. 

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner is the cofounder and executive director 

of MomsRising.org, an on-line network with more than 120,000 

members working for policies to support families. With Joan 

Blades, the cofounder of MomsRising, she authored the book ‘‘The 

Motherhood Manifesto,’’ which this year won the Ernesta Drinker 

Ballard Book Prize. She has written frequently about public policy, 

motherhood, health, and new feminism. In 2002, she was given an 

Excellence in Journalism award by the Society of Professional Journalists. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Evergreen State College 

in Washington. 

13

Let me tell you how this all works if you have never done this 

before. You will have 5 minutes. When the light turns yellow, you 

will know you have 1 minute to wrap up. When the light is red, 

then that is about the end of it. Certainly, finish your thought; finish your sentence. Then when all four of you have spoken, we will 

probably go vote, and then we will come back, and we will have a 

round of questions from the Members. 

So we will start with you, Ms. Quarberg. 

STATEMENT OF MISSY QUARBERG, FORMER WAL–MART 

EMPLOYEE 

Ms. QUARBERG. Good afternoon. 

My name is Missy Quarberg, and I want to thank the chairwoman and the subcommittee for inviting me to testify today on 

balancing work and family. I know a lot about that subject since 

I have tried to balance two full-time jobs, one as an employee and 

one as a mom. 

I am a married woman with two young children. We live in 

Amery, Wisconsin. My husband Dan is a car mechanic. My children, Joseph, who is 3 years old, and Jasmine, who is 5 years old, 

are both developmentally delayed and need special care. While all 

working moms juggle many responsibilities, my children’s special 

needs mean many visits to the doctors as well as regular therapy 

for both of them. 

Last year, my husband and I decided we wanted to begin planning to buy a house. Since we would need to save money, I would 

have to get a job, and I found one at our local Wal-Mart as a cashier. My starting pay was $7.30 an hour; 9 months later, I was earning $8.30 an hour working in Wal-Mart’s optical department. My 

benefits for working at Wal-Mart included minimal life insurance 

and the option to pay into the health and dental plan. I paid $204 

a month to cover the family plan. This was a huge cost, almost onethird of my monthly salary. Wal-Mart does not provide any vacation, sick or personal days in the first year. It did not take long 

to realize that Wal-Mart’s policies make it extremely difficult, if not 

impossible, for Wal-Mart workers to balance work and family. 

For example, Wal-Mart has a policy called ‘‘open availability 

scheduling,’’ which means that employees have to work ever-changing schedules whenever Wal-Mart calls you in. When you never 

have regular work hours, how can you schedule doctors appointments for your children? Scheduling anything to do with your family is virtually impossible because you can be called in to work at 

any time, whenever you are needed, regardless of conflicts. 

Wal-Mart also has a very restrictive attendance policy. The company penalizes associates if you need to take a day off from work 

for medical, family or other reasons. If this is not hard enough, if 

you need to take 3 days off when you were scheduled to work, you 

run the serious risk of losing your job. When I first started at WalMart, I worked the 3:00-to-11:00 shift. This schedule allowed me to 

be at home with my children during the day and work while my 

husband was home with them in the evenings. While it was hard 

to be away from my family in the evenings, and my husband and 

I barely saw each other, the 3:00-to-11:00 schedule did help save 

14

money on childcare costs. We only needed to pay for the childcare 

for about 3 hours per day. 

After 9 months, I decided to move into the optical department. 

The job was attractive because of the slight pay raise and increased 

responsibilities, but unfortunately, the late shift was not available, 

and I started working from 1:00 to 9:00. This meant we needed to 

pay for childcare for our children for more hours per day, which increased our childcare costs, and it became more difficult to have 

the time I needed for my children. 

Because of Wal-Mart’s restrictive attendance policies and lack of 

paid sick leave or personal days, it was extremely difficult to take 

time off to tend to the needs of my two children. One time my 

daughter Jasmine had a cavity that needed to be fixed. I gave my 

supervisor more than 3 days’ notice that I needed a couple of hours 

off to take her to the dentist’s. I was given the time off, but when 

we were at the dentist’s, we learned that my daughter actually 

needed an emergency root canal. Following the procedure, Jasmine 

became ill, and I needed to stay home with her. I called my work 

to tell them I was taking the entire day off to care for her. Later, 

when I got back to work, my supervisor reprimanded me for not 

giving her enough advance notice for taking the entire day off. I received a verbal warning and was told to watch it. My supervisor 

told me that, next time, I needed to plan these things more in advance. How could I have known that a simple procedure would become complicated and that my child would need an emergency procedure or that she would be ill afterwards? If any of you can plan 

your children’s sudden health problems in advance, I would like to 

know about it. 

From that time on, I was very concerned about taking any days 

off. I did not want to lose my job. When my children were sick, I 

still took them to the childcare provider. I knew that I should be 

home with my kids to help them when they were ill. In addition, 

when I was sick, I usually went to work anyway. I felt like I was 

neglecting my children and my own health. I felt I had no choice 

if I wanted to keep my job. Clearly, given Wal-Mart’s priorities and 

policies, the only way to keep my job was to be at work regardless 

of how sick I was or how sick my children were. 

Ultimately, given the childcare expenses and nightmare scheduling problems, I realized that working at Wal-Mart was not costeffective or worth it to my health and to my family’s. If I were 

going to work outside the home, I needed a new job that would provide me with some benefits, a more stable schedule and, hopefully, 

a more family-friendly work environment. I wanted to work again, 

but this time for a company that would help me contribute to my 

family, not take me away from them. 

While Wal-Mart and corporate America talk about family values, 

they certainly do not mean it. If they did, their policies would be 

more flexible to help employers and employees deal with legitimate 

family needs. They would not make it so difficult to be a good parent and a good employee. I believe that no worker, no father, no 

mother, no family member should ever have to choose between 

their jobs and their families. 

I hope that somebody, maybe one of you, can help working mothers like me. We need paid sick and family leave, flexible working 

15

hours and help with childcare so that we can do both of our jobs, 

taking care of our families while holding down our jobs. We need 

somebody to tell big companies like Wal-Mart that they are not 

above the law, and that, while low prices are important, so are people, people like me who help companies like them make a profit. 

Thank you again for letting me tell my story. I would be happy 

to answer any questions. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you. 

[The statement of Ms. Quarberg follows:]

Prepared Statement of Missy Quarberg, Former Wal-Mart Employee 

I want to thank the Subcommittee for inviting me to testify today on the subject 

of balancing work and family. I know a little bit about that subject. I am married 

with 2 young children, ages 3 and 5. Both my children are developmentally delayed 

and need special care. This means going to the doctor and therapy for them often. 

Last year, I went to work at Wal-Mart. We needed the money and were looking 

at buying a house. I also felt that it was important for me to work. My starting 

pay was $7.30 an hour as a cashier. When I left Wal-Mart 10 months later I was 

making $8.30 and working in the optical department as an optician. 

In 2005 before I started at Wal-Mart, the company implemented a series of policies designed to push out full-time, tenured workers and replace them with 

‘‘healthier’’ workers in order to drastically cut its benefit costs. Since then, Wal-Mart 

has implemented a series of policies that serve these purposes and have made it 

increasingly difficult for me and other Wal-Mart workers to balance work and family. 

For example, Wal-Mart has a policy called ‘‘opening availability scheduling,’’ 

which means that you have to work changing schedules whenever Wal-Mart wants 

it. 

It also has a restrictive attendance policy, which penalizes you if you need to take 

a day off from work for medical, family or other reasons. After you have taken 3 

days off when you were scheduled to work, you run the risk of losing your job. 

Initially, I worked evenings on the 3-11 shift. While this took me away from my 

family in the evenings, this allowed me to save on child care since my husband 

could be home in at night to take care of the children. When I started as an optician, this shift was no longer available to me and so I had to work from 1-9. 

Of course this increased my child care costs. And because of the Company’s restrictive attendance policies, and the fact that I had no paid sick leave available to 

me, it was very difficult for me to take time out to tend to my children’s needs. 

One time my daughter had a cavity and I gave my supervisor more than 3 days 

notice that I needed a couple of hours off to take her to the dentist. While at the 

dentist, it was discovered that my daughter needed an emergency root canal. My 

daughter who is very young was not feeling well afterward so I had to call into my 

work to tell them I was taking the entire day off. When I got back to work my supervisor scolded me for not giving her enough advance notice, and I was penalized 

under Wal-Mart’s attendance policy. My supervisor told me that in the future, I 

needed to plan these things more in advance. How could I possibly plan my children’s sudden health problems in advance? 

I was very concerned about taking any days off, so if my children were sick, I 

often took them to the child care provider even though I knew I should stay home 

with them. And when I was sick, I usually went to work anyway. 

Many of my co-workers had similar problems taking care of family and doing their 

job, especially with regards to taking care of their children when they were sick, 

and having scheduling problems with dropping off and picking up their children at 

day care or school. 

I ultimately chose to leave my job at Wal-Mart because when I factored in my 

child care expenses with my salary, it wasn’t cost effective for me to continue working. I plan to look for a new job, which I hope will provide some benefits so that 

I am able to work again and contribute to my family. 

My employer—Wal-Mart—used to talk about family values, but my employer did 

not seem to care about family. No worker, no father, no mother should have to 

choose between their job and their family. No company, including the company I 

worked for, should want that. 

I hope that this Subcommittee will continue to do something to help working people, especially working mothers. We need policies like paid sick and family leave, 

16

flexible working hours and help with child care so that we can do both our jobs: 

to take care of our family and to hold down a job. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. I forgot to say that Ms. Quarberg was 

also a television star this morning. 

Ms. Wankoff. 

STATEMENT OF BARBARA WANKOFF, DIRECTOR,

WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS, KPMG 

Ms. WANKOFF. Good afternoon. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. You need to turn that on. 

Ms. WANKOFF. Good afternoon, Chairwoman Woolsey, Ranking 

Member Wilson and other members of the committee. 

My name is Barbara Wankoff, and I am KPMG LLP’s national 

director of workplace solutions. I am responsible for the firm’s 

work-life benefits and programs, supporting our goal to be an employer of choice. Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify 

before you today. 

KPMG, a tax, audit and advisory firm employing over 20,000 employees and 1,700 partners in the United States, believes that helping employees manage their responsibilities both inside and outside 

of work is beneficial to everyone and to our bottom line. Our policies and programs support this belief. Our employees tend to be 

ambitious and career-oriented. They want to develop professionally 

and build a career, but they also have lives as parents, sons or 

daughters and spouses. So, at KPMG, we are promoting a culture 

of flexibility to help them manage the complexities of work and life. 

For example, among the many benefits we offer is generous paid 

time off. Employees have a minimum of 20 paid days they can use 

for vacation, sick time, sick children or for any other personal need. 

We recognize the critical need for new mothers to bond with their 

children, so we allow them to take up to 26 weeks of leave, going 

beyond FMLA, while guaranteeing that their jobs will be waiting 

when they return, and this applies to births, adoptions or foster 

care placement; and by paying women 100 percent of their regular 

salaries for up to 8 weeks as well as additional weeks at two-thirds 

pay, we are making it easier for women to take the time off that 

they want. New fathers also receive 2 weeks of paid parental leave. 

We try to ease the transition for new mothers who are coming 

back to work by providing privacy rooms for breastfeeding and by 

allowing them to phase in their return to work instead of jumping 

back in full time. Other leave programs are also available, and one 

we are particularly proud of is a program called Shared Leave, 

which allows an employee who is caring for a seriously ill relative 

and who has exhausted his personal time to request an additional 

12 weeks paid time off that is donated by fellow employees. This 

program is a Godsend for those facing difficult times and who need 

additional time off. 

We know from study after study that allowing for flexible work 

schedules can reduce stress and boost productivity and job satisfaction. That is why KPMG offers a range of such programs, including 

flex time, a compressed workweek, telecommuting, job sharing, reduced workloads, part-time work, and day-to-day flexibility where 

17

employees can leave the workplace to attend a school or a sports 

event or a doctor’s appointment and return later to resume work. 

To further support working parents at KPMG, we contract with 

third-party providers to offer free backup childcare for the inevitable emergencies when the sitter is sick or bad weather closes the 

daycare center. It is a tremendous relief for parents to know they 

have access to safe, reliable backup care in these situations and to 

know they can meet both their work and family obligations. Similar backup care is available to those caring for an elderly relative 

even if the relative lives in a distant city. 

Oftentimes solid, timely information is what parents need to 

meet a challenge. That is why we provide a resource and referral 

program that makes it easy for them to gain information about 

such topics as parenting, wellness and emotional well-being. We 

also recognize that approximately one in five families in the U.S. 

has a child with special needs and that the parents of these children have unique challenges. To support these families, we have 

established a KPMG network which provides resources, information and a chance to connect and to support one another. 

Our commitment to a culture of flexibility and to helping working families has not gone unnoticed. KPMG has earned a spot on 

Working Mother Media’s list of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers 10 times. We have made the Companies That Care 

honor roll four times. In this past year, Fortune Magazine named 

KPMG one of the 100 best companies to work for in 2007. 

Collectively the programs I have described meet the needs of 

both our employees and of our business. They demonstrate that we 

care about our employees and are committed to helping them balance work and life. These programs help us attract and retain key 

talent, which is critical to meeting clients’ needs and to the overall 

success of the firm. At KPMG retention rates are up, and so is morale. 

Thank you for this opportunity to share KPMG’s views with you 

today. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you. 

[The statement of Ms. Wankoff follows:]

Prepared Statement of Barbara Wankoff, Director,

Workplace Solutions, KPMG 

Good Afternoon. My name is Barbara Wankoff and I am KPMG LLP’s National 

Director of Workplace Solutions. I am responsible for the firm’s work life benefits 

and programs supporting our goal to be an employer of choice. 

Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify before you today. 

KPMG, a tax, audit and advisory firm employing over 20,000 employees and 1700 

partners in the United States believes that helping employees manage their responsibilities both inside and outside of work is beneficial to everyone, and to our bottom 

line. Our policies and programs support this belief. 

Our employees tend to be ambitious and career oriented. They want to develop 

professionally and build a career, but they also have lives as parents, sons or daughters and spouses—so at KPMG we are promoting a culture of flexibility to help them 

manage the complexities of work and life. 

For example, among the many benefits we offer is generous paid time off. Employees have a minimum of 20 paid days they can use for vacation, sick time, sick children or any other personal need. 

We recognize the critical need for new mothers to bond with their children, so we 

allow them to take up to 26 weeks of leave, going beyond FMLA, while guaranteeing 

that their job will be waiting when they return. And this applies to births, adoptions 

or foster care placement. And by paying women 100% of their regular salary for up 

18

to eight weeks, as well as additional weeks at two-thirds pay, we are making it easier for women to take the time off that they want. New fathers also receive 2 weeks 

of paid parental leave. 

We try to ease the transition for new mothers coming back to work by providing 

privacy rooms for breastfeeding and allowing them to phase in their return to work 

instead of jumping back in fulltime. 

Other leave programs are also available and one we’re particularly proud of is a 

program called shared leave, which allows an employee caring for a seriously ill relative, and who has exhausted their personal time, to request an additional 12 weeks 

paid time off that is donated by fellow employees. This program is a Godsend for 

those facing difficult times and who need additional time off. 

We know, from study after study, that allowing for flexible work schedules can 

reduce stress, and boost productivity and job satisfaction. That’s why KPMG offers 

a range of such programs, including flextime, compressed work week, telecommuting, job sharing, reduced workloads, part time work and day to day flexibility 

where employees can leave the workplace to attend a school or sports event or doctor’s appointment and return later to resume work. . 

To further support working parents at KPMG, we contract with third-party providers to offer free back-up childcare for the inevitable emergencies when the sitter 

is sick or bad weather closes the daycare center. It’s a tremendous relief for parents 

to know they have access to safe, reliable backup care in these situations and can 

meet both their work and family obligations. Similar backup care is available to 

those caring for elderly relatives, even if the relative lives in a distant city. 

Oftentimes, solid, timely information is what parents need to meet a challenge. 

That’s why we provide a resource and referral program that makes it easy for them 

to gain information about such topics as parenting, wellness, and emotional 

wellbeing. 

We also recognize that approximately one in five families in the US has a child 

with special needs and that parents of these children have unique challenges. To 

support these families, we established a KPMG network, which provides resources, 

information and a chance to connect and support one another. 

Our commitment to a culture of flexibility and to helping working families has 

not gone unnoticed. KPMG has earned a spot on Working Mother Media’s List of 

100 Best Companies for Working Mothers ten times; we have made the Companies 

that Care Honor Roll four times, and this past year, Fortune Magazine named 

KPMG one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2007. 

Collectively, the programs I’ve described meet the needs of both our employees 

and our business. They demonstrate that we care about our employees and are committed to helping them balance work and life. These programs help us attract and 

retain key talent, which is critical to meeting clients’ needs and to the overall success of the firm. At KPMG, retention rates and morale are up. Thank you for this 

opportunity to share KPMG’s views with you today. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Ms. Lindsay. 

STATEMENT OF MELISSA LINDSAY, BOOKKEEPER,

MARLIN STEEL WIRE PRODUCTS 

Ms. LINDSAY. Good afternoon, Chairwoman Woolsey, Ranking 

Member Wilson and members of the subcommittee. 

My name is Melissa Lindsay, and I am the bookkeeper at Marlin 

Steel Wire Products in Baltimore, Maryland. Thank you for this opportunity to appear today on behalf of Marlin Steel Wire and, most 

importantly, on behalf of my 23 excellent coworkers. I was pleased 

to learn of the subject of today’s hearing, balancing work and family life, and I appreciate that the Members of Congress are taking 

the time to discuss the issues many working families face every 

day. 

Since 2003, I have worked for Marlin Steel Wire Products as its 

bookkeeper. Marlin was founded in 1968. We manufacture wire 

baskets, hooks, rack hooks, and wire forms. We also have the capability to produce custom products for many of our customers. Our 

19

products are used in the medical industry and by large international companies like Caterpillar, Boeing and Toyota. 

My husband Ed and I are both from Massachusetts. When Ed 

learned of an opportunity to join the Fort Meade Fire Department, 

we moved to Maryland in 2003. Soon after arriving in Baltimore, 

I got my job at Marlin. In 2006, we were proud to welcome our first 

child Jayden into our family. Prior to that I had worked 40 hours 

a week up until the very Friday before I had her, at which time 

I began my maternity leave for 6 weeks. While out on maternity 

leave, I made myself available by e-mail to assist Marlin if an occasion arose. I then returned to work part time on January 4th of 

2007. 

Because my husband is a firefighter, he works crazy hours. For 

instance, he works 24-hour shifts and then has the next day off. 

Other times, Ed has to work mandatory overtime, which could be 

up to 24 hours. We knew that once Jayden joined our lives, we 

would need to find a way so that Ed and I could be home with her 

as much as possible to care for and raise her. 

I spoke with Drew Greenblatt, president and owner of Marlin, 

about how best to meet the needs of my family and those of Marlin. 

So, each week Drew and I sit down to determine my work schedule 

for the upcoming week. This is after I get a sense of what Ed’s 

schedule will be. When Ed is home, I can spend a full day at the 

office. Other times, I work from home or work a partial day. There 

are even times when I bring Jayden to the office for important 

meetings. My fellow coworkers always warmly welcome both of us. 

Marlin Steel Wire Products provides all of its employees with 

great benefits and with a great environment in which to work. For 

instance, I participate in the 401(k) plan to which I contribute 10 

percent of my earnings. My employer then matches 40 percent of 

my contribution. I also receive paid time off for sick days, vacation 

days, holidays, and bereavement. Marlin has even paid for my college courses in accounting so I am better at my job and have additional skills that I can use the rest of my working life. I was even 

offered health insurance, but my husband and I chose to stay with 

the insurance through the fire department. 

I currently work part time, and this is my choice to meet the 

needs of my family. A normal workweek for me consists of 30 or 

more hours either at the office or telecommuting from home. A typical day for me starts like any other mommy’s day. I wake up—

well, Jayden usually wakes me up—and then I get dressed, prepare 

us both for breakfast. If it is a stay-at-home day, I turn on my computer and check my work e-mail and address anything that needs 

attention. I leave the computer on most of the day so that, as soon 

as I am notified of new e-mail, I can quickly respond. If it is a goto-the-office day, I then leave my daughter, and she stays home 

with Daddy. Occasionally, there are issues that arise that require 

me to go into the office, so Jayden and I will go to the office together. 

Recently, Jayden and I came to the office for a meeting. She is 

6 months old now, so she is very awake and very alert. She was 

staring at Drew, the president, the entire time, fixated on his voice 

and on exactly what he was saying almost as if she understood. 

She just sat there and smiled the entire time he was talking. A few 

20

employees actually thank me for bringing her by. It brightens their 

day, they tell me. 

The fact that I am able to do this and not miss these important 

meetings is one of the things I love most about my job. Without the 

family-friendly atmosphere of Marlin Steel Wire, we would not be 

able to raise our daughter the way we want to. You might be thinking to yourself, ‘‘Wow, did Melissa find the right job or what?’’ Well, 

I did. I know that the main reason I was able to ask for and to 

receive these benefits is because I work hard at my job and take 

pride in being a part of the team at Marlin, and my boss is very 

employee-friendly. 

In working closely with Drew and in managing Marlin’s daily operations, I can personally attest to how challenging it is for a small 

wire company in Baltimore to succeed against cheaper products 

from our larger competitors, many in foreign countries with little 

or no environmental and labor laws, not to mention cheaper taxes. 

I think we are successful because of the hard work of everyone 

at Marlin to produce the quality of product that more than meets 

the needs of our customers. Plus, I believe that Drew goes the 

extra mile to take care of each of us. I would like to share with 

you some of the benefits my coworkers also take advantage of. 

Like me, one of the employees, Dong Moon, works part time. He 

is an operator of one of our assembly robots. He is in his 

midseventies and participates in the 401(k) plan. Aaron Heisler, 

who is an engineer and who has a longer commute than most of 

us, takes care of telecommuting. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Try to sum up, and then we will use 

those examples in questions and answers. 

Ms. LINDSAY. Okay. Sure. 

It is clear to see when a company is successful, it is because of 

its employees. Thankfully for all of us at Marlin, our employer realizes this and goes that extra mile to help meet our personal needs. 

I would like to thank you for this opportunity today, and I would 

be more than welcome to answer your questions. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you very much. 

[The statement of Ms. Lindsay follows:]

Prepared Statement of Melissa Lindsay, Bookkeeper,

Marlin Steel Wire Products 

Good morning, Chairwoman Woolsey, Ranking Member Wilson and members of 

the subcommittee. My name is Melissa Lindsay. I am the bookkeeper at Marlin 

Steel Wire Products in Baltimore, MD. Thank you for the opportunity to appear 

today on behalf of Marlin Wire, and most importantly, my 23 excellent coworkers. 

I was pleased to learn of the subject of today’s hearing—balancing work and family 

life—and appreciate that members of Congress are taking the time to discuss the 

issues many working families face every day. 

Since 2003, I have worked for Marlin Steel Wire Products as its bookkeeper. Marlin was founded in 1968. We manufacture wire baskets, hooks, rack hooks and wire 

forms. We also have the capability to produce a wide range of custom products for 

our customers. Our products are used in the medical industry and by large international companies like Caterpillar, Boeing and Toyota. 

My husband Ed and I are from Massachusetts. When Ed learned of an opportunity to join the Fort Meade Fire Department, we moved to Maryland in 2003. 

Soon after arriving in Baltimore I got a job at Marlin. In 2006, we were proud to 

welcome our first child, Jayden, into our family. Prior to that I worked forty hours 

a week until the Friday before I had my daughter in November, at which time I 

began my maternity leave for 6 weeks. While out on maternity leave I made myself 

21

available by email to assist Marlin Steel Wire if an occasion arose. I then returned 

to work on a part-time basis on January 4, 2007. 

Because my husband is a firefighter, he works crazy hours. For instance, he works 

24 hour shifts and then has the next day off. Other times, Ed has to work mandatory overtime, which could be up to 24 hours at a time. We knew that once Jayden 

joined our lives, we would need to find a way so that Ed or I could be home as much 

as possible to care for and raise Jayden. I spoke with Drew Greenblatt, President 

and owner of Marlin, about how best to meet the needs of my family and Marlin 

Steel Wire. 

So each week, Drew and I sit down to determine my work schedule for the upcoming week. This is after I get a sense of when Ed will be working. When Ed is home, 

I can spend a full day at the office. Other times, I work from home or work a partial 

day. There are even times when I bring Jayden to work for important meetings. My 

fellow coworkers always warmly welcome both of us. 

Marlin Wire Products provides all of its employees great benefits and a great environment to work. For instance, I participate in the 401(k) plan, to which I contribute 10 percent of my earnings. My employer matches 40 percent of my contribution. I also receive paid time off for sick days, vacation days, holidays and bereavement leave. Marlin even paid for my college courses in accounting, so I am better 

at my job and have additional skills that I can use the rest of my working life. I 

was even offered health insurance, but I declined and Ed and I chose to stay with 

his insurance through the fire department. 

I currently work part-time, and this is my choice to meet my needs and the needs 

of my family. A normal work week for me consists of 30 or more hours either at 

the office or telecommuting from home. A typical day for me starts like any other 

Mommy’s day. I wake up, well Jayden usually wakes me up, and then I get Jayden 

dressed, and prepare us both breakfast. If it’s a stay at home day, I turn on my 

computer and check my work email and address anything that needs attention. I 

leave the computer on most of the day so as soon as I am notified of a new email 

I can quickly respond. If it is a go to the office day then I leave and my daughter 

stays home with Daddy. Occasionally, there are issues that arise that require me 

to go into the office, so Jayden and I will go to the office together. Recently, Jayden 

and I came to the office for a meeting. She is 6 months now so she is always very 

awake and alert. She stared at Drew the entire time fixated on his voice and what 

he was saying almost as if she understood. She just sat there and smiled the entire 

time he was talking. A few employees actually thank me for bringing her by. It 

brightens up their day, they tell me. The fact that I am able to do this and not miss 

these important meetings is one of the things I love most about my job. Without 

the family friendly atmosphere of Marlin Steel Wire, we wouldn’t be able to raise 

our daughter the way we want to. 

You might be thinking to yourself, ‘‘Wow, did Melissa find the right job or what?’’ 

Well, I did. I know that the main reasons I was able to ask for and receive these 

benefits is because I work hard at my job, take pride in being a part of the team 

at Marlin, and my boss is employee friendly. Working closely with Drew in managing Marlin’s daily operations, I can personally attest to how challenging it is for 

a small wire company in Baltimore to succeed against cheaper products from our 

larger competitors, many in foreign countries with little or no environmental and 

labor laws, not to mention cheaper taxes. I think we are successful because of the 

hard work of everyone at Marlin to produce a quality product that more than meets 

the needs of our customers. Plus I believe that Drew goes the extra mile to take 

care of each of us. 

I’d like to share with you some of the benefits my coworkers take advantage of 

at Marlin. Like me, Dong Moon works part-time. He is an operator of one of our 

assembly robots. He is in his mid-70’s and participates in the company 401(k) plan. 

Aaron Heisler, an engineer, has a longer commute than most of us, so he takes advantage of telecommuting too. He sometimes transmits blue prints for product designs remotely from his home office. Right now, Chung Lim, another robot operator, 

is taking five weeks of vacation in Korea. Hector Carmona, a model maker, has 

taken a month off every July since the 1990’s to visit family in the Dominican Republic. Our plant manager, Simon Matthews, took advantage of Marlin’s tuition 

benefit and attended college by taking night courses in Mechanical Engineering. Finally, last week, Kendall Browning, a fixture maker, took the morning off to present 

to his daughter’s class for ‘‘career day’’. 

It’s clear to see that when a company is successful it is because of its employees. 

Thankfully for all of us at Marlin, our employer realizes this and goes the extra mile 

to help us meet our personal needs. Drew tells us all the time that it is so hard 

to find a skilled, dedicated person to hire that our team can rely on to do the job, 

so he works hard to keep us. I feel blessed that Drew found me and that I now have 

22

a job that allows me to be there for my family and to build a company that provides 

good jobs to its employees and make good products for its clients. 

I thank you for the opportunity to speak today about not only my story but that 

of the wonderful people at Marlin whom I have the pleasure of working with everyday. I would be happy to answer your questions. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Ms. Finkbeiner. 

STATEMENT OF KRISTEN ROWE–FINKBEINER, COFOUNDER, 

MOMS RISING 

Ms. ROWE-FINKBEINER. Hello. Thank you for holding this critically important hearing today. It is an honor to be here. 

I am Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, and I am here today on behalf of 

MomsRising.org, a new, fast-growing, on-line grassroots organization that works to advocate for family-friendly policies and programs. Our membership is open to everyone who is a mom and to 

everyone who has ever had a mom. 

MomsRising addresses issues that are critically important to a 

wide cross-section of our Nation. Eighty-two percent of women in 

the United States have children by the time they are 44 years old, 

and we all have mothers. Only a little over a year old, MomsRising 

already has more than 120,000 members across the United States, 

and we are growing quickly at a rate of 500 to 3,500 members a 

week lately. This rapid growth speaks to the fact that we have 

touched a nerve. 

Americans are struggling to balance work and family, and they 

want to see policymakers put laws in place that will let them fulfill 

their responsibilities both at work and at home. This is crucial not 

only because it is the right thing to do, but also because in order 

to have a healthy economy now as well as in the future, we must 

also have healthy families. 

Why are these issues pressing right now? Well, our Nation has 

changed over the past several decades, as many other people have 

testified to today, but our country’s work-family policies have not 

changed much. Currently a full three-quarters of American mothers are in the labor force, yet we are stuck with a 1950 support 

structure. 

It is time for our policies to catch up to the dynamics of modern 

life, and we are so excited to be here today talking about just that. 

This is essential because, without these policies, American families 

are in trouble. A full quarter of American families with children 

under 6 years old are living in poverty, and having a baby is, in 

fact, a leading cause of the poverty spell, which is a time when 

your income dips below what is needed for basic expenses like food 

and rent. 

Nine million children, one in nine, have no health care coverage 

at all, and the lack of after-school care and flexible work options 

means that 40,000 kindergartners are at home, each day, alone 

after school. 

Our country’s lack of family-friendly policies also drags down 

mothers’ wages. Women without children now make about 90 cents 

to a man’s dollar; women with, 73 cents; and single moms make 

the least at about 60 cents. Countries with family-friendly policies 

and programs in place, like paid family leave and subsidized 

childcare, do not have pay gaps as wide as we do here, and we are, 

23

quite frankly, behind the rest of the world when it comes to familyfriendly policies. For example, in over 173 countries studied in a 

Harvard University study, there were only 4 countries that do not 

provide some form of paid family leave for new mothers. The four 

countries that did not and do not provide paid leave for new mothers are the United States, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and Liberia. In fact, we lack many family-friendly programs that citizens 

of most other industrialized countries take as a given, programs 

like universal health care coverage, paid family leave and a minimum number of paid sick days. 

These and other critically important family policies are at the 

core of MomsRising’s agenda, which is spelled out with the acronym MOTHER. ‘‘M’’ is for maternity and paternity leave. ‘‘O’’ is for 

open, flexible workplaces. ‘‘T’’ is for television and other after-school 

programs. ‘‘H’’ is for health care for all kids. ‘‘E’’ is for excellent 

childcare. ‘‘R’’ is for realistic and fair wages. 

If we want to say that we have family values, then we also have 

to value families by passing the kind of policies that have long been 

championed by groups like the National Partnership for Women 

and Families, the National Women’s Law Center, the Children’s 

Defense Fund, FamiliesUSA, and 9to5. These are five of 

MomsRising’s more than 80 nationally aligned organizations that 

are working together. We need to pass policies like the Balancing 

Act, like the Healthy Families Act, as well as fully fund and reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and the 

Childcare and Development Block Grant. 

MomsRising is actively engaging members to support familyfriendly policies. For example, in February we sent out an e-outreach, asking our members to support the Healthy Families Act, 

and in less than 36 hours over 17,000 e-mailed letters went in to 

Congress. But we do much more than generate e-mailed letters. 

MomsRising’s members have held hundreds of house parties across 

the country, and are still holding them, to watch the Motherhood 

Minutes documentary film. Our offices are overflowing with decorated baby ONEsies, which you can see on line on our Web site if 

you would like to see some pictures, but we are exhibiting those 

baby ONEsies at forums around the country. 

MomsRising was instrumental in getting paid family leave 

passed in Washington State this year, making it the second State 

in the Nation to have paid family leave after California, and we are 

working right now in New York, New Jersey and in Oregon, as well 

as elsewhere, to have similar laws be passed. We will continue to 

work with our more than 120,000 members—and growing quickly—

who are in every State to support Federal legislation, again like 

the Healthy Families Act and the Balancing Act, as well as to support State legislation that makes workplaces more family friendly 

and to speak out and to take action on the issues that matter most 

to families, because when this many people are having the same 

problem at the same time, we have a national structural issue that 

needs to be addressed and not an epidemic of personal failings. It 

is time to make those changes. 

Thank you for leading the way. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you very much. 

[The statement of Ms. Rowe-Finkbeiner follows:]

24

Prepared Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, MomsRising 

Madam Chairwoman and Members of the Committee: I am Kristin RoweFinkbeiner and I’m here today on behalf of MomsRising.org, a new, fast-growing online grassroots organization that works to promote and advocate for family-friendly 

policies. Our membership is open to everyone who is a mom, and everyone who has 

a mom. MomsRising addresses issues that are critically important to wide cross-section of our nation: 82% of women in the United States have children by the time 

they are forty-four years old; and we all have mothers. 

Only a little over a year old, MomsRising already has more than 120,000 members across the United States. And we’re growing quickly—at a rate of 500 to 3,000 

new members a week. That rapid growth speaks to the fact that we have touched 

a nerve. Americans are struggling to balance work and family, and they want to 

see policy makers put laws in place that will let them fulfill their responsibilities 

at work without giving short shrift to their families. This is crucial, not only because 

it is the right thing to do, but also because in order to have a healthy economy now, 

as well as in the future, we must also have healthy families. 

Why are these issues pressing right now? Our nation has changed over the past 

several decades, but our country’s work/family policies have not: Currently a full 

three-quarters of American mothers are in the labor force. Yet we are stuck with 

a 1950s support structure. It’s time for our policies to catch up to the dynamics of 

the modern American family. 

This is essential because without these policies, American families are in trouble: 

A full quarter of families with children under six years old live in poverty; and having a baby is a top cause of ‘‘poverty spells’’ in this country—a time when a family’s 

income dips below what it needs for basic living expenses like food and rent. Nine 

million children—one in nine—have no healthcare coverage at all. And the lack of 

afterschool care and flexible work options are two of the main reasons that 40,000 

kindergarteners are home alone each day after school. 

Our country’s lack of family-friendly policies also drags down mothers’ wages. 

While women without children make 90 cents to a man’s dollar, women with children make only 73 cents to a man’s dollar, and single mothers, about 60 cents to 

a man’s dollar. 

Countries with family-friendly policies and programs in place—like paid family 

leave and subsidized child care—don’t have wage gaps as wide as we do here. And 

we are, frankly, behind the rest of the world when it comes to family-friendly policies. 

For example, of the 173 countries that were the subject of a study of international 

workplace policies by Dr. Jody Heymann of Harvard and McGill Universities, there 

were only four countries that didn’t provide some form of paid family leave for new 

mothers. The four countries that did not—and do not—have some form of paid leave 

for new mothers are Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, Liberia and the United States. 

In fact, we lack many family-friendly programs that citizens of most other industrialized countries take as a given. Programs like universal health care coverage, 

paid family leave, and a minimum number of paid sick days. Of the 20 most competitive economies in the world, the U.S. is the only one that does not require businesses to provide paid sick days. 

These and other critically important family policies are the core of MomsRising’s 

agenda which is spelled out in the word ‘‘mother.’’ M for Maternity and Paternity 

Leave; O for Open Flexible Work; T for Television and other Afterschool Programs; 

H for Healthcare; E for Excellent Childcare; R for Realistic and Fair Wages. 

If we want to say we have family values; then we have to also value families by 

passing the kinds of policies that have long been championed by groups like the National Partnership for Women and Families, the National Women’s Law Center, the 

Children’s Defense Fund, FamiliesUSA, and 9to5, five of MomsRising’s more than 

80 aligned organizational partners. Policies like the Healthy Families Act, and the 

Balancing Act, as well as fully funding and reauthorizing the State Children’s 

Health Insurance Program (SCHIP); and the Child Care and Development Block 

Grant. 

We, as a nation, are competing in a global economy in which all the other top 

economies are investing in their children and families while we lag behind. Children, quite literally, are the economic engine of our future; and study after study 

shows that investing in children and family policies now, saves funds later because 

of less reliance on government entitlement programs, less severe illnesses, lower infant mortality, fewer grade repetitions, less interaction with the criminal justice system, and the list of areas where costs are saved goes on. It is horribly short-sighted 

to ignore these pressing national issues. 

25

MomsRising actively and regularly engages members to support family-friendly 

policies. For example, in February, we sent out an e-outreach asking our members 

to urge their Members of Congress to support the Healthy Families Act. In less than 

48 hours we had generated more than 17,000 emailed letters. 

But we do much more than generate emailed letters. MomsRising members have 

held hundreds of house parties across the country to discuss the issues they care 

about and to screen The Motherhood Manifesto film which delves into the MOTHER 

agenda. Our offices are overflowing with thousands of decorated baby ONEsies that 

our members have sent us as a show of support for family-friendly policies—and 

we’re getting ready to exhibit those ONEsies at forums around the country. 

MomsRising was instrumental in getting paid family leave passed in 

Washington State—making it only the second state to have paid leave, after California. And we’re working in New York, New Jersey, Oregon and elsewhere to get 

similar laws passed. 

We’ll continue to work with our more than 120,000 members (and growing), who 

are in every state, to support federal legislation like the Healthy Families Act and 

the Balancing Act, as well as to support state legislation that makes workplaces 

more family-friendly, and to speak out and take action on the issues that matter 

most to families—because when this many people are having the same problems at 

the same time, we have a national structural issue that needs to be addressed, and 

not an epidemic of personal failings. It’s time to make those changes. 

Thank you. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. I thank all four of you. We do not have 

votes yet, so we are going to start right off with questions. 

I am going to start with a question for you, Ms. Wankoff. 

Wankoff? 

Ms. WANKOFF. That is right. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. As a human resources professional and 

as a single mom, I had no idea that my pushing what my company 

was doing right would make such a difference to the workers, but 

it was always clear to us—and this was clear in the 1970s and 

1980s—that family-friendly policies would make the difference. 

What is offered by KPMG, is that offered to everybody in the 

company or to just some level of workers? 

Ms. WANKOFF. Employees at all levels are offered the benefits 

that I described today. They are offered to the most senior as well 

as to the most junior benefits-eligible employees. We have very few 

handfuls of employees who work only a few hours a week for us 

who do not get benefits. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Well, then, Ms. Quarberg, how would 

that have made a difference in your life and with your children and 

your family? Would you still be in the workforce? 

Ms. QUARBERG. Let us put it this way: If I could work for her 

company, I would be more than happy to be there, and I would 

stay there. It would benefit my family greatly if we had that kind 

of company. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Ms. Lindsay, why do you think your employer is willing to risk higher costs and competing with 

outsourcing? I mean, when you were speaking, I kept thinking that 

is exactly the kind of company that is going overseas. 

Has anybody measured productivity and how much less turnover 

you have? 

Ms. LINDSAY. He just really focused on having good employees 

who want to work at the company, and he believes that it should 

be made here in the U.S. 

26

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Kristen, it is really nice to see you here 

today. I have been working with you all along and with Joan 

Blades. 

What are other women, working parents saying to you? What is 

their number one most important priority? 

Ms. ROWE-FINKBEINER. You know, it was really interesting. We 

did a survey of our members, and I talked about the MOTHER acronym, M-O-T-H-E-R, and all of them came up almost equally as 

top priorities. We really have a Nation where many people are juggling multiple things at the same time. They are juggling work. 

They are juggling children. They come up pretty much evenly. 

Health care pops a little bit up higher, but I think that is why it 

is so important for your bill, the Balancing Act, to be brought forward as a whole solution together that we can look at as addressing these issues. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. I saw ‘‘SiCKO’’ last night, the premiere 

of Michael Moore’s new film. It is going to start a whole revolution 

in this country, let me tell you. 

Why do you think the United States is lagging behind all of industrial countries in these family-friendly policies? 

Ms. ROWE-FINKBEINER. Well, that is the million-dollar question. 

I think part of our issue here right now is that we have a corporate 

culture of short-term monetary returns as opposed to long-term returns. Many CEOs, for example, are given bonuses based on their 

quarterly reports, but what we have right now, as many of us 

talked about, is that we are competing in a global economy where 

the majority of our other competitive nations are providing these 

family-friendly policies and programs. This is critically important 

because all of the studies show that, when you invest in young children, invest in families, you make back more money later. So, for 

every $1 invested in, for example, early childcare, early childhood 

development, the smallest number I have seen back is $7. The biggest is $27. It really runs the gamut, but I have never seen it come 

out negatively. So investing in children and families now is critically important to our global competitiveness later because children 

are the economic engine of our future. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you very much. 

Who is the ultimate loser when we make parents or grandparents stay at work instead of going to their kids’ school meeting 

with the teacher or to watch a school play? 

Missy. 

Ms. QUARBERG. Ultimately the children lose out. 

Also, just to let you know, too, in the time that my children have 

been going to early childhood, my husband has not been able to 

come to any of the conferences, the end-of-the-year picnics or anything, or even to their graduations, because he has had to stay 

there to work to make the money, and right now he feels awful because he has missed out on so much. 

So I sorely believe that it is mostly the children who will lose 

out, but it is also probably the other parent, too. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. And the parent. All right. 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. Wilson. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you again, all of you, for being here today. 

27

Ms. Lindsay, I want to apologize. While you were speaking, I had 

to jump up. I was trying to balance. We have a group of Scouts 

from my daughter-in-law’s home church, Saint Peter’s Catholic 

Church of Columbia, and so I was racing out there. Indeed, while 

you were speaking, I was thinking of Scouting, and my wife—I give 

her so much credit. We have got four sons. All four are Eagle 

Scouts. I always point out that this would not have been possible 

if it had not been for the efforts of my wife, and I point out very 

clearly that—it can be so easily understood—there is no dad who 

knows how to put on a merit badge on a sash. So, again, I appreciate her efforts, and it has been reflected in what you are doing, 

too. 

Ms. Lindsay, it sounds like you have got an ideal working situation, given your needs and time limitations, in terms of balancing 

your family’s responsibilities. You noted in your testimony that you 

worked full time until your daughter was born. When did you first 

approach your employer about working on a reduced work schedule? 

Ms. LINDSAY. When I was around 5 months pregnant, I went to 

him and we discussed different options, if I could work from home, 

if I needed to still come to the office, and that is how we came up 

with the solution. It was best if I could come to the office on some 

days, but then on other days still have the opportunity to work 

from my house. 

Mr. WILSON. Additionally, as the company’s bookkeeper, you are 

aware of the challenges, and it has been pointed out by Chairman 

Woolsey, too, that small businesses are trying to maintain competitiveness in the global environment that we are in and to compete 

with foreign businesses. 

Would you say that part of Marlin Steel Wire’s ability to be competitive lies with its commitment to its workforce? 

Ms. LINDSAY. Oh, absolutely. The benefits that we’re given, even 

the limited amount of hours that I work, I am still given vacation, 

sick time, it really makes it a good place to work and it makes you 

work harder at your job to produce the quality of products. 

Mr. WILSON. It is very impressive. Another company I certainly 

have a high regard for is KPMG, and I am delighted Ms. Wankoff 

that you’re here. Your company clearly has placed a high priority 

on its employees and created a culture in which workforce flexibility not only is offered, but encouraged. 

Could you elaborate on some of the criteria that are used to decide which companies make it to the list of the best companies to 

work for and best companies for working mothers? 

Ms. WANKOFF. Well, I can’t really speak for how those lists are 

determined, that is really up to the Working Mother Media and 

Fortune Magazine. We do know that we are ranked with our competitors according to the policies that we offer, as well as the utilization of those programs. And there is an extensive application 

process that we complete and provide lots of information on those 

statistics to the organizations. 

Mr. WILSON. You noted in your testimony that KPMG believes 

that helping employees manage their responsibilities both inside 

and outside of work is beneficial to everyone. 

28

Is it difficult in today’s environment—and you are with HR, I am 

impressed that you have been in that for the few years you have 

been because that is a tough position—is it difficult to find enough 

qualified employees? 

Do you believe that KPMG’s benefits have a large impact in the 

company’s ability to attract and retain qualified employees? 

Ms. WANKOFF. Absolutely. We are always seeking out top qualified employees, and we believe that our programs and policies and, 

clearly, our reputation as a employer of choice plays into the decision that potential candidates make as to whether to come to work 

for us or not. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you again. In the interest of time since we 

will be voting soon, I yield the balance of my time. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. I will go to Mr. Bishop and Mr. Payne, 

and we might tie it up so you don’t have to wait 45 minutes. 

Mr. Bishop. 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you, Madame Chair, thank you very much for 

holding this hearing. And to the panel, thank you all very much 

for your testimony. 

Ms. Wankoff, in a previous life I was a senior administrator of 

a college, and KPMG was our auditing firm; and they did a firstrate job and were always delightful to work with. Now I understand why. I am very impressed with what KPMG has done for 

their workers. 

Let me ask, your policy of paid sick days, vacation times, do you 

have any incidents where you believe that the generosity is being 

abused or taken advantage of? 

Ms. WANKOFF. Absolutely not. We do track time that people take 

and we do not track why someone is taking the days, they are 

there for their use. It is built into our business model that people 

can take the time. 

And frankly, we encourage them to take it, because we believe 

that that does reenergize our employees when they are taking time 

off, whether it be for vacation or for their own sick time to recover 

or for the sick time for their children and their families. 

Mr. BISHOP. How would you characterize some of the important 

measures such as productivity, longevity, things of that type? 

Ms. WANKOFF. Our retention has improved over the last 5 years. 

Turnover is down from 26 percent to 18 percent, and it is a 30 percent reduction over that period of time. And we strongly believe 

that our programs and policies and our strong message about being 

an employer of choice has contributed to that reduction in turnover. 

Mr. BISHOP. Ms. Lindsay, your company seems to be similarly 

enlightened to KPMG. How would you characterize employee morale and productivity and longevity at your company? 

Ms. LINDSAY. I agree with her also. If people take the time off 

and get the rest that they need they are more apt to be more productive. And if they given vacation, they take a vacation and enjoy 

it, they are more happy when they do come to work. 

As far as turnover, we don’t have much turnover either. 

Mr. BISHOP. Ms. Quarberg, how would you have characterized 

morale at your previous employer and productivity? 

Ms. QUARBERG. First of all, can I have a job with you two? 

Mr. BISHOP. That is why we had the hearing. 

29

Ms. QUARBERG. I have to admit, I don’t care for what Wal-Mart 

stands for as far as their policies are concerned. I did grow to care 

about the people that I worked with, but as far as company policies, if you were to bring something up as far as the attendance 

policy or if something came up with someone in their family, morale would immediately go downward. It is bad. 

Mr. BISHOP. One final thing, if I have time: Just from my own 

experience with KPMG, I know you are very quantitative in terms 

of the assessments that you make. Is it fair for me to assume that 

KPMG has done, in effect, a cost-benefit analysis and has made the 

judgment that making this kind of investment in their employees 

pays off in terms of money saved on new training and all of those 

issues? Is this a reasonable assumption for me to make? 

Ms. WANKOFF. Absolutely, knowing that we quantify everything. 

One example, we did look at the backup child care program and 

determined that we get a 221 percent ROI on the cost of that program for us. It brings our employees back to work with peace of 

mind that their children are cared for in a safe and healthy environment. 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you very much. 

In the interest of time, I will yield back as well. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Mr. Payne. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. I was going to ask questions 

about the child care, do you—the companies that are rated higher, 

do they provide child care at the institutions primarily? 

Ms. WANKOFF. I really can only speak to what KPMG offers. I 

know that our competitors tend to offer similar programs, and we 

do try to stay competitive. 

We offer a backup care program versus an onsite program, because many of our employees do not go into KPMG offices every 

day, they are traveling to client sites and that does change over 

time. So the solution for us that makes sense for our employees 

and our workforce is the backup care program. 

I think the——

Mr. PAYNE. What is the backup care program? 

Ms. WANKOFF. When your primary care breaks down, which it 

does, on average, six to eight times a year, whether it is because 

the sitter is sick or there is a gap from when school closes until 

camp starts or other, you are able to secure either center-based or 

in-home care, really immediately; you make a phone call and within probably an hour or 2 care can be set up. 

Mr. PAYNE. That is amazing. I just raised a question about child 

care because I know it is probably the most difficult for a single 

parent. I was a teacher, and I was a single parent with two very 

young children, raising them; and the problem was, my kids always 

had a temperature, it seemed like, so you have to try to leave your 

place to go pick up the child because the day care people don’t want 

to be left there with it. 

So I think that is probably one of the strongest parts that any 

company could have to really provide for that child care. 

We have 5 minutes left. Just finally too, do companies still have 

family picnics or holiday parents and those things? Do you find 

that those kinds of things happen and if that has anything to do 

with the morale of the company? 

30

Ms. WANKOFF. We certainly look for opportunities to both celebrate our successes, as well as get together with family, so we do 

a lot of that. We have 93 offices around the country and many of 

those happen on a local basis, whether they are holiday parties, or 

family picnics or other outings, ball games or circus or things like 

that, to really build and strengthen the KPMG family community. 

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. I yield back. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Well, I want to thank all four of you for 

being here, and for sharing your time and your information with 

us. What a difference a family-friendly workplace makes. 

We have two examples here. We have the difference between Ms. 

Lindsay, who had support at work, and Ms. Quarberg, who clearly 

did not. And I have to say to everybody in this room and to my colleagues and anybody that is going to pay attention to this; this inequality is unacceptable. Ms. Quarberg should not have had to 

leave her job because of child care expenses being too high and because her job was threatened, because her child needed her to be 

at home occasionally. We should have laws in place that ensure 

that she and others in her situation have the same opportunities 

of support that Ms. Lindsay and the workers at KPMG have. 

Today, was our initial hearing on the challenges of balancing 

work and family, and we learned some very valuable information. 

And we will take that along with us as we have other hearings. 

There will be other hearings. We are the family-friendly side of the 

aisle and we will be putting together legislation that will be all-encompassing and hopefully make a difference over the long run for 

families. 

And, Kristen, we will be using you, as always, as a guide in that 

regard. So thank you very much, all of you for being here. 

Any member who wishes to submit follow-up questions in writing 

to the witnesses should coordinate with the majority staff within 

7 days. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Without objection, this hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 2:44 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

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