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FAMILY–FRIENDLY LEAVE POLICIES: IMPROVING

HOW WORKERS BALANCE HOME AND FAMILY

FIELD HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS 

COMMITTEE ON 

EDUCATION AND LABOR

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

HEARING HELD IN HAUPPAUGE, NY, JUNE 9, 2008

Serial No. 110–94

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, 

Senior Republican 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 

[Vacancy]

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 9, 2008 ................................................................................. 1

Statement of Members: 

Bishop, Hon. Timothy H., a Representative in Congress from the State 

of New York ................................................................................................... 3

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 6

Letter from Scott M. Stringer, president, Borough of Manhattan ........ 25

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

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 4

Statement of Witnesses: 

Blekas, George, resident of Manorville, NY ................................................... 13

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

Condos, Julienne, director of program development for rehabilitation, 

St. Charles Hospital ...................................................................................... 11

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 12

Dolan, Donna, chair, New York State Paid Family Leave Coalition ........... 8

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 9

Wankoff, Barbara, director of workplace solutions, KPMG .......................... 16

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 18

(1)

FAMILY–FRIENDLY LEAVE POLICIES:

IMPROVING HOW WORKERS 

BALANCE HOME AND FAMILY 

Monday, June 9, 2008

U.S. House of Representatives 

Subcommittee on Workforce Protections 

Committee on Education and Labor 

Washington, DC

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a.m., at the 

William H. Rogers Legislative Building, 725 Veterans Memorial 

Highway, Hauppauge, New York, Hon. Lynn Woolsey [chairwoman 

of the subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Woolsey and Bishop. 

Staff present: Lynn Dondis, Senior Policy Advisor, Subcommittee 

on Workforce Protections; Sara Lonardo, Junior Legislative Associate for Labor; Rob Gregg, Minority Senior Legislative Assistant. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. I want to thank everyone for coming here 

to Hauppauge, New York, for the field hearing on balancing work 

and family. 

I especially want to thank Representative Bishop for hosting the 

Workforce Protections Subcommittee in this wonderful location. 

And thanks to his staff and the crew here at the William H. Rogers Legislature Building for all of your work in preparing for the 

hearing. 

In Congress, Mr. Bishop has been working diligently on behalf of 

working families. Just recently, the House passed his bill, H.R. 

2744, which will clarify that airline attendants and pilots are covered by The Family and Medical Leave Act. So you see, FMLA can 

be improved. 

Congressman Bishop will no doubt elaborate on what this legislation does, anyway we hope he does, in his opening statement. 

The Subcommittee on Workforce Protections and our members 

are dedicated to finding solutions so that workers in this country 

can better balance work and family. 

During the Congress, so far, the subcommittee has held three 

hearings on balancing work and family. Today we will focus on the 

issue of paid leave. 

Balancing work and family is a challenge for most of us, and it 

is important that we, as a nation, address this issue. 

As the cost of living increases and wages remain stagnant, Americans work longer hours and often commute longer distances to be 

able to pay the bills. 

2

If children have two parents, which is not always the case, both 

parents are probably in the workforce, so our job is to help those 

parents bridge both of their jobs: one, their employment, and two, 

their family. 

Americans dream of economic independence, a secure future, and 

a good life for their children. However, for most Americans, this 

dream is slipping away. Gasoline costs are sky-high and other 

household costs are going up rapidly as well. 

I was a human resource professional for 20 years, from the 1970s 

until the 1990s, a working mother as well. And now I watch my 

children balance work and their families. It is not easy! No worker 

should be put in a position where choosing between the job and the 

family is necessary. One policy that helps to relieve such stress is 

‘‘paid family and medical leave.’’

Unfortunately, there is no existing Federal policy on paid leave, 

and only a handful of States, including my home State of California, as well as New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and now 

Washington State, provide paid leave. 

It is true that there are some wonderful companies—such as 

KPMG, our witness here today—that provide paid leave to its employees. 

But despite evidence that such leave actually helps, not hurts, 

the employers’ bottom line, the number of employers providing paid 

leave—especially maternity leave—is less than it was 10 years ago. 

Can you believe it? We, the wealthiest nation in the world, are regressing. 

Amazingly, even without paid leave, workers manage to get by. 

But, we can do better for our workers and their families than ‘‘getting by.’’ We can bridge work and family. 

We will be hearing from Julienne Condos, whose coworkers from 

St. Charles Hospital have generously contributed their own vacation time to her so she and her husband can get along financially 

while coping with her diagnosis of acute leukemia. 

We will also hear from George Blekas, who has been able to take 

family and medical leave to care for his wife who has breast cancer. 

But leave is unpaid, and while Mr. Blekas has been able to take 

the leave knowing that his job is secure, his family has gone from 

a comfortable life to living paycheck to paycheck. 

Reports tell us that there are countless others who, while eligible 

for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, do not take it 

because they simply cannot afford time off without pay. 

This is not to say that we aren’t making any progress in providing family and medical leave to people who need it. 

Just this year the President signed into law the first-ever expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act, my legislation, to provide six months of leave to workers with wounded service members. 

The legislation also allows families to take leave from work in 

the event a family member is deployed overseas. 

I am proud to have sponsored the legislation, but we need to go 

further and make it paid leave. 

The U.S. is lagging behind the rest of the world in providing paid 

leave. A study of workplace policies in over 170 countries found 

that the U.S. was one of four countries—with Papua New Guinea, 

3

Swaziland and Liberia—that did not have paid sick leave for new 

mothers. That is unacceptable. 

And so this session, I reintroduced the Balancing Act which puts 

into place a whole host of family-friendly policies, including a provision for paid leave. 

And on April 22, I, along with my colleagues Chairman Miller, 

Representatives Stark and Maloney, introduced H.R. 5873, The 

Family Leave Insurance Act, which will provide workers with 12 

weeks of paid family and medical leave. 

We must adopt paid leave policies because workers should not be 

put in a situation where they are forced to choose between keeping 

their job and caring for their family. 

I am looking forward to hearing everyone’s testimony today. 

Mr. BISHOP. I want to first thank Chairwoman Woolsey for having this hearing on Long Island. I also want to thank each of our 

witnesses for coming here today to share their story or expertise. 

Chairwoman Woolsey’s leadership has been invaluable in making 

sure important issues are discussed by the Congress. I also would 

like to thank her staff for putting this hearing together, as well as 

Lisa Wieber and Charlie Boeckmann in my office here in New York 

and Joanna Serra in my Washington office for all their hard work. 

Balancing work and family is an issue that affects Long Islanders every day. Many of our families juggle caring for children while 

having two parents that work full-time. When illness occurs, for either a family member or themselves, balancing becomes even more 

of a challenge. 

I believe that Government could and should be doing more to 

help families balance care for loved ones while still protecting their 

job and financial security. In fact, when it comes to paid leave, the 

United States lags seriously behind other industrialized countries. 

We rank last in the amount of paid leave that is provided to new 

parents. 

Families here on Long Island and around the country have to 

choose between caring for themselves or a family member and 

going to work for a much needed paycheck. 

The Family Medical Leave Act, FMLA, was passed in 1993. It allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for 

themselves or a loved one. 

No one can deny that FMLA has been a great program for working families in this country. No one can question the benefit it has 

provided for working women and men by being able to take time 

off from work to care for themselves or family members. 

However, today we will hear from two witnesses who will discuss 

the burden of unpaid leave and the need for paid leave. Many employees report that the main reason they do not take FMLA leave 

is ‘‘lack of money.’’

We will also hear from Donna Dolan, an expert on both Federal 

and State policies on family leave. 

We will also hear from a company, KPMG, that already provides 

paid leave. KPMG realizes that providing a benefit like paid leave 

not only benefits employees, but employers as well. Employees who 

receive benefits like paid leave are more likely to stay at their jobs, 

feel more loyalty to their employer, and are happier employees and 

are more productive. 

4

Since FMLA passed in 1993, there has sadly only been one extension of FMLA—and that was merely months ago when Congress 

passed a provision in the Defense Authorization bill allowing up to 

six months of unpaid leave for family members of seriously wounded soldiers or 12 weeks for a qualifying exigency. Ms. Woolsey’s 

leadership was instrumental in making sure this bill passed the 

Congress and was signed into law. 

In addition, last month, a bill that I sponsored, H.R. 2744, the 

Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act, passed in the House 

of Representatives with overwhelming support. 

The intent of the FMLA was to provide for 12 weeks of unpaid 

leave if an employee has worked 60 percent of a full-time schedule 

over the past year. 

While 1,250 hours adequately reflects 60 percent of a full-time 

schedule for the vast majority of employees in this country, that 

equation does not work for flight attendants and pilots. Flight attendants and pilots work under the Railway Labor Act rather than 

the Fair Labor Standards Act which covers most 9-5 workers. 

Time between flights, whether during the day or on overnights/

layovers, is based on company scheduling requirements and needs 

but does not count towards crew member time at work. Flight attendants and pilots can spend up to four to five days a week away 

from home and family due to the nature of their job, however all 

those hours will not count towards qualification. 

H.R. 2744 will finally fix this technical problem and flight crew 

members will be able to receive the benefit that they deserve. 

While there is much more to be done on the Federal level for 

paid leave, several States have begun to enact their own paid leave 

policies. Most recently, New Jersey became the third State to enact 

a paid leave policy. 

Although New York State does not have a paid leave policy, employees may take temporary disability insurance after the birth of 

a child. Workers may have receive 50 percent of their wage—with 

a maximum of $170 per week—hardly enough to care for a family 

considering today’s cost of living. Disability insurance is not available to care for older, disabled or sick family members. 

While this is notable, more needs to be done. 

I look forward to hearing from all our witnesses today on this important subject affecting Long Islanders, and I hope that we can all 

come to some conclusion about what should be done. 

Without objection, I would like to enter Congressman Bishop’s 

testimony and both of our opening remarks into the record. So 

moved. 

[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 to Hauppauge, New York for this field hearing on balancing work and family. 

I especially want to thank Representative Bishop for hosting the Workforce Protections Subcommittee in this wonderful location. 

And thanks to his staff and the crew here at the William H. Rogers Legislature 

Building for all of your work in preparing for the hearing. 

In Congress, Mr. Bishop has been working diligently on behalf of working families, and just recently the House passed his bill, H.R. 2744, which will clarify that 

airline attendants and pilots are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act. 

5

He will no doubt elaborate on what this legislation does in his opening statement. 

But I want all of you to know how much Representative Bishop cares about these 

issues. 

The Subcommittee on Workforce Protections is dedicated to finding solutions so 

that workers in this country can better balance work and family. 

During the 110th Congress, the Subcommittee has held 3 hearings on balancing 

work and family, and today we will focus on the issue of paid leave. 

Balancing work and family is a challenge for most of us, and it is important that 

we as a country address this issue. 

As the cost of living increases and wages remain the stagnant, Americans have 

to work longer hours to be able to pay the bills. 

Most of us work because we have to, despite the fact that we may also have a 

spouse or partner also works. 

It now takes 2 people in a household to pay the mortgage, the rent and to put 

food on the table. 

Americans dream of economic independence, a secure future, and a good life for 

their children. 

However, for most Americans this dream is slipping away. 

Gasoline costs are sky-high and other household costs are going up rapidly as 

well. 

I was a human resource manager for 20 years and, for many years, a single mother supporting 3 children on my own. 

So I know what it is like for workers to try to balance work and home life, at 

the same time they are worrying about their family’s economic security. 

All families, including those struggling to stay in the middle class, need Government to develop policies that will help ease their burden. 

One of these policies is the establishment of paid family and medical leave. 

Unfortunately, there is no existing federal policy on paid leave, and only a handful of states, including my home state of California, as well as New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and now Washington State provide any kind of paid leave. 

It is true that there are some wonderful companies—such as KPMG, our witness 

here today—that provide paid leave to its employees. 

But despite evidence that such leave actually helps not hurts employers’ bottom 

line, the number of employers providing paid leave—especially maternity leave—is 

shrinking and is less than it was 10 years ago. 

Amazingly, even without paid leave, workers have managed to get by. 

We will be hearing from Julienne Condos, whose coworkers from St. Charles Hospital have generously contributed their own vacation time to her and her husband 

so they can get along financially while coping with her diagnosis of acute leukemia. 

We will also hear from George Blekas, who has been able to take family and medical leave to care for his wife who has breast cancer. 

But that leave is unpaid, and while Mr. Blekas has been able to take the leave 

knowing that his job is secure, his family has gone from a comfortable life to living 

paycheck to paycheck. 

But there are countless others who, while eligible for leave under the Family and 

Medical Leave Act, do not take it. 

And the most frequent reason they cite for not taking the leave is that they cannot afford it. 

This is not to say that we aren’t making any progress in providing family and 

medical leave to people who need it. 

Just this year the President signed in law the first-ever expansion of the Family 

and Medical Leave Act to provide 6 months of leave to workers with wounded 

servicemembers. 

The legislation also allows families to take leave from work in the event a family 

member is deployed overseas. 

I am proud to have been a sponsor of that legislation, but that leave is still unpaid and we need to go further. 

After all, the U.S. is lagging behind the rest of the world in providing paid leave. 

A study of workplace policies in over 170 countries found that the U.S. was one 

of 4 countries—with Papua New Guinea, Swaziland and Liberia—that did not have 

paid sick leave for new mothers. 

That is unacceptable. 

And so this session, I reintroduced the Balancing Act which puts into a place a 

whole host of family-friendly policies, including a provision for paid leave. 

And on April 22, I, along with my colleagues Chairman Miller, Representatives 

Stark and Maloney introduced H.R. 5873, the Family Leave Insurance Act, which 

will provide workers with 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. 

6

We must adopt paid leave policies because workers should not be put in a situation where they are forced to choose between keeping their job and caring for there 

family. 

I am looking forward to hearing everyone’s testimony today. 

[The statement of Mr. Bishop follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Timothy H. Bishop, a Representative in 

Congress From the State of New York 

I want to first thank Chairwoman Woolsey for having this hearing on Long Island. I also want to thank each of our witnesses for coming here today to share their 

story or expertise. 

Balancing work and family is an issue that affects Long Islanders everyday. Many 

of our families juggle caring for children while having two parents that work full 

time. When illness occurs, for either a family member or themselves, balancing becomes even more of a challenge 

I believe that government could and should be doing more to help families balance 

care for loved ones while still protecting job and financial security. In fact, when 

it comes to paid leave, the United States lags seriously behind other industrialized 

countries. 

They like many others here on Long Island and around the country have to choose 

between caring for themselves or a family members or going to work for a much 

needed paycheck. 

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was passed in 1993 it allows employees 

to take for 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for themselves or a loved ones. 

No one can deny that FMLA has been a great program for working families in 

this country. No one can question the benefit it has provided for working women 

and men by being able to take time off from work to care for themselves or family 

members. 

However, today we will hear from two witnesses who will discuss the burden of 

unpaid leave and the need for paid leave. Many employees report that the main reason they do not take FMLA leave is ‘‘lack of money.’’

We will also hear from Donna Dolan, an expert on both Federal and state policies 

on family leave. 

We will also here from a company, KPMG, that already provides paid leave. 

KPMG realizes that providing a benefit like paid leave, not only benefits employees but employers as well. 

Employees who receive benefits like paid leave are more likely to stay at their 

jobs, feel more loyalty to their employer and are overall happier employees and more 

productive. 

Since FMLA passed in1993, there has sadly only been one extension of FMLA—

and that was merely months ago when Congress passed a provision in the Defense 

Authorization bill allowing up to 6 months of unpaid leave for family members of 

seriously wounded soldiers or 12 weeks. 

In addition, last month, a bill that I sponsored, HR2744, the Airline Flight Crew 

Technical Corrections Act, and every member of this Subcommittee sponsored 

passed in the House of Representatives with overwhelming support. 

The intent of the FMLA was to provide for 12 weeks of unpaid leave if an employee has worked 60% of a full time schedule over the past year. 

While 1,250 hours adequately reflects 60% of a full time schedule for the vast majority of employees in this country, that equation does not work for flight attendants 

and pilots. Flight attendants and pilots work under the Railway Labor Act rather 

than the Fair Labor Standards Act which covers most 9-5 workers. 

Time between flights, whether during the day or on overnights/layovers, is based 

on company scheduling requirements and needs but does not count towards crewmember time at work. Flight attendants and pilots can spend up to 4—5 days a 

week away from home and family due to the nature of their job, however all those 

hours will not count towards qualification. 

HR2744, will finally fix this technical problems and Flight Crew members will be 

able to receive the benefit that they deserve. 

While there is much more to be done on the federal level for paid leave, several 

states have begun to enact their own paid leave policies. Most recently, New Jersey 

became the third state to enact a paid leave policy. 

Although NY State does not have a paid lave policy, employees may take temporary disability insurance after the birth of a child. Workers may receive 50% of 

their wage—with a maximum of $170 per week—hardly enough to care for a family 

7

considering today’s cost of living. Disability insurance is NOT available to care for 

older, disabled or sick family members. 

While this is notable, more need to be done. 

I look forward to hearing for all our witnesses today on this important subject affecting Long Islanders and I hope that we can all come to some conclusion about 

what should be done. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Now I would like to introduce our very 

distinguished panel of witnesses who came here this afternoon and 

have been very patient with us. Thank you. 

I am going to introduce them in the order they are going to 

speak, introduce them all at once. 

Donna Dolan is employed by the Communication Workers of 

America and has been the CWA District 1 Director of Work-Family 

Issues for the past 16 years. Ms. Dolan chairs the New York State 

Paid Family Leave Coalition, and is a steering committee member 

of the multi-State consortium on paid leave. She is a graduate of 

Boston College and holds a master’s degree from Bowling Green 

State University. 

Julienne Condos has been employed by St. Charles Hospital in 

Port Jefferson, New York, since 1998, most recently as the Director 

of Program Development on Rehabilitation. Last year, Ms. Condos 

was diagnosed with acute leukemia and has been unable to return 

to work. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from 

Ithaca College and has been pursuing her Masters in health care 

administration at Stony Brook University. Ms. Condos lives with 

her husband and two young children in Rocky Point, New York. 

George Blekas has been employed as an outside field technician 

at Verizon in Riverhead, New York, for 20 years. Last year, his 

wife, Maria, was diagnosed with breast cancer and he has had to 

take unpaid family and medical leave to care for her. Mr. Blekas 

has attended college at the University of Texas and State University of New York in Selden as part of Verizon’s Next Step Program. 

He lives in Manorville with his wife and two sons. 

Barbara Wankoff is the director of workplace solutions at KPMG. 

She has 25 years of professional experience in human resources 

and joined KPMG in the year 2000. She has been in her current 

position since 2003. Ms. Wankoff received her BA from Brandeis 

University. This will be the second time she has testified before the 

subcommittee, and we welcome her back. Thank you very much. 

Now, for those of you who have not testified before this subcommittee, let me explain our lighting system and the 5-minute 

rule. Everyone, including Members, is limited to five minutes of 

presentation or questioning. The green light is illuminated when 

you begin to speak. When you see the yellow light, it means you 

have one minute remaining. When you see the red light, it means 

your time has expired and you need to conclude your testimony. We 

don’t cut you off in mid-sentence, in mid-thought or in mid-idea, so 

don’t worry about that. And know that if you had a lot more you 

wanted to say, during the question and answering, we will make 

that possible. 

So we will now hear from our first witness, Ms. Dolan. 

8

STATEMENT OF DONNA DOLAN, CHAIR, NEW YORK STATE 

PAID FAMILY LEAVE COALITION 

Ms. DOLAN. Good morning, Honorable Members of Congress, 

staff, fellow witnesses and guests. My name is Donna Dolan. Thank 

you for inviting me here to testify today on behalf of the New York 

State Paid Family Leave Coalition. 

The Coalition, which has been working to advance paid family 

leave and paid sick days here in New York State, is comprised of 

over 100 organizations representing labor and advocates for low-income working families, women, children, seniors, the disabled and 

the chronically ill. The Coalition also has a small business advocacy component. I am here today to urge Congress to pass a comprehensive paid family leave insurance program. 

Momentum is growing around the country to provide universal 

paid family leave through social insurance. Why? Because we know 

it is well past the time that the workplace practices catch up with 

the realty of today’s workforce where the vast majority of women 

are working. We know it takes two earners to earn a decent standard of living. And this is all about, ladies and gentlemen, ending 

the war, the tug of war that workers feel when they are pulled between their work and family responsibilities. And it is also about 

the health of our nation. 

We know that early childhood development is absolutely critical, 

and we know that infants do better when they have parental time. 

As just one example, in a large randomized trial, researchers found 

that breast feeding is associated with improved scores on intelligence tests in childhood. Studies have shown that a longer maternal leave significantly improves the health outcomes for the mother. We know that seriously ill children recover more quickly when 

a parent can take care of them. We know that we will save money 

on Medicare and Medicaid when a family member can be there 

when an aging parent is discharged from the hospital. 

Our neighbor, New Jersey, has become the third State to enact 

paid family leave, after California and Washington State. Five 

other States—Arizona, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, 

and those of us here in New York—have bills in progress. 

Last year here in New York, we came very, very close. The Assembly passed a bill and Governor Spitzer had his pen ready to 

sign it. But the Senate instead decided to hold hearings around the 

State rather than bring the paid family leave bill to the floor for 

a vote. 

So this year, we are working on a new bill that was just introduced by the Senate last Friday the end of the day, and that would 

fix the problem that we have had which is a low benefit level. 

Currently, TDI, temporary disability insurance, in New York 

State is capped at $170 a week. We are looking to raise the temporary, the entire temporary disability insurance benefit rate, and 

paid family leave of course would be a part of this higher benefit 

rate and it would be phased in over two years and it would be 

capped at 50 percent of the State-wide average weekly wage. And 

by the year 2010, this would be $550 a week. And then from then 

on, it would keep pace with inflation. 

9

And New York has an advantage because we are one of only five 

States that already have a State-wide temporary disability insurance. 

But universal family leave insurance cannot happen without 

Federal action. The 2008 National Study of Employers that Congresswoman Woolsey made reference to, just released by the Families and Work Institute, found that there has been no progress on 

most measures of family-friendly workplace practices over the past 

decade, and that, as she stated, we are moving backwards when it 

comes to maternity leave. 

The percent of employers that have more than 100 employees 

providing full pay during the period of maternity-related disability 

has dropped down to 16 percent. That is down from 27 percent 10 

years ago. 

We can afford to do paid family leave here in New York State; 

and of course, we can afford to do it, we believe, nationally. But in 

terms of the States, the actual cost in California is just 58 cents 

a week deducted from the employees’ paychecks. And in New Jersey, the projected cost is similar, 63 cents a week, or a maximum 

of $33 a year. 

Voters overwhelmingly support paid family leave. We need to do 

it on the Federal level. 

I see my red light. 

And until that happens on the Federal level, we need to do it at 

the State level. 

Thank you very much. 

[The statement of Ms. Dolan follows:]

Prepared Statement of Donna Dolan, Chair, New York State Paid Family 

Leave Coalition 

My name is Donna Dolan. Thank you for inviting me here to testify today on behalf of the New York State Paid Family Leave Coalition. The Coalition, which has 

been working to advance paid family leave and paid sick days, is comprised of over 

100 organizations representing labor and advocates for low-income working families, 

women, children, seniors, the disabled and chronically ill. I am here to urge the 

Congress to pass a comprehensive paid family leave insurance program. 

Every American at some point in her or his life will need time to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, for an aging parent, or for a seriously ill family member, or will be that baby, aging parent, or ill spouse. The workers who need to take 

time off to provide that care should not have to choose between their loved ones and 

their livelihoods. 

Momentum is growing around the country to provide universal paid family leave 

through social insurance. Why? Because it is well past time for workplace practices 

to catch up to the reality of today’s labor force where the vast majority of women 

are working and it takes two earners to provide a decent standard of living. It is 

about ending the war, the tug of war workers feel when they are pulled between 

work and family responsibilities. And it is also about the health of our nation. 

We know that early child development is absolutely critical. And we know that 

infants do better when they have parental time. As just one example, in a recent 

large randomized trial, researchers found that breast-feeding is associated with improved scores on intelligence tests in childhood. Studies by Chatterji, et. al., Fein 

and Roe, Visness and Kennedy and others have found that returning to work sooner 

significantly decreases the likelihood and duration of breast-feeding. In particular, 

women returning to work full-time and low-income women have difficulty continuing 

breast-feeding. In addition to benefiting the child, many studies have shown that 

a longer maternal leave also significantly improves health outcomes for the mother. 

We know that seriously ill children recover more quickly when a parent can take 

care of them. We know that we will save money on Medicare and Medicaid when 

a family member can be there when an aging parent is discharged from the hospital. 

10

Our neighbor, New Jersey has just become the third state to enact paid family 

leave, after California and Washington. Five other states, Arizona, Massachusetts, 

Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and New York have bills in progress. 

Last year New York came very, very close. The Assembly passed a bill and Governor Spitzer had his pen ready to sign it. But the Senate decided to hold hearings 

rather than bring the bill to the floor. Last year’s bill would have provided up to 

12 weeks of paid leave to care for a new child during the first year or a seriously 

ill family member. All private workers, including part-time employees, were covered 

and local and state government workers could decide whether or not to opt in. The 

benefit would have been the same as for Temporary Disability Insurance, which is 

capped at $170 a week and hasn’t been raised since 1989. We all know that this 

is laughably low and needs to be increased. 

So this year we are working on a new bill that would fix that problem and phase 

in a higher benefit level, increasing to half a worker’s average weekly wage, capped 

at 50% of the statewide average weekly wage. That would place the cap at over $500 

a week and would automatically keep pace with changing wage levels over time. 

The states are now at the forefront of change as has been the case for other sensible policy ideas that provide a basic floor of support for working families: raising 

the minimum wage, expanding health insurance coverage, work supports for mothers who have moved from welfare to jobs but not out of poverty, and ensuring that 

all workers can occasionally call in sick without fear of being fired. States provide 

useful laboratories, demonstrating that these policies work, testing variations, and 

ultimately putting to rest predictions that policies that are good for hard-working 

American consumers and tax-payers are somehow bad for business. 

New York has an advantage because we are one of the five states that already 

have a statewide temporary disability insurance system. In effect, we already have 

the ‘‘M’’ in FMLA, partial wage replacement for your own serious illness, so now 

we need to expand it to provide the ‘‘F’’. But 45 other states do not have a readymade model to build on. 

Universal family leave insurance will not happen by itself without federal action. 

The 2008 National Study of Employers just released a few weeks ago by the Families and Work Institute found that there has been no progress on most measures 

of family-friendly workplace practices over the past decade, and that we are moving 

backwards when it comes to maternity leave. The percent of employers (with more 

than 100 employees) providing full pay during the period of maternity-related disability has dropped to 16 percent, down from 27 percent in 1998. 

State initiatives and legislation at the national level to provide paid family leave 

for federal workers are important because they pave the way for passage of comprehensive, national paid family leave insurance. But the ultimate goal must be 

adoption of paid family leave at the federal level. We are one nation. It is good for 

our economy when workers can move to seek better opportunities for themselves 

and their families. Why should children be assured a healthy start in Hoboken but 

be deprived of the best shot at early childhood development across the river in Harlem? Why should a worker be able to afford to take time off to provide temporary 

care for a seriously ill aging mom or dad in Jersey City but not in Kansas City or 

Oklahoma City or New York City? The most successful social policies in America 

have been universal. Think Social Security and Medicare. 

We can afford to do this. The actual cost in California is just 58 cents a week, 

deducted from employees’ paychecks. In New Jersey the projected cost is similar, 63 

cents a week or a maximum of $33 a year. 

The voters overwhelmingly support paid family leave. A recent national survey by 

the polling firm Lake Research found 76% in favor of paid family leave. Support is 

even higher in New York. A survey in New York City by Lake Research for Community Service Society found that 86% supported paid family leave—with three out of 

four of those surveyed saying that they strongly favored it. That is stunningly high 

support. 

H.R. 5873, the Family Leave Insurance Act of 2008, would fulfill the unfinished 

promise of the Family and Medical Leave Act, by ensuring that workers could actually afford to take family leave. The bill contains excellent provisions that we support including up to 12 weeks of leave, expanding the definition of family, job protection and structuring benefits progressively so that lower-wage workers get a 

higher percentage of their weekly earnings. It would cover some part-time workers. 

We would suggest that this provision be broadened since many working women with 

young children, employees who most need this benefit, are employed part-time. 

I would also urge you to consider a proposal suggested by my colleague Nancy 

Rankin, for ‘‘Fixing Social Insecurity.’’ In her 2002 book Taking Parenting Public, 

she suggests modernizing Social Security to allow workers to draw social security 

benefits for up to three years during their prime caregiving years. Social Security 

11

has helped diminish the poverty once faced by the aging after retirement. But 

Americans now face a new period of financial insecurity earlier in their lifetimes, 

when they need to take time off during their working years to raise the next generation or care for the previous one. This could be accomplished by raising the taxable 

earnings base for Social Security, a very small add-on to the payroll tax, or possibly 

some offsetting adjustment to retirement benefits for beneficiaries who have opted 

for caregiving benefits as is done now for those choosing early retirement. 

Many of you have heard the statistics that in international comparisons, the 

United States comes in dead last among 168 countries, tied with Liberia, Swaziland 

and Papua New Guinea in providing zero paid maternity leave. Providing paid family leave will not keep our country from being competitive in the global economy. 

But failing to promote healthy early child development most certainly will. 

Allow me to close with a personal story. As we campaign around the state for paid 

family leave, one of us dresses up as a giant stork who personally delivers thousands of constituent postcards to our elected officials urging the passage of paid 

leave. It gets attention. When we asked our tall, hefty colleague who played our 

stork on a recent Albany visit if he felt silly wearing this costume, he took off his 

stork head and told us his story. ‘‘I’m glad to be the stork because I know how important this issue is. A few weeks ago, in April, my wife and I had a baby. My wife 

had to spend the last three weeks on complete bed rest and the final week in the 

hospital. So I had to take off from work to take care of our three year-old son who 

is autistic. When I went back to work, they told me I would not get paid. I couldn’t 

pay our bills.’’

Thank you. 

STATEMENT OF JULIENNE CONDOS, DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM 

DEVELOPMENT FOR REHABILITATION, ST. CHARLES HOSPITAL 

Ms. CONDOS. Thank you for inviting me to testify at this hearing 

today. Family-friendly leave policies including paid leave are issues 

that are very dear to my heart. And I hope that my story will assist Congress as it looks to developing a national policy for paid 

leave. 

My family and I live in Rocky Point, New York, and my husband 

Steve and I are employed by St. Charles Hospital which is located 

in Port Jefferson. 

In June 2007, I had my second child and I took 11 weeks of family and medical leave from my job as the Chief Therapist to care 

for and bond with my baby. 

My employer does not provide paid parental leave, but most of 

my time was paid because my employer does allow its workers to 

use their sick and vacation time. A few weeks of my leave were unpaid, but I was grateful to be home with my son even though it 

was difficult not receiving a paycheck during this time. 

My husband took time off for the birth of our son. He didn’t take 

family and medical leave, but used his vacation time instead. 

I went back to work in September, but unfortunately in January 

of this year I was diagnosed with acute leukemia. Since then, I 

have not been able to work. I did try to resume my job in mid 

April, but after four days, I was completely exhausted. And the side 

effects of some of my medications made it very difficult for me to 

concentrate and focus on my work. At that time, I was receiving 

weekly outpatient chemotherapy, and since then I was rehospitalized for additional chemotherapy. I continue to travel to Manhattan 

at least once a week to see my doctor to have blood work done, get 

IV fluids and blood or platelet transfusions whenever I need them. 

Due to the nature of my type of cancer, I will need to continue 

chemotherapy for the next two years. My doctors said there is a 50 

12

percent chance of the leukemia coming back, and if it does, then 

I will need to have a bone marrow transplant. Right now, whatever 

energy I have goes to caring for my two young children and my 

husband. 

All my vacation time and sick time was used up during my maternity leave, and I was very worried about being able to help support my family during my illness. In addition, I knew that my husband would need to take time off to help take me to appointments 

and to help care for me and the children. So I was very worried 

about how we would get by and if I would lose my job for being 

out of work for such a long period of time. 

My father was in a similar situation after he was diagnosed with 

multiple myeloma. He needed a stem cell transplant and was out 

of work for an extended period of time. His employer let him go, 

and he needed to use his retirement savings to make ends meet. 

After his treatment was over, he relocated to South Carolina because he could no longer afford to live in New York. 

A friend a fellow therapist also has a tragic circumstance. She 

is the mother of three boys and pregnant with twins. Early in her 

pregnancy, she learned there was a complication. The babies have 

twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. She underwent intra-uterine 

surgery, and has been on bed rest since March. The babies are due 

on August 19. She will be out of work for quite sometime, and this 

has been very difficult financially for her and her family. 

However, I have been very fortunate. I am on short term disability through August, and my employer has allowed my coworkers to donate vacation time for both my husband and I to use. I 

am very grateful to my employer St. Charles Hospital and my wonderful coworkers. They have lightened our load considerably. 

So today I am speaking up for the countless others who are not 

so lucky and who become pregnant, or sick, or have a family member who are sick and can only take leave on an unpaid basis, which 

for many means they can’t take leave at all. 

We need a national policy which guarantees workers with paid 

family and medical leave. I understand that we are behind most of 

the world because we don’t offer this benefit, and I commend the 

subcommittee for looking into this important issue. 

Thank you. 

[The statement of Ms. Condos follows:]

Prepared Statement of Julienne Condos, Director of Program Development 

for Rehabilitation, St. Charles Hospital 

Thank you for inviting me to testify at this hearing today. Family-friendly leave 

policies, including paid leave, are issues that are very dear to my heart. I hope that 

my story will assist Congress as it looks at developing a national policy for paid 

leave. 

My family and I live in Rocky Point, New York and my husband, Steve and I are 

employed by St. Charles Hospital, which is located in Port Jefferson. In June, 2007, 

I had my second child and took 11 weeks of family and medical leave from my job 

as the Chief Therapist for Inpatient Rehabilitation to care for and bond with my 

baby. My employer does not provide paid parental leave, but most of my leave time 

was paid because my employer does allow its workers to utilize their sick and vacation time for this purpose. A few weeks of my leave were unpaid, but I was grateful 

for the time even though it was difficult not receiving a paycheck during that time. 

My husband took time off for the birth of our son. He did not take family and 

medical leave as such but utilized his vacation time for this purpose. 

13

I went back to work in September, but unfortunately in January of this year, I 

was diagnosed with acute leukemia. Since then, I have not been able to work. I did 

try to resume my job in mid-April but after 4 days, I was completely exhausted. And 

the side effects of some of my medications made it very difficult for me to concentrate and focus on my work. At that time I was receiving weekly outpatient 

chemotherapy and since then I was re-hospitalized for additional chemotherapy. I 

travel into Manhattan at least once a week to see my doctor, have blood work done 

and get IV fluids and blood or platelet transfusions when needed. Due to the nature 

of my type of cancer I will need to continue chemo therapy for the next 2 years. 

There is a 50% chance of the leukemia coming back. If it does return I will need 

to have a bone marrow transplant. Whatever energy I have goes to caring for my 

two young children and my husband. 

All my vacation and sick time was used up on my maternity leave, and I was very 

worried about being able to help support my family during my illness. In addition, 

I knew that my husband would need time off to take me to appointments and to 

help care for me and the children. How would we get by? And would I lose my job 

if I had to be out of work for a long period of time? My father was in a similar situation after he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He needed a stem cell transplant and was out of work for several months. His employer let him go and he had 

to use his retirement savings to make ends meet. After his treatment was over he 

relocated to South Carolina because he could no longer afford to live in New York. 

A friend and fellow therapist also has a tragic circumstance. She is a mother of 

three boys and pregnant with twins. Early in the pregnancy she learned that there 

was a complication; the babies have twin to twin transfusion syndrome. She underwent intrauterine surgery and has been on bed rest since March. The babies are 

due on August 19th. She will be out of work for quite some time. This has been 

very difficult financially for her and her family. 

However, I have been very fortunate. I am on short-term disability through August, and my employer has allowed my co-workers to donate up to 450 hours of vacation time for both my husband and I to use. I am very grateful to my employer, 

St. Charles Hospital and my wonderful co-workers. They have lightened our load 

considerably. 

So today, I am speaking up for the countless others who are not so lucky and who 

become pregnant or are sick or have family members who are sick and can only take 

leave on an unpaid basis—which for many means they can’t take leave at all. 

We need a national policy which guarantees workers with paid family and medical 

leave. 

I understand that we trail most of the world because we don’t offer this benefit, 

and I commend the Subcommittee for looking into this important issue. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you. 

STATEMENT OF GEORGE BLEKAS, OUTSIDE FIELD 

TECHNICIAN, VERIZON 

Mr. BLEKAS. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished 

guests. My name is George Blekas. My purpose for being here 

today is to tell you about my experience with FMLA and the financial impact it has had upon my family while dealing with a catastrophic illness. 

I would like to give you a little of my background first. I graduated Plainview-Old Bethpage High School in 1979. I went to college at the State University of New York at Fredonia. I transferred 

to the University of Texas in Austin, Texas to study government 

and history. After Texas, I moved back to New York in 1989 and 

landed a job with New York Telephone. 

Ironically, one month later I found myself on the picket line in 

order to keep our medical coverage. CWA called for a strike. At the 

time, I must admit, it wasn’t as obvious to me as it is today how 

important this fight really was. 

By 2000, New York Telephone had undergone a number of name 

changes, and one of the big changes brought about was a cut to the 

customary overtime that we have grown accustomed to having. LivVerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:42 Oct 03, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 G:\DOCS\110TH\WP\110-94\42727.TXT HBUD1 PsN: DICK
14

ing on Long Island is an expensive proposition and, you know, it 

is not really an option to live here on less. 

So not being lazy, I had started my own boutique guitar electronics on the World Wide Web. This was a perfect second income 

for me because it didn’t interfere with my family, my job, baseball. 

My story really revolves around my wife and children, so I would 

like to touch on them for a moment. 

I have known my wife, Maria, since we were 4. We went to 

school all the way from kindergarten through graduating. After 

high school, we went our separate ways and didn’t get back together until 1989 when I got back to New York. 

We started dating on the 4th of July, we got engaged on the 4th 

of July, and we got married on the 4th of July, which is kind of 

ironic when you think about tying the knot on Independence Day, 

but it kind of made it impossible for me to get in trouble by forgetting my anniversary. 

Today we have two boys—Nicholas, who is 14, and Brian, who 

is 11 years old—both very active in baseball. Once Brian was old 

enough to go to school, Maria got a job as a teacher’s aide in 

Eastport South Manor School District. This was our third income. 

And the job was perfect because Maria’s schedule mirrors the boys’ 

schedule. 

One day while at one of the boys’ baseball games, Maria jumps 

up and cheers and feels something. Ironically, this was September 

11, 2007, that we felt this lump that appeared to engulf her entire 

breast. By September 21, we had the news that it was an 8-centimeter Stage 3 breast cancer. Needless to say, everything changed 

for us that day. 

I took vacation time to cover the many doctor visits and tests 

that Maria had to go through. Quickly that ran out and I was informed by my boss, Tom Schultz and Rick Nemcheck of CWA 1108, 

of something called FMLA. FMLA would allow me to keep my job 

while give me 12 weeks off without pay to tend to the medical 

needs of my wife. 

With my job secure, I was able to concentrate on cancer and its 

various treatments and the many side effects. I was reading everything I could find on the subject. 

Maria had to leave work, as she had 10 weeks of chemotherapy, 

a mastectomy, and 30 doses of radiation she had to deal with, so 

work for her was not an option. 

At this point, I am mom, dad, nurse, part-time Verizon employee. 

I no longer had time nor the energy to work my electronics business. In effect, I lost my second income, my wife’s income, and 

Verizon’s income because FMLA does not pay for those missed 

days. 

With bills coming in, you resort to savings which is quickly depleted, and income down to a trickle. You are scrambling to keep 

from losing your house and keep a roof over your wife and children’s heads. I sold a car, I had to cash in a 401(k) that my wife 

had prior to getting married, and I wondered what I would do next. 

Do I get another mortgage? Do I take from my 401(k)? Do I sell 

a kidney? What do I do? 

I think we live in the greatest country in the world, and I think 

we can do better. We talk about family values. Paid Family MedVerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:42 Oct 03, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 G:\DOCS\110TH\WP\110-94\42727.TXT HBUD1 PsN: DICK
15

ical Leave Act would be not just talking to talk, but walking the 

walk where family values are concerned. 

So I suggest, I urge Congress to pass this Paid Family Leave 

Legislation and New York State to pass the same by the end of the 

month session, June 23, in order to alleviate the grim realty of living paycheck to paycheck. 

I thank you for your time. 

[The statement of Mr. Blekas follows:]

Prepared Statement of George Blekas, Resident of Manorville, NY 

Good morning ladies, gentlemen and distinguished guests. My name is George 

Blekas and my purpose for being here today is to tell my experience with FMLA 

and the financial impact of dealing with a catastrophic illness. 

I would like to give you a little of my background. I graduated Plainview-Old 

Bethpage high school in 1979, went to college at SUNY, Fredonia and the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. After moving back to New York in 1989 I landed 

a job with New York Telephone. 

Ironically one month after being hired by New York Telephone I wound up walking the picket line to keep my medical coverage. I must admit at the time it was 

not as obvious to me, as it is today, how important that fight was. 

By 2000 New York Telephone had undergone a bunch of name changes and one 

big change this brought was a cut to the customary over time that I had gotten to 

used to having. Living on Long Island is an expensive proposition so not being lazy, 

and being good with electronics, I started up a boutique guitar electronics company 

on World Wide Web. This was the perfect second income for me as I could do this 

when ever I had the time and it did not interfere with the family, work or baseball. 

My story revolves around my wife and children so I would like to touch on them 

for a moment. I have known my wife, Maria since we were 4 years old. We went 

all the way through school and graduated High School together. We went our separate ways during the college years but got together after I got back from Texas in 

1989. We started dating on the 4th of July, we got engaged on the 4th of July and 

we got married on the 4th of July, which is kind of ironic when you think about 

tying the knot on Independence Day. It does make it impossible to forget your wedding anniversary which tends to keep me out of the dog house. Today we have two 

boys. Nicholas who is 14 years old and Brian who is 11 years old. Both are very 

active in travel baseball. Once Brian was old enough to go to school Maria got a 

job as a teacher’s aide in the Eastport South Manor School district. This was our 

third income and the job was perfect because Maria’s schedule was identical to the 

boy’s schedule. 

One day while at a baseball game Maria jumped up to cheer and felt something 

in her left breast. Ironically this was September 11th, 2007 that we felt a lump that 

appeared to engulf her entire breast. By September 21st we had the news that this 

was an 8cm stage 3 Breast Cancer. Needless to say everything changed for us that 

day. We had to spend many days visiting various doctors for all sorts of tests. Initially, I took vacation time to cover the many doctor visits but soon ran out of time. 

I was informed by my boss, Tom Schultz, and Rick Nemcheck, of CWA Local 1108, 

of something called FMLA. FMLA would allow me to keep my job while allowing 

me up to 12 weeks off, without pay, to tend to the medical needs of a family member. 

With my job secure I was able to concentrate on cancer and its various treatments 

and side effects. I was reading everything I could find on the subject. Maria had 

to leave work as she now had 10 weeks of Chemotherapy, a mastectomy and radiation to deal with so working was not an option for her. 

At this point I was a dad, mom, nurse and part time Verizon employee. I no 

longer had the time, nor energy to do my electronics business. In effect I lost my 

second income, my wife’s income and Verizon income because FMLA does not pay 

for the time missed tending to a sick family member. 

With the bills coming in, savings depleted and income down to a trickle one has 

to scramble to keep from losing the farm. I sold off a car and cashed in a 401k, that 

Maria had prior to getting married, in order to keep up and was wondering what 

I will do next. Another mortgage perhaps? Take from my 401k? Sell a kidney? 

Today we are literally living from pay check to pay check so I urge Congress to 

pass the Paid Family Leave Legislation. I also want to ask the New York State Legislature to pass Paid Family Leave at the state level this month by the end of the 

16

session on June 23rd, in order to alleviate the grim reality of living pay check to 

pay check. 

I thank you for your time. Have a nice day. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you. 

Ms. Wankoff? 

STATEMENT OF BARBARA WANKOFF, DIRECTOR OF 

WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS, KPMG 

Ms. WANKOFF. Good morning. My name is Barbara Wankoff and 

I am KPMG’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 is a tax, audit and advisory firms with more than 21,000 

employees and 1,800 partners in the United States, and we believe 

that helping employees manage their responsibilities both inside 

and outside of work is beneficial to everyone and to our bottom 

line. 

At KPMG, we are promoting a culture of flexibility. Retaining 

our employees is very important to the success of our firm. Keeping 

our best people helps us to maintain client continuity and allow for 

knowledge sharing. So we have added some very innovative programs to improve our retention rates. 

We know there are times in employees’ lives when it becomes 

necessary to take time off to tend to personal concerns and major 

life events, and we have programs to address these times. 

For example, 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 for them when they return. And this applies to 

births, adoptions or foster care placement. And by paying women 

100 percent of their regular salary for up to eight weeks, as well 

as additional weeks at two-thirds pay, we are making easier for 

women to take the time off that they want. 

We also believe that fathers should have time to bond with their 

newborns and be there to support their spouses and partners. New 

fathers receive two weeks of paid parental leave any time within 

the first year after the birth, adoption or placement of a child in 

the home. This program has been in place since 2002, and an astounding 82 percent of our fathers have taken advantage of it. 

We are proud of the fact that we created an environment at 

KPMG that encourages people to use these benefits when they 

need them. 

For those employees who are adopting a child, in addition to the 

two weeks paid leave, an additional six weeks of paid leave is 

available if your spouse or partner is not staying at home with the 

child on a temporary or long-term basis. This assures that at least 

one parent will be home with the newly adopted child for the first 

six weeks after placement. 

We pay attention to not only the time off, but also to our new 

moms’ return to work. To ease the transition for new mothers, we 

provide privacy rooms for breast feeding and allow them to phase 

in their return from leave. For example, some new parents return 

17

to work three days per week initially and gradually ramp back up 

to full-time responsibilities and hours. 

Another program we are particularly proud of is called shared 

leave. This 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. 

We developed shared leave after listening to our people tell us that 

what they wanted most when faced with a serious illness in their 

family was to spend time with their loved one. 

It is amazing how willing coworkers are to donate some of their 

time to a colleague. Fully 100 percent of shared leave requests are 

met by the generosity of their fellow employees. This program is a 

Godsend for those facing difficult times. In 2007, 80 people used 

13,957 donated hours. 

KPMG also provides unpaid leave for 24 months to pursue various personal interests including additional education or civic duties. These programs enable employees to stay more closely connected to the firm and to return more easily than if they terminated their employment. 

KPMG supports our military personnel and provides paid time 

off for one week of annual reserve training and grants additional 

time as necessary. In an effort to support our full-time employees 

who are called to active duty, the firm provides differential pay for 

the length of the service activation up to six months. 

Our generous paid time off policy allows employees to supplement leaves with paid personal time, extending their paid time 

away from the job, and yet still having time to enjoy vacations 

throughout the year. 

Our commitment 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 11 times, and we were 

in the top 10 last year. We have made the Companies That Care 

Honor Roll five times, and for the past two years Fortune Magazine 

named KPMG one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. 

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. 

[The statement of Ms. Wankoff follows:]

18

Prepared Statement of Barbara Wankoff,

Director of Workplace Solutions, KPMG


wank-2.eps
19

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you, Ms. Wankoff. 


wank-3.eps wank-4.eps
20

Congressman Bishop? 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you very much. 

And to our four witnesses, thank you for your testimony and for 

the compelling stories that you have told. 

Let me start with Ms. Wankoff, and let me first commend KPMG 

for their family-friendly policies. 

In a previous life, I was a senior administrator of a college and 

our audit partner was KPMG, and I have to say that I found everyone with whom we interacted to be unfailingly professional, and 

very skilled and very helpful. I also found them to be very exacting; 

that is to say that they always challenged us to see to it that what 

we were doing was cost effective. So I have to assume that KPMG 

imposes the same standards, shall we say, internally as they do externally. 

So can you tell me what kinds of assessment KPMG has undertaken that allow them to recognize that what they are doing has 

a favorable cost benefit for the company. 

Ms. WANKOFF. Absolutely, Congressman. You are so right. We 

look at all sorts of metrics. One of the key metrics that we look at 

is retention. We are in a war for talent. We are always looking to 

hire the best people, and retain those people, and continue to develop them professionally so that they can meet the needs of our 

clients. 

And we do know, especially on the maternity leave, that that is 

a crossroads in people’s lives as in any personal crisis, and we want 

to make sure that we are retaining people through those crossroads. So we look at providing family-friendly benefits and leave of 

absences that meet those needs and allow those employees to come 

back to us and be productive and effective employees. 

We see that we have had increased retention rates, our turnover 

continues to decrease, and over the past five years has decreased 

40 percent, and over the last year an additional three percent. We 

believe it is the combination of family-friendly policies that help us 

retain these employees. 

Mr. BISHOP. How would you describe the competitive environment in which you find yourselves? Are you competing for the best 

talent and winning, or are you finding some of your policies, because they may increase your costs somewhat, put you at a competitive disadvantage? 

Ms. WANKOFF. We believe that we are always competing. We are 

competing for talent, and we are competing for clients, and we are 

competing in these economic times. But we do believe that our policies help us attack and retain those employees, make our employees effective and productive, and that allows us to be competitive 

with our clients as well. 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you very much. 

Ms. CONDOS, thank you. By the way, it is nice to see you looking 

so healthy. I am glad things for now are going well for you. You 

work at St. Charles Hospital. I am honored to represent St. 

Charles Hospital. I think they do a first-rate job in a very, very adverse climate and I thank you for being a part of the care that they 

deliver to patients. 

It sounds to me as if both St. Charles and your coworkers were 

very, very supportive of the condition or the situation that you 

21

found yourself in. How do you think you would have been affected 

or impacted had you not had such a supportive employer or such 

supportive coworkers? 

Ms. CONDOS. They have been extremely supportive, and fortunately I haven’t had to spend too much time thinking about that. 

I really don’t know what we would do. 

Similar to Mr. Blekas, my husband and I contemplated remortgaging the house, similar types of things, tapping into 401(k)s, living off of credit cards. We don’t know because, in addition, we are 

doing some of that because of the additional medical costs. So it 

would be extremely difficult. 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you very much. 

I have time for one more question in this round. Let me ask Mr. 

Blekas. 

First, let me say that your employer was my father’s employer. 

Your union was my father’s union, and so I thank you for being 

here this morning. 

You made mention of having lost overtime. I sit here today because of overtime that had been provided as a result of the collective bargaining protection that my father had. He sent five kids 

through college primarily on overtime. I wouldn’t have had the opportunities I had if it weren’t for that. 

Have you utilized all of the FMLA leave that you have in this 

year? Have you utilized all of your paid vacation time? And if so, 

what is your next alternative in the event that your family needs 

more from you than you can currently provide? 

Mr. BLEKAS. I believe they gave me April, the end of April was 

like the end of the okay, you know, what they gave as my FMLA 

time where I can take the unpaid days off. I believe I had to file 

for an extension, which I haven’t done. They kind of give you—I am 

not really sure where that date came about, but that was, I mean, 

because my wife is still going for treatments so you know. 

Mr. BISHOP. But as far as you know, you have exhausted your 

FMLA time? 

Mr. BLEKAS. Well, I did last year, and this year I am about to. 

So like I said, my wife isn’t finished, and you know, being a part 

of the union, they have, you know, like Mrs. Condos’ coworkers, 

they have helped as well even though they don’t have the ability 

Verizon has to put it in. I am really proud of the guys I work with. 

Whether it is September 11 or someone getting ill, they are always 

there. You know, they are—I mean, I really believe they are the 

embodiment when you hear the term ‘‘family values.’’ I am not too 

sure, you know, you get that from—usually it is just lip service, the 

word, and I think something like a paid FMLA would be the way 

to go as far as when you are talking family values. 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you very much. 

I yield back. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you very much. 

Ms. DOLAN, I was pleased that you support H.R. 5873, the Family Medical Leave Insurance Act, which I cosponsor, and will provide workers with 12 weeks of paid leave with the employee and 

employers contributing to an insurance fund. And States could do 

this. States could have an insurance fund that is matched by some 

degree with the employee and the employer. 

22

So tell me why you favor—or do you favor the insurance, or do 

you favor that each State could put together their own plan with 

some incentive and help from the Federal Government as long as 

they knew the amount of a plan? 

Ms. DOLAN. That is a difficult question, Congresswoman Woolsey. I think you have to look at the experience of California, and 

their laws have been in effect since July 1, in your State, of 2004. 

You know, New Jersey’s won’t go into effect until July 1 of 2009. 

The employees are contributing the cost of that part of temporary 

disability insurance for paid family leave. 

I know the fund that you envision is a fund that would be jointly 

supported that the employees would be contributing to as well. I 

think that, you know, California has shown that that can be done 

successfully. I think that you folks are the experts in terms of do 

you think this will, you know, in terms of a national level, obviously it has to be implemented. Well, could be implemented nationally looking at the other social insurance programs. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. I always say if there is a will, there is 

a way. 

Ms. DOLAN. Yes, I agree. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. I am okay with the State coming up with 

their own plan as long as it is a real plan. You know, we all know 

that State disability doesn’t pay a person in full salary. 

Ms. DOLAN. Right. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. But it has worked out that it is enough 

of an offset to a person’s income that it makes the difference between going broke, living day-to-day and not. 

Ms. CONDOS, it sounds like your employer and the people you 

work with are actually fantastic, and yours, too, George. Think of 

having friends in your workplace like that, that will give that 

much. But what do you think would have been different in your situation? I mean, kind of tell us how it would have worked if you 

had been able to count on paid leave. 

Ms. CONDOS. Obviously, my leukemia diagnosis came as a shock 

because I had just returned from a maternity leave a few months 

prior to that and I had used up all of my time. 

Within the first few days of my diagnosis, my mother even—you 

know, she was obviously distraught over this, and she says, Jul, 

you know, I will give you my retirement, we will remortgage the 

house, we will do whatever we need to do to make this work. She 

was just concerned for my health and beating this, and that is really what we would have to do. We would have to pull from all 

sources to make it work out because I have been out of work an 

extended period of time and I am still going through treatment. So 

it would have been extremely different if it weren’t for my generous 

coworkers who donated their vacation time to me. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Right. If you had paid family leave——

Ms. CONDOS. Well, then I wouldn’t have to rely on my coworkers. 

I would just be able to use the paid family leave, of course. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. And, George, the same thing with you. 

You were saying that family values——

Mr. BLEKAS. It could also help keep the American dream alive, 

you know. It is another elusive thing like family values. The American dream is something you build. We live in the greatest country 

23

in the world that can give all sorts of aid to all sorts of places. We 

can shoot million-dollar cruise missiles into the desert dirt somewhere. We can surely come up with the money to keep the American dream alive. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Right. I think you are alluding to $90 billion a week. 

Mr. BLEKAS. We have the funds. Charity starts at home. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. There you go. 

Congressman? 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you. 

Before I ask the next round of questions I just want to observe 

that we have been joined by Suffolk County Legislature Vivian 

Viloria-Fisher. Vivian, thank you very much for coming, and thank 

you for letting us use your workplace. We appreciate it. 

Ms. DOLAN, can you tell us, briefly describe for us the paid family leave legislation or law that is currently in place in California 

and Washington or New Jersey. Take any one, and briefly describe 

it, and tell us if any one of them could serve as a model for national legislation. 

Ms. DOLAN. Well, California, which has been in effect as I indicated for the past four years, the benefit rate—first of all, its duration is six weeks of paid family leave. They started at 12, and unfortunately it got whittled down to six. That, unfortunately, has 

been the model. Everyone in California that we are in collaboration 

with, and folks in New Jersey, New Jersey’s law also had to be 

whittled down to six weeks, we would urge that at the Federal 

level that that 12 weeks be held onto. Certainly, we are fighting 

to do that here in New York State. We think the duration, certainly don’t believe six weeks is long enough, that it needs to be 

12 weeks. 

And in California, the benefit rate with California is linked to 

their Workers’ Compensation rate. And the benefit rate for 2008 in 

California for paid family leave is capped at $917 a week. And in 

New Jersey, the benefit rate when they did the numbers for 2008 

is $524, a cap of $524 a week for 2008. And in both States, there 

is a requirement that an employee, if they have two weeks available to them of their own leave time, a combination they get of vacation days and sick days, up to two weeks. Both of these laws 

mandate that an employee uses two weeks of their own time before 

the start of the paid family leave. Obviously, this was an effort so 

that folks would only take it if they, in fact, legitimately needed it. 

That is why those provisions were built in. 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you very much. 

Ms. WANKOFF, KPMG is an international company. You have operations in over a hundred countries, and for many of those countries the paid family leave policies that you provide here in this 

country are, in effect, incorporated into the law or at least the practices of the countries elsewhere in the world. 

To what extent has the experience that KPMG has had in countries that do, in fact, provide paid leave for their employees influence the judgments that you have made with respect to the policies 

you put in place here in this country? 

Ms. WANKOFF. Congressman, it is difficult for me to speak on a 

global basis. My responsibilities are primarily domestic, and we do 

24

look at our global policies, but we do very strongly take into account the market that we are in as we formulate policies for the 

U.S. 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you. 

Ms. CONDOS, you also describe in your testimony your father’s 

circumstances. It doesn’t sound like they worked out quite as well 

as the circumstances that worked out for you thus far. Do you 

know if he had any family leave options, or if he had the ability 

to take paid time off, unpaid time off? Did he work for a company 

that allowed his fellow coworkers to loan him their time off? Do 

you think of those things? 

Ms. CONDOS. Yeah, I did talk to him about it. When I came into 

my circumstance, I was curious what he did, but unfortunately, he 

worked for an employer that was not supportive at all, and he did 

not get anything whatsoever from his employer, or coworkers, or 

anything like that. So he had no other option. 

Mr. BISHOP. Was it a large employer? 

Ms. CONDOS. No, it wasn’t. No. He worked for a dry cleaning 

company, so it was a small company. 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you very much. 

I yield back. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Well, thank you. 

While we are here, I keep thinking about when I was a single 

mom with one-, three- and five-year-old children. My children’s father had abandoned us. He was nuts for leaving me, no offense. I 

mean, you know, he had to leave. 

Mr. BISHOP. The chairwoman will be available to discuss this. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. He was emotionally ill and wouldn’t get 

help. All right, so I have these three children that I am responsible 

for. So, of course, I go to work. I mean, with all that was going on 

in our life, the worst part of it was that, in the first 12 months, 

I had 13 different child care situations. One-, three- and five-yearold children, the effect on them had to be horrendous. 

I went to work for the same people I ended up being the human 

resources manager for when they left and started a start-up technology company, and we grew from 12 people to over 800. You can 

imagine that our human resources policies were a lot like KPMG. 

And this was 35 years ago. 

So there is no question, and I watch this young company grow 

with good policies, and then I watched them be taken over by a 

huge corporation who walked in and took away all my policies. 

Then I watched me leave, of course. I wasn’t going to sit around 

for that. 

And I find myself on this committee as the Chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee after 20 years of human resources 

work and professionalism and knowing absolutely that my job was 

to take care of the employees like you do, Ms. Wankoff. I mean, I 

am so proud to know you and to know your company. 

I can say to you as the chairwoman of this committee, it is absolutely clear we are not doing enough, and that we will do better. 

I can promise that because I know the sense of my colleagues, Mr. 

Bishop, George Miller, who runs the big committee. We know that 

the United States of America is going to be measured on how we 

25

take care of those most in need, and we are going to make it happen. 

I thank you for being here today. You have been magnificent. I 

wish we had a film of you and we can take you all over the country. This has been a great, great panel. Be prepared to be invited 

back down to D.C. for something. If you can possibly do it, we 

would sure want to have you and hear you again. 

Good luck, Ms. Condos. Good luck, Mr. Blekas. You guys are 

really facing hard stuff, but I don’t want you to be alone in this. 

You aren’t with your family and your friends, but know that some 

of us get the bigger picture. We will be there. I promise. Thank you 

very much. 

And thank you again. 

Mr. BISHOP. If I may, I certainly want to thank you, Chairwoman 

Woolsey, as I said, for this hearing but, much more importantly, for 

your leadership on this issue and so many other issues that have 

important impact on the lives of the people who keep this country 

working. And Mr. Blekas talked about those who are looking for 

their piece of the American dream. Your leadership is inspirational, 

and I thank you for that. 

And I want to thank our panel for testifying before us today. And 

I want to let you know that, as a Congress, we are determined to 

find answers to some of the problems that are the most taxing for 

the working families of our country. This is one of them. It will not 

come quickly or easily, but I am confident it will come. 

Thank you all very, very much. 

Chairwoman WOOLSEY. Thank you. 

As previously ordered, members will have 14 days to submit additional materials for the hearing record. Any member who wishes 

to submit follow-up questions in writing to the witnesses should coordinate with majority staff within 14 days. 

[Additional submission from Mr. Bishop follows:]

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, 

THE CITY OF NEW YORK, BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, 

New York, NY, June 9, 2008. 

Congressman Bishop, members of the House of Representatives Committee on 

Education and the Labor’s Committee on Workforce Protections Subcommittee, 

thank you for the opportunity to comment how we in government can create and 

promote work/life balance for employees within our own municipalities and across 

the country. 

As Manhattan Borough President I hear from New York City residents about the 

need for a paid family leave policy that would allow working adults to care for their 

families during and following life-changing events. As a result, my office has explored ways in which New York City and New York State can make taking leave 

a truly affordable option for workers and their families—we hosted focus groups for 

employees and employers on their need for leave and the obstacles that keep them 

from providing paid leave, respectively; we released a report recommending ways for 

the city and state governments to promote work/family balance; we held a forum 

on paid leave at which New Jersey Labor Commissioner David Socolow talked about 

how New Jersey passed their paid leave legislation. 

Through these efforts it has become increasingly clear to me that we in government cannot be apathetic in our approach to implementing critically needed paid 

leave policies. Paid family leave is a human issue and an economic issue—it cuts 

across all lines and unites people of every political stripe—employees need and 

should have paid leave. Young men and women starting their careers and starting 

their families need paid time off from work following the birth or adoption of a child 

to help balance those often competing demands. At the same time, people are living 

longer. New York City has 2 million seniors whose working children and grandVerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:42 Oct 03, 2008 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 G:\DOCS\110TH\WP\110-94\42727.TXT HBUD1 PsN: DICK
26

children are likely be called upon to care for them. These New Yorkers also desperately need paid leave. 

Many employers who recognize the need for and benefits of paid family leave have 

found that offering paid leave is a boon to their business. Employees with paid leave 

are often more committed to their employers, which in turn positively impacts their 

business’ bottom line by reducing turnover and increasing retention rates. 

However, small businesses, which are important to the city’s economy and create 

most of our new jobs, told my office during a focus group that while they want to 

provide paid leave, they cannot afford it. Here is one place where the government 

must step in by implementing a paid leave policy that would support these small 

businesses while providing the financial safety net that employees need to take time 

off. 

In the absence of a federal requirement for paid leave, local governments are taking the lead. New Jersey, California, and Washington State all require some form 

of paid family leave—funded by employee contributions to an expanded Temporary 

Disability Insurance. The states with paid family leave did not have to recreate the 

wheel—they worked within the existing confines of the Federal Medical Leave Act 

and simply instituted a method for providing some level of pay for those that take 

leave. It’s an important first step that raises the bar for other states, but a piecemeal approach to paid leave policy is inadequate. 

Just like New York’s fear of being left behind by New Jersey—fear that will hopefully prompt the legislature to finally take action on our paid family leave legislation—the United States risks being left behind economically and competitively by 

the European Union and the many countries with family friendly work policies. One 

look across the Atlantic is enough to show us how far we have to go to adequately 

support American families. And if we do not implement paid leave policies nationwide, we are going to wake up one day and see that we have been left behind. 

Paid family leave is about taking care of ourselves and our loved ones. It is about 

people making decisions about where they are going to work and raise their families. It is about having a competitive economy and the ability to retain the best 

workforce. And it is the right thing to do. 

Thank you. 

SCOTT M. STRINGER, 

Borough President. 

Without objection, this hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:45 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

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