Call for two weeks' paternity leave

ALL dads should be paid two weeks' paternity leave to improve wellbeing and work productivity.

In a wishlist for political parties ahead of the federal election, 11 policy leading lights from across the nation make a range of suggestions, including allowing workers to choose part-time over full-time work, more work-from-home options and restrictions on long or unsocial hours.

"A growing body of international research shows that giving workers more say over their work-time arrangements improves the wellbeing of workers and their households," said University of Sydney Work and Family Policy co-convener Elizabeth Hill. "The evidence-based policy principles set out in our document are informed by the latest Australian and international research."The document, Benchmarks for Work and Family Policies in Election 2007, will help rate the major parties' work-family policies prior to the poll.

Another contributor to the forum, Professor Barbara Pocock, said flexible work hours improved staff retention rates.

Tags: Paternityleave, Paternity

Before July of 1999, Georgia's 79 child support offices were each free to choose any of six different qualifying laboratories to do genetic testing to resolve paternity issues. The cost per test from these vendors varied only slightly, but turn-around times differed widely. And genetic testing statistics were more guesswork than factual.

In an effort to standardize and reduce genetic testing costs and to simplify billing and the acquisition of genetic testing statistics, Georgia child support, effective July 1, 1999, contracted with a firm to handle DNA paternity testing for all of its child support offices. The contract required:

New technology and a booming Internet market have made paternity test kits available to anyone with $100 and a sneaking suspicion. But when the test comes back with bad news, many men come to believe that the law hasn't kept up with the science.

technorati tags:Paternity Fraud

Brothers sent to jail for faking identity

Two brothers accused of faking one's identity to fool a paternity test will spend time together in Cumberland County Prison.

County President Judge Edgar B. Bayley sentenced Artis P. Hicks, 30, of Clarion, and Walter S. Hicks, 36, of York, each to 4 months to 2 years behind bars after they pleaded guilty to theft by deception and fabricating evidence.

Investigators said Walter Hicks pretended to be his brother after a Cumberland County woman went to the county domestic relations office in mid-2003 and identified Artis Hicks as the father of her newborn son.

Laws need updating

The laws regarding men's rights and DNA paternity testing need to be updated. Science has exceeded the law. They are letting people off death row now, due to DNA evidence saving them. Why should a man still have to pay child support even after DNA tests prove that he is not the biological father?

I believe that there are some changes that need to be made in the child support system. Don't you think that there should be some consequences for the mother? After all, she is the one that truly knows the truth. The mother falsely signs the paper, stating that he is the father. She signs this affidavit under "penalty of perjury" and gets away with it. This is not justice.

And you can't flog your kidney on eBay A law that could send eBay directors to prison if they fail to remove listings for body parts will next month extend to anyone holding saliva or hair samples for paternity testing or other DNA analysis if they do not have proper consent.…

technorati tags:DNA, Testers, Prison