Employers' representatives have voiced alarm over Labour proposals for new rights for parents which could see paid maternity leave extended from six to 12 months.

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt floated the idea in a policy document which will be discussed at next week's Labour conference and may form part of the party's manifesto for the forthcoming general election.

Under her proposals, new fathers could see their statutory paternity pay in the two weeks after the birth of their child increased from about £100 a week to 90 per cent of their salary.

And mothers could enjoy maternity pay for the full first year of their child's life. At present, they are entitled to six months' paid leave - at 90 per cent of salary for the first few weeks, then £100 a week for the remainder - and six months unpaid.

Ms Hewitt's proposal would extend the £100 weekly payment for the rest of the year. And it would also be payable to fathers, so that they could spend time with their children while the mother goes back to work.

Ms Hewitt told the Financial Times: "I have no doubt at all that a centrepiece of the manifesto will be a package of support for hard-working families, and we will be campaigning on that as a big part of the election."

Prime Minister Tony Blair made clear in his speech to the TUC last week that the work-life balance would be a key policy area for the third term he hopes Labour can win.

An aide to Ms Hewitt stressed that her proposals were not yet party policy. Any changes to parents' rights at work would come after 2006 and following extensive consultation with unions, employers and other affected parties, he said.

Susan Anderson, director of human resources policy at the Confederation of British Industry, told the BBC: "It's all very well to say we want more and more family-friendly rights but if we don't consider the impact on the employer then there aren't going to be jobs for them to go back to."

"I'm sure firms, particularly smaller firms, are going to wonder who's going to pay for it and how they are going to cope with further absences from work.

"We need to think about the impact on firms."

Nick Goulding, chief executive of the Forum of Private Business, said: "Smaller employers will be worried about bearing a disproportionate burden from these proposals and will view them with a sense of dread."

But TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Employers may complain, but this is a compendium of vote-winners."

Fathers Direct, the national information centre on fatherhood, welcomed Patricia Hewitt's proposals, but expressed disappointment that she had stopped short of advocating the so-called "Daddy month" - four weeks paid paternity leave taken flexibly in the early years of a child's life.

Tuesday September 21, 2004