PLANS to give new fathers up to six months paternity leave have stalled amid fears that the system is open to abuse.

Ministers have been forced to rethink the proposals after businesses complained that they would not know whether male employees claiming the entitlement were genuinely new parents.

While pregnant women can easily provide proof from doctors and in any case show obvious signs of their condition, firms fear it will be impossible to be certain that men demanding their new rights have actually fathered babies.

With 42% of children now born outside marriage, there is also a concern that genuine fathers may have little or no role in caring for their babies.

Meg Munn, the minister for women, said: “Businesses are concerned that while women claiming maternity leave are obviously pregnant, they can’t tell with fathers. Fathers may or may not be married to the mother, may or may not even be living with them.”

The government wants to give fathers up to six months extra paternity leave if the mother returns to work. Under the plans, women would be able to transfer some of their entitlement to nine months paid leave to the baby’s father.

The proposals are part of the forthcoming Work and Families Bill, which would give fathers three months of statutory paid leave and an additional three months unpaid.

David Cameron, the Tory leader, took advantage of the current legislation that gives new fathers a fortnight of paid leave, following the recent birth of his son Arthur.

Munn said: “Unless you are someone like David Cameron and everyone knows that your wife is pregnant because there have been pictures of her in the newspaper, how are employers to know? That is the problem we are working out. Obviously, because it is a longer period we are talking about now, people want to be sure.”

She described the problem as “technical” and said she was confident that a solution would be found: “There has to be some process whereby employers will be able to clarify that the father is the father.

We are working on what it will be.”

Last December the Confederation of British Industry withdrew its support for the bill because of concerns over the huge cost of administering the new rights for parents.

A spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses said: “One option is for the employer of the woman having the baby to liaise with her partner’s employer. But that just doubles the paperwork. It is all very complicated.”

The row emerged as the government took out advertisements in The Sunday Times for a £140,000-a-year equality supremo. Ministers have begun seeking a chairman for a new body that will amalgamate the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Disability Rights Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality.

The organisation will be responsible for ensuring that employers do not discriminate against women.

Research by the Department of Trade and Industry, to be published this week, will show that 80% of fathers take at least a fortnight off work after the birth of a child. The proportion taking more than two weeks off has risen from 22% to 36% in three years.

New figures will also show significant rises in the number of women taking advantage of their rights. Three-quarters of mothers now take their full entitlement of maternity pay, up from two-thirds in 2002. The average period taken off work is now six months, compared with four months in 2002.

Alan Johnson, trade and industry secretary, said that the figures showed that parents were enjoying “very real benefits” as a result of government maternity and paternity leave measures.

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