Maternity leave is damaging women’s career prospects, according to the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Speaking at a conference on flexible working earlier this week, Nicola Brewer, Chief Executive of the Commission, argued that extended maternity and flexible working rights had unintentionally made women a ‘less attractive prospect to employers’.

She said her fears had been reinforced by entrepreneurial giant Sir Alan Sugar, who recently claimed that bosses simply discard CVs from women of child-bearing age.

‘There has been a sea change on maternity leave and flexible work and we welcome that. But the effect has been to reinforce some traditional patterns,’ she said.

‘The Work and Families Act has not freed parents and given them real choice. It is based on assumptions and some of the terms reinforce the traditional pattern of women as the carers of children.’

Ms Brewer suggested that parental leave could instead be split between couples, with dads taking some of the time off after the first six months.

However, small businesses have criticised the plans, claiming that shared leave would increase ‘administrative hassle’ for firms.

Women can currently take statutory maternity leave for up to 52 weeks, with statutory maternity pay for up to 39 weeks, while fathers may take up to two weeks' paternity leave.