http://nz.biz.yahoo.com//080505/18/598i.html

There has been a mixed reaction to news that Queensland public servants will get an extra two weeks of paid maternity leave.

From July, mothers will be able to take 14 weeks of paid leave under a plan expected to cost $11 million a year.

The State Opposition says it is a positive step, but business groups are worried the private sector will now be pressured to offer extra leave.

Commerce Queensland president Beatrice Booth says most businesses could not afford it.

"If this were imposed on small to medium-sized business who are currently struggling as it is to be able to employ skilled people to work in their businesses, it would be a marked inconvenience and indeed a marked differential to their incomes," she said.