Ministers are drawing up plans to extend Labour's "workplace revolution" with new rights for flexible working for parents.
Measures under consideration include legal rights for parents to work part time and choose their employment hours as well as an entitlement to paid sick leave when their children are ill. Companies could also be forced to undergo compulsory pay audits which would force them to reveal if they are paying women less than men for doing the same job.
The plans - which are likely to alarm business leaders and employers' organisations - are being drawn up by Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman.
She is intending to unveil them in a speech to the Fawcett Society in the run up to Labour's annual party conference next month in Manchester.
In an interview with The Independent on Sunday, Ms Harman said that they were intended to "draw the battle lines" with Tory leader David Cameron who has been advancing his own family policies.
"We are really upping the stakes. We need to have a robust and rigorous approach to public policy on the family," she said.
"The question of what happens at home cannot be separated from the function of the economy. The Tories have been forced to accept Labour's agenda of maternity pay and leave.
"It is now essential for Labour to make further progress. The Tories are eager to talk about families but not prepared to take the action families need. Family policy needs to be robust, not sentimental.
"The choice for families will be between Tory sentiment and Labour action."
