Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the time limits within which a person must institute proceedings before an industrial tribunal in respect of a breach of the Equal Pay Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 (“the Act”). The Regulations also amend the time period in respect of which an industrial tribunal or court is able to award any payment by way of arrears of remuneration or damages in such proceedings.

These changes are necessary to reflect requirements of European Community law, specifically Article 141 of the Treaty of Rome (equal pay), as applied in a number of recent cases before the European Court of Justice and the domestic courts^f1.

Regulation 3 amends the current rules which appear in sections 2(4) and 2(5) of the Act. Under the new rules, proceedings in the industrial tribunal must be instituted on or before the “qualifying date”. If proceedings are successful, the industrial tribunal or court may award a payment in respect of any time when unequal pay was paid back to the “arrears date”.

The rules for determining the “qualifying date”, “arrears date” and “period” are contained in two new sections, which are inserted into the Act by regulations 4 and 5. The “qualifying date” in a standard case is the date falling six months after the last day of the employment in question. There are different rules where the employee and the employer had a stable employment relationship (even though one or more individual contracts of employment had ended), where the employer deliberately concealed relevant facts from the employee, or where the employee was under a disability (as defined in new section 10(2A) of the Act).

The “arrears date” in a standard case is the date falling six years before the day on which the proceedings are instituted. There is a different arrears date where the employer deliberately concealed relevant facts from the employee, or where the employee was under a disability.

Section 6A of the Act contains separate rules for claims by service personnel in the armed forces. Regulations 6 to 8 make changes to the time limits and arrears periods which apply for such claims. The differences between the rules for service personnel and the rules described above are that the standard time limit for instituting proceedings is nine months rather than six, that there is no provision relating to stable employment relationships, and that the “arrears date” and “period” are generally calculated by reference to the day on which a complaint was made under the service redress procedures which members of the armed forces are usually obliged to follow before bringing proceedings.

The Regulations come into operation on 28th April 2004. Regulation 2 makes provision for how the new rules will apply to proceedings or facts which already exist at that time.

A copy of the Regulatory Impact Assessment relating to these Regulations has been placed in the library of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and can be obtained from Anti Discrimination Division, Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, Room E3.18, Castle Buildings, Stormont, Belfast BT4 3SR.