Introductory text

under Article 56A(8) of the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976^f1 (“the 1976 Order”) the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland^f2 (“the Commission”) may from time to time revise the whole or any part of a Code of Practice issued by it;

in pursuance of Article 56A(8) of the 1976 Order the Commission determined to revise the whole of the Code of Practice on Equal Pay which came into effect on 4th May 1999;

in pursuance of Article 56A(3) of the 1976 Order the Commission prepared and published in draft, a revised Code of Practice on Equal Pay (“the draft Code”) and considered any representations made to it about the draft Code, and modified it accordingly;

in pursuance of Article 56A(4) of the 1976 Order, in the course of preparing the draft Code, the Commission consulted with such organisations or associations of organisations representative of employers or of workers and such other organisations or bodies as appeared to the Commission to be appropriate;

in pursuance of Article 56A(5) of the 1976 Order, the Commission transmitted the draft Code to the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister^f3;

in pursuance of Article 56A(5)(a) of the 1976 Order, the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister approved the draft Code and laid it before the Assembly on 12th February 2013 and the statutory period has elapsed;

in pursuance of Article 56A(7) of the 1976 Order, the Assembly having passed no resolution under Article 56A(6) that no further proceedings shall be taken on the draft Code, the Commission is issuing the Code of Practice on Equal Pay in the form of the draft Code;