The Equal Pay Act (Northern Ireland) 1970
The Equal Pay Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 as amended applies equally to men and women. It provides for equal pay between men and women by giving, to take a woman as the example, a woman the right to equality in terms of her contract of employment where she is employed on:
- like work to that of a man;
- work rated as equivalent to that of a man; or
- work of equal value to that of a man.
Recent amendments to the Act
Following previous consultations, the Act was amended in April 2004 to change the time limits within which claims must be brought, and the arrears period for successful cases. For more information see the documents relating to amendments to the Equal Pay Act.
The Act was also amended by Regulations coming into operation on 03 April 2005, which alter the industrial tribunal procedure for equal value cases. For more information see documents relating to 2005 Regulatory amendments to the Equal Pay Act.
Subordinate legislation made under the Act
In August 2004 we made an Order to provide for a questionnaire procedure for equal pay cases.
More information on this legislation can be found on the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland website 
