S.98 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (ERRA 2013) inserted a new S.139A into the Equality Act 2010, giving the Government the power to make regulations to require employment tribunals to order any employer that loses an equal pay case to carry out an equal pay audit.Following on from the government’s response to consultation setting out proposals for regulations implementing the S.139A provisions, the draft Equality Act 2010 (Equal Pay Audits) Regulations 2014 have now been published. The Regulations set out the circumstances where a tribunal must order that an audit be carried out, how the audit must be conducted, the manner in and time by which the employer must publish the audit and send evidence of publication to the tribunal, and that a tribunal may order the employer to pay a penalty to the Secretary of State of up to £5,000 where the tribunal’s order is not complied with. The regulations take effect on 1 October 2014 in respect of equal pay claims presented on or after that date. 

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