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Update 71 - A press release published on the Government Equalities Office’s website has now confirmed that the first provisions of the Equality Act will be implemented on 1 October 2010.

In update 70, we reported that the Government Equalities Office had removed the implementation dates for the Equality Act from their website. This led to some confusion as to whether or not the Equality Act would be implemented as per the previously announced timetable planned by the Labour Government.

A press release published on the Government Equalities Office’s website has now confirmed that the first provisions of the Equality Act will be implemented on 1 October 2010. The publication of the first commencement order in Parliament is expected next week.

However, it is still unclear whether the new Government will go so far as to implement the gender pay gap provisions contained within the Act. These provisions require employers with more than 250 employees to publish information relating to the pay of employees for the purposes of showing whether there are differences in the pay of male and female employees.

A Government Equalities Office spokesperson said: "We are thinking about what our next steps on equal pay should be and will make an announcement in due course."

Equality Act expected in three months time - check for direct impact on you