Other discriminatory training etc.N.I.
49.—(1) Nothing in Parts III to V shall render unlawful any act done by an employer in relation to particular work in his employment, being an act done in, or in connection with,—
(a)affording his female employees only, or his male employees only, access to facilities for training which would help to fit them for that work, or
(b)encouraging women only, or men only, to take advantage of opportunities for doing that work,
where at any time within the twelve months immediately preceding the doing of the act there were no persons of the sex in question among those doing that work or the number of persons of that sex doing the work was comparatively small.
(2) Nothing in Article 15 shall render unlawful any act done by an organisation to which that Article applies in, or in connection with,—
(a)affording female members of the organisation only, or male members of the organisation only, access to facilities for training which would help to fit them for holding a post of any kind in the organisation, or
(b)encouraging female members only, or male members only, to take advantage of opportunities for holding such posts in the organisation,
where at any time within the twelve months immediately preceding the doing of the act there were no persons of the sex in question among persons holding such posts in the organisation or the number of persons of that sex holding such posts was comparatively small.
(3) Nothing in Parts III to V shall render unlawful any act done by an organisation to which Article 15 applies in, or in connection with, encouraging women only, or men only, to become members of the organisation where at any time within the twelve months immediately preceding the doing of the act there were no persons of the sex in question among those members or the number of persons of that sex among the members was comparatively small.
[F1(4) Any act which by virtue of this Article or Article 48 could not be unlawful under any provision of Parts III to V (or, in the case of an act falling within paragraph (3), under Article 15) is not by virtue of Article 3(2)(b) of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (indirect discrimination on the grounds of religious belief or political opinion) unlawful under any provision of Parts III to V of that Order.]