Sex Discrimination (Indirect Discrimination and Burden of Proof) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001

Amendment of the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976

2.  For Article 3 of the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976(1) (“the Order”) there is substituted—

“Direct and indirect discrimination against women

3.— (1) In any circumstances relevant for the purposes of any provision of this Order, other than a provision to which paragraph (2) applies, a person discriminates against a woman if—

(a) on the ground of her sex, he treats her less favourably than he treats or would treat a man, or

(b) he applies to her a requirement or condition which he applies or would apply equally to a man but—

(i) which is such that the proportion of women who can comply with it is considerably smaller than the proportion of men who can comply with it,

(ii) which he cannot show to be justifiable irrespective of the sex of the person to whom it is applied, and

(iii) which is to her detriment because she cannot comply with it.

(2) In any circumstances relevant for the purposes of a provision to which this paragraph applies, a person discriminates against a woman if—

(a) on the ground of her sex, he treats her less favourably than he treats or would treat a man, or

(b) he applies to her a provision, criterion or practice which he applies or would apply equally to a man, but—

(i) which is such that it would be to the detriment of a considerably larger proportion of women than of men,

(ii) which he cannot show to be justifiable irrespective of the sex of the person to whom it is applied, and

(iii) which is to her detriment.

(3) Paragraph (2) applies to—

(a) any provision of Part III, and

(b) any provision of Part IV, so far as it applies to vocational training.

(4) If a person treats or would treat a man differently according to the man’s marital status, his treatment of a woman is for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a) or (2)(a) to be compared to his treatment of a man having the like marital status.”.

(1)

S.I. 1976/1042 (N.I. 15)