Dismissals for some other substantial reason 





Section 98(1), ERA 96 contains a “catch-all” provision: It says that it is fair to dismiss an employee for “some other substantial reason” (SOSR)… “of a kind such as to justify the dismissal of an employee holding the position which the employee held”. It has been used to justify dismissal in a variety of contexts. 



Examples include business reorganisations that do not result in redundancy, and dismissals for refusing to agree to unfavourable changes to contract terms, such as cuts in pay. 


As always, for any dismissal to be fair, the tribunal must be satisfied that the employer acted reasonably in all the circumstances. 




The Acas Code does not apply to a dismissal for “some other substantial reason” (Phoenix House Limited v Stockman [2016] UKEAT/0264/15/DM). This means that the tribunal has no power to award a financial uplift (or penalty) if the dismissal is unfair (see page 346). 



Employees dismissed for some other substantial reason must be given their full notice. This is because the dismissal is not due to their fault. It is not a “misconduct” dismissal.



Employers dismissing for “some other substantial” reason must always consider the injustice to the employee, and weigh this against any prejudice to the employer by allowing the employee to keep their job (Dobie v Burns International Security Services Limited [1984] EWCA Civ 11).