Dismissals for some other substantial reason 




Section 98(1), ERA 96 contains a “catch-all” provision: 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 a 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 this kind of dismissal (Phoenix House Limited v Stockman [2016] UKEAT/0264/15/DM). 


Employees dismissed for some other substantial reason should be given their full notice.


Employers dismissing for this reason must always consider carefully the injustice to the employee, and weigh this against any prejudice the employer is likely to suffer by allowing the employee to keep their job (Dobie v Burns International Security Services LImited [1984] EWCA Civ 11).