What are “some other substantial reason” dismissals? (podcast)

When can an employer rely on “some other substantial reason” (SOSR) to dismiss, for the dismissal to be fair?

Sometimes it is necessary to terminate an employee’s contract, but the dismissal will not be due to a typical reason, such as misconduct or redundancy.

An employer in this situation may want to argue that the dismissal was for “some other substantial reason”, which is one of the potentially fair reasons for dismissal.

However, this is not a catch-all phrase for any dismissal and employers must guard against over-reliance on it as it can result in an unfair dismissal finding if the dismissal is challenged.

But what kind of situation might fall within “some other substantial reason”, and what procedure should employers follow in these circumstances?

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On XpertHR’s weekly podcast, we are joined by special guest, Max Winthrop, employment partner at Short Richardson & Forth and XpertHR Employment law manual updating author. Max discusses the types of situation that might result in an employer being able to rely on SOSR as the reason for dismissal.

Podcast: “Some other substantial reason” dismissals