{"id":2989,"date":"2017-05-31T11:35:27","date_gmt":"2017-05-31T11:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.riaabarkergillette.com\/uk\/?p=2989"},"modified":"2024-11-19T20:33:43","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T20:33:43","slug":"sosr-dismissal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.riaabarkergillette.com\/uk\/sosr-dismissal\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a SOSR dismissal?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are five potentially fair reasons for the dismissal of any employee under the Employment Rights Act 1996<\/a> (ERA 1996):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Conduct<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Capability<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Redundancy<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Breach of a statutory restriction<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Some other substantial reason of a kind to justify the dismissal (SOSR)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    SOSR is a residual “catch-all” potentially fair reason for dismissal. Whilst there is no statutory definition of the term or any statutory guidance, case law has made it clear that the reason must be substantial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Interpretation of what is substantial is subjective and will depend on the facts and the type of case. The reason must also be of a kind which will justify the dismissal (rather than any lesser sanction) of an employee holding the job the employee actually held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Common examples of scenarios that may constitute an SOSR dismissal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Protection from competition<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Where an employee acts in a way that falls short of a breach of duty or is in a situation that creates a potential conflict with the employer’s interests, the employer may be able to dismiss the employee by relying on SOSR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The most common types of cases in this category relate to conflict of interest or restrictive covenants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Cases involving conflicts of interest<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    To be able to succeed in relying on the risk of competition as being SOSR, the employer must be able to provide evidence to substantiate its perception that the employee poses a risk to its business interests. The evidence will be as to the nature of the information to which the employee has access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If an employee has limited access to commercial information, an employer will struggle to show that it was concerned about a risk at all. It is also usually necessary to show that the employee has close connections to a competitor (or an employee of a competitor) and that the employer fears the employee may leak confidential information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To establish an SOSR dismissal, in these circumstances, the employer must show that continuing to employ the employee would give rise to a real commercial risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Cases involving restrictive covenants<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    The scope of any restrictive covenant will have a bearing on whether an employer can rely on it for an SOSR dismissal. Case law has established dismissal following a refusal to enter new restrictive covenants, which was found to be for SOSR and potentially fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Personality clashes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Personality clashes or irreconcilable differences between colleagues can amount to SOSR. However, the conflict would have to cause a substantial disruption to the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Other examples<\/h4>\n\n\n\n