There are five fair reasons for dismissing an employee:

1. Conduct
2. Capability (including medical capability)
3. Redundancy
4. Statutory Restriction
5. Some other substantial reason (SOSR)

If the first four options for terminating an employee’s contract do not apply but there is a valid reason to dismiss, then an employer can consider dismissal for some other substantial reason (SOSR). Examples but not an exhaustive list of SOSR dismissals are ‘refusal to accept changes to terms and conditions’, the ‘end of a fixed term contract’, a ‘breakdown of trust and confidence’ or ‘reputational risk’ of the company.  SOSR dismissals should not be used where the employer feels other avenues are ‘too slow’ or they haven’t managed other issues (such as frequent sickness absence) with the appropriate procedure and are now looking for a ‘quick fix’.   A tribunal case will be lost if the dismissal is deemed not to be genuine and substantial reason.  It is also important to make sure that dismissal is the only available option. This means you will have to have given appropriate warnings or investigated other possibilities, such as moving the employee elsewhere within the organisation, being resorting to dismissal.