Fair Reasons for Dismissal
If an employee is dismissed, the employer must show that the principal reason for the dismissal is one of the potentially fair ones under the Employment Rights Act 1996.
These are:
- The employee lacked capability or qualification in relation to the work they were employed to do
- Misconduct, e.g. poor attendance, theft, failure to follow a reasonable instruction
- Redundancy
- Statutory bar – when continuation of employment would contravene a statute e.g. when someone is required to drive in their job but has been banned from driving
- Some other substantial reason (SOSR). This covers any dismissal which does not fall under the categories above e.g. refusal to accept new changes to terms and conditions.