The EAT has upheld an employment tribunal's decision that an employer's genuine and reasonable belief that an employee was no longer permitted to work in the UK was sufficient to show that a subsequent dismissal was for some other substantial reason (SOSR) and was both substantively and procedurally fair.
There was ample evidence demonstrating the employer's attempts to establish the employee's immigration status over a period of several years and the employee's persistent failure to co-operate.
The case is a useful reminder of the distinction between dismissals because of statutory restriction under section 98(2)(d) of ERA 1996, where an employer's knowledge that continued employment would result in a breach is required and SOSR dismissals under section 98(1)(b), where an employer's genuine and reasonable belief about a breach of a statutory restriction can be sufficient.