on the employer to disprove redundancy. Statutory requirements Statutory requirements could, for example, be a lorry driver losing his driving licence. However, although it could be a fair reason, the employer still has to decide reasonably, so automatic sacking may not be the answer - maybe the driver could take a pay cut to help in the office until he gets a new licence. A mistaken belief as to a statutory reason is not grounds, but could be "some other substantial reason" below. "Some other substantial reason" "Some other substantial reason" (SOSR), words taken from section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996,, is a "statutory catch-all provision", which employers use to justify a potentially fair dismissal. It is usually a business reorganisation or contract change that the employee refuses to consent to. Despite it looking like a "get out of jail card" for employers, tribunals will be alert to employers using SOSR as a pretext for managing somebody out whose face does not fit. All the employer has to show is a potential good sound business reason. Common law grounds Common law examples are imminent defection to competitor, unreasonable refusal to agree a contract change, going AWOL, repeated complaints of constructive dismissal without resignation, damaging breakdown in relations caused by the employee, threats to resign followed by ambiguous absence, imprisonment, expiry of fixed term and pressure from a customer or supplier. If the breakdown in relations could have been caused by several staff then all must be given warnings and eventually all may have to be dismissed if one culprit cannot fairly be singled out. If a customer demands a dismissal, the impact on the employer of keeping the employee needs to outweigh the impact on the employee of the dismissal. If a supplier demands a dismissal, the employer needs to weigh up the cost of going elsewhere. The employer should always consider a transfer to another department. Statutory grounds Statutory categories are employees drafted in to cover for pregnancy or sickness, and TUPE economic, technical or organisational changes (when a firm is taken over). Changing terms If the employer wants employees to sign a new contract, it might be relevant whether it paid for legal advice or gave time to think, and certainly the issues are wider than just looking at the terms of the new draft contract. To secure consent to a change, the employer needs to