of the three stages of belief, grounds and investigation, for all of which it has the burden of proof. Even then, there is the fourth test for the tribunal to decide, but for neither party to prove, of whether dismissal fell within a reasonable range of responses. The employer cannot hark back to expired warnings. Redundancy Redundancy is a topic in itself and there are regulations for where over 20 staff are at risk, whereby unions or employee representatives have also to be consulted. There are, however, always minimum requirements for consultation, selection and alternative employment. Redundancy means either the job has gone, the place has gone or the requirement for employees to do work of a particular kind has reduced. It does not necessarily mean the employee's work has reduced, nor does it mean the amount of anyone else's work has reduced - the employer may simply have found an efficiency that allows the same work to be done by fewer staff. A business reorganisation might or might not also be a redundancy - a mere reshuffle is not a redundancy. If the employer honestly believes there is no redundancy then the reason must be something else. Bumping It is established practice that "bumping" may be fair. This means making one employee redundant to save another's job, typically on a last-in-first-out ("LIFO") basis. But the employer has no duty to do so and the bumped employee may succeed in a claim for unfair dismissal. Sham redundancies Employers might want to dress up a redundancy as a business reorganisation to circumvent disciplinary procedure (e.g. right to be accompanied), consultation, paid time off and redundancy payments. Employers may want to save face for both parties where the real ground is conduct that was not addressed in time, capability that is difficult to prove, pregnancy or the hope simply that somebody who does not figure in future plans will grab an enhanced redundancy payment and run. In such a case it will be hard to overturn the employer's claim of redundancy, but a genuine redundancy can still be unfair dismissal. Even if there is a genuine redundancy, the dismissal must be handled fairly. Time off during notice of redundancy An employee given notice of redundancy is entitled to 40% of paid time off for jobseeking or retraining. Combined with unused holiday, the employee may effectively therefore be able to disappear once the